Diagnosing Prostate Cancer: The Bioptic Gun, PET/CT Scans, and Mapping Biopsies

Clinical Pearls

E. David Crawford, MD, professor, Urologic and Radiation Oncology, head, Section of Urologic Oncology, University of Colorado at Denver, discusses diagnosing prostate cancer. Crawford presented at the7th Annual Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Congress™on defining candidates for active surveillance and modifying biopsy techniques.

• The development of the bioptic gun has revolutionized the diagnosis of prostate cancer but has also created controversy.
• PET and CT scans are a waste in localized prostate cancer; physicians are not worried about the disease spreading.
• Low-risk patients are now being defined better with transperineal 3D mapping biopsies, which are done under the scrotum at 5 mm intervals.
• Once 3D reconstruction of the prostate is completed, a physician can decide whether to treat with laser ablation, freezing, or definitive therapy.