How to Read a Prostate Report

The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system located just below the bladder that is responsible for secreting a component in seminal fluid. This walnut sized, two-lobed gland surrounds the urethra, which is used to pass urine from the bladder and out of the body. Common disorders of the prostate include inflammation, infection, enlargement and cancer. Because the likelihood of developing these conditions increases with age, doctors recommend that all men over 50 have an annual prostate examination and screening. The most common test of the prostate gland is the PSA, or prostate-specific antigen blood test. Depending upon your PSA results, a doctor might order a biopsy.

Instructions

PSA Report

• 1

  Request that your doctor give you a copy of your PSA test results. These results will tell you how much prostate-specific antigen is in your bloodstream. PSA is a type of protein produced by the prostate gland, and it's a biological marker used in laboratory testing to detect disease.

• 2

  Understand that there is a scale of interpretation for your PSA results. Higher results, or even false-positive results, can occur depending upon your age, infection or benign conditions. Your physician takes all of these factors into consideration, in addition to your PSA score, when weighing your risk for prostate cancer.

• 3

  Locate your PSA test result, and compare it to the following chart: (PSA levels are reported as as nanograms of antigen per milliliter (ng/ml) of blood.)

  0 - 2.5 ng/ml = low result
  2.6 - 10 ng/ml = slightly to moderately elevated
  10 -19.9 ng/ml = moderately elevated
  20 ng/ml or higher = significantly elevated

  Results of 10 or higher typically indicates a 40 percent to 50 percent chance of cancer being present.

• 4

  Request additional testing and a biopsy if your result is higher than 10 ng/ml. Generally, a result below 2 ng/ml is no cause for concern. It is up to you and your doctor to decide upon further testing if the result is 2 ng/ml to 10 ng/ml. Early detection of prostate cancer through biopsy will enable you to seek the best treatment.

Prostate Biopsy Report

• 5

  Request a copy of your biopsy pathology report from your physician. If the results of your biopsy lead to a cancer diagnosis, you will want to pay attention to the following results: Gleason score, number of cores, anatomic location, extent of cancer, clinical data, gross description and comments.

• 6

  Locate the result of your Gleason score. This will be a number between 2 and 10 that represents how the tumor cells look when compared with normal cells. This result is one of the most important in determining the cancer's severity. The higher the number, the more aggressive the cancer.

• 7

  Review the number of cores taken during your biopsy. An adequate number of core samples must be taken to prevent a false negative result, and should be in the range of 10 to 12, But as many as 20 may be taken in some cases. If fewer than 10 core samples are taken, it is increasingly likely that cancer can go undetected.

• 8

  Determine the anatomic location from which the core samples were taken. Each core sample should be labeled identifying which part of the prostate they came from. You should be able to easily determine if the sample was from the right or left side of the prostate, and from which zone: the apex, mid zone, or base. This information helps determine treatment decisions.

• 9

  Look at the extent of the cancer found in the core samples. This result may be displayed as a number of positive cores, percentage of cancer per core or total percentage of cancer found in the entire biopsy specimen. This result would indicates whether cancer most likely is confined to the prostate, or possibly has spread to other locations.

• 10

  Review the gross description of your biopsy tissue sample. This contains important physical identifying information such as length, color and labeling of the tissue samples taken.

• 11

  Read through the clinical data and comments made by the physician and pathologist. This can provide you with valuable information regarding what they were looking for, define any abnormal or atypical tissue and possibly include discussion of an unclear diagnosis. Follow up on this information with your doctor.