Objective: To evaluate lesion-directed biopsy in improving the detection rate of early prostate cancer (PCa) and in differentiating PCa from other prostate pathological changes.
Methods: We performed TRUS-guided prostate biopsy for 95 patients suspected of PCa, each subjected to extended random biopsy plus lesion-directed biopsy, and analyzed the sonographic characteristics and pathological findings.
Results: PCa was detected in 35 of the patients (36.8%), including 16 hypoechoic (45.7%), 4 hyperechoic (11.4%), 10 isoechoic (28.6%) and 5 mixed hetero-echoic lesions (14.3%). Of the 35 PCa cases, 17 (46.2%) were within T2b, 70.6% (12/17) of which were detected by lesion-directed biopsy and 29.4% (5/17) by sextant biopsy, the former obviously higher than the latter (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Lesion-directed prostate biopsy under TRUS can significantly improve the early diagnosis of prostate cancer, increase convenience and reduce patients' pain, but is not sufficient to replace traditional sextant biopsy.