Avoid Random Biopsy: PSA Screening Flowchart
Elevated PSA does not point specifically to prostate cancer; it is only an indication that further investigation is necessary. Each year one million men are biopsied when they do not …
Stay Away from Random Prostate Biopsy
BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD The Limitations of PSA PSA is nonspecific. Meaning it doesn’t distinguish between the harmless, low-grade type of prostate cancer that can be watched and the higher-grade …
Prostate Vanguard E008: Doctors Still Order Random Biopsies Despite Newer Technology
When people hear about multiparametric MRI, accurate imaging of the prostate, they are always surprised that doctors are still doing random biopsies. The question always comes up, “Why are we …
Prostate Vanguard E005: Active Surveillance
Active Surveillance is a revolutionary concept: The thought you can monitor prostate cancer rather than treat prostate cancer. This is a surprising development because anything called cancer, one would assume …
Prostate Vanguard E004: Elevated PSA
WHAT IF I HAVE AN ELEVATED PSA So what do you do when you have a high PSA? Is simply doing a scan enough? The scan not only helps men …
Prostate Vanguard E003: Useful Imaging
IS IT POSSIBLE TO SKIP A BIOPSY? We’ve been talking a lot about the different types of biopsies – targeted vs random and all these new developments. But what’s really …
Prostate Biopsy and Alternatives
BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD It seems we have a national passion for prostate biopsies. A million men are biopsied every year. Two hundred thousand of them will be diagnosed with prostate cancer …
PSA Screening for Prostate Cancer, Not for the Ill-Informed
BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD There is a real danger that PSA screening will lead to overtreatment. The government, having studied this situation, has therefore recommended dropping PSA screening altogether. This proposal doesn’t …
Alternatives to Random Biopsy for Prostate Cancer
BY MARK SCHOLZ, MD Your PSA is elevated. Now your doctor recommends a needle biopsy, 12 cores through the rectum to check for cancer in the prostate. Sounds icky but also logical …