New prostate biopsy procedure now available

Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals has introduced a new ‘gold standard’ prostate biopsy procedure to provide more accurate detection of prostate cancer in men.

The ‘template biopsy’, as it is known, is performed under general anaesthetic and therefore is not suitable for everyone, but it is useful for men who have had repeated negative traditional biopsies or are under surveillance of their prostate cancer.

Philip James, consultant urological surgeon, said: “A traditional biopsy is still an effective way of diagnosing prostate cancer for the majority of patients, but it only samples a small area of the prostate and can provide a ‘false negative’ for up to 30 per cent of men – meaning their cancer is not diagnosed. We will continue to monitor these men through Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA) tests and if this raises concern, perform another biopsy, but this can all lead to a delay in diagnosis.”

“The new procedure enables more thorough assessment and precise mapping of the prostate through the use of a simple template. The template divides the prostate area into very small sections and a biopsy is methodically taken through the holes of the template in each area. Each biopsy is sampled individually and tracked – so if cancer is detected we know which area of the prostate is affected. This also helps us to stage the cancer more accurately.”

Nimalan Arumainayagam, also a consultant urological surgeon, added: “This is a really positive development for patients at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals, who would have previously had to travel to another hospital for this procedure. Template biopsy reduces the number of false negative results compared to traditional transrectal prostate biopsies and aims to give men more certainty regarding their diagnosis.”