Prostate biopsy with the image fusion method, which incorporates ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, allows us to identify the exact location of the prostate tumor and, in many cases, even his nature.
Today, it is very common to use PSA as a screening method in an attempt to detect prostate cancer early.
As we all know, PSA is a tumor marker, that’s why if the PSA value is above the normal limits, we are forced to investigate why it happened.
Our mission as doctors is above all to be able to diagnose in time the diseases whose evolution can lead to a significant deterioration in the state of health of our patients.
Referring to prostate cancer, one of the most frequent in men, this premise becomes quite relevant since the early detection of a cancer can mean saving the patient’s life or at least avoiding serious consequences if he expands.
So far, in patients who had an elevated PSA in routine checks, i.e. those in whom there is a well-founded suspicion of having prostate cancer, we have followed the criteria of first perform an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the prostate.
This test determines with great precision not only the alterations that have occurred within the prostate gland, but also whether the tumor has been able to spread outside of it.
But this test in itself is not diagnostic, that is, it does not give us absolute certainty as to whether or not we have prostate cancer, which is why a posteriori and to complete the diagnosis we must perform a biopsy of the gland.
Until recently, prostate biopsy was done randomly, one could almost say blind.
Therefore, the possibility of not detecting the prostate tumor was more than 30%.
You can’t fight what you can’t see
Currently, we have in our urology department at Vithas Medimar Hospital a new diagnostic method, fusion biopsy.
-The fusion of images between MRI and ultrasound of the prostate has proven to be the best method we have today to locate the alterations of the prostate that could be tumoral and thus be able to diagnose them with greater precision.
The intervention is ambulatory and painless, it is carried out under sedation.
The approach is perineal, avoiding the rectum and therefore the possible infection that can occur during a traditional transrectal biopsy.
A new challenge arises in the application of these techniques, to be able to detect which of these tumors are really aggressive, that is, which ones are going to cause real damage to our body and therefore must be treated with techniques such as surgery or radiotherapy or It is good to exclude others who, even if they are smart, are not going to cause us problems.
In this way, we could avoid unnecessary treatments in patients who, despite having prostate cancer, will never represent a danger to the patient’s health or life.
In 30% of men over the age of 50, we can find cancer cells in the prostate, but in most cases, they will never affect the patient’s quality of life.
One of the main challenges of modern oncology is to be able to individualize the treatment of the tumor and for this it is essential to know more about it, its nature and above all its ability to harm the body.
Dr. Bartolome Lloret
Such : 965269070
urologist Vithas Medimar Hospital
Such : 672377363
Denia Avenue, 78