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Alternatives to Prostate Biopsy

If you have recently experienced an unusual PSA test result and are considering a prostate biopsy, there may be safer and less-invasive alternatives. Prostate biopsy is not only an invasive procedure, involving a series of needles and puncture wounds to your prostate area, it is often completely unnecessary, as roughly 75 percent of the men who undergo the procedure are found to be cancer-free. Nowadays, there are effective alternatives to prostate biopsy.

  1. Sonogram

    • Power Color Doppler Sonograms are painless, safe and noninvasive. At roughly $500 per procedure, they are also an affordable alternative to the invasive biopsy procedure. Unlike invasive biopsies, they can be easily repeated at any time for further monitoring of prostate health. They take less than an hour to perform and are usually done on an outpatient basis or in your doctor's office. There is no aftercare required and recovery is instantaneous, so you may return to work the same day.

      Color sonograms create a color image of the prostate or other area being examined. The resolution is much higher than traditional ultrasounds or sonographs, so tumorous areas can be examined and compared more thoroughly and measured more accurately. They are generally superior to traditional MRIs and PET scans due to their high resolution and the fact that they can be repeated easily for comparison to previous views.

    MRI

    • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can provide a detailed image of growing cancers in and around the prostate. It is noninvasive and does not use radiation or dye for imaging. Usually performed in conjunction with a biopsy or as a followup to an abnormal CT scan, it may also be used exclusively without a biopsy, but its resolution is not as good as a color sonogram. The images it produces are detailed and three-dimensional, and a well-trained technician should be able to detect most abnormalities by reading your test results. It is better for viewing cancer in soft tissue than in bones.

    CT Scan

    • Computed Tomography (CT) scans are usually performed in conjunction with other types of diagnostic tests. They are best for detecting larger cancers in lymph nodes in the pelvis and abdomen. They are currently not powerful enough to provide detailed images of growing microscopic cancer cells in the lymph nodes.

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