Negative Biopsy
Biopsies detect prostate cancer in about 25% of men with abnormal screening tests. However a negative biopsy does not ensure the absence of disease. Repeat prostate biopsies are positive in about 25-30% of patients whose initial biopsy was negative.
During a biopsy procedure, less than 1 percent of the entire prostate gland is sampled, so men can harbor prostate cancer in spite of having a negative initial biopsy.
Recently in order to address this problem, researchers have examined the ability of mitochondrial DNA to help diagnose prostate cancer in negative biopsy samples.
Read more about this topic: Prostate Biopsy
Famous quotes containing the word negative:
“Isolation in creative work is an onerous thing. Better to have negative criticism than nothing at all.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)