• Doctors can see inside the prostate with advanced MRI and ultrasound imaging.
• A robotic arm helps doctors target specific areas of the prostate.
  
• Procedures are minimally invasive.
• This short procedure requires only local anesthesia, and does not require a hospital visit.
• Sophisticated targeting helps doctors precisely identify tumors that may not be detected by conventional means.
• Doctors can access 100% of the prostate, compared to less than 1% of the prostate when using conventional methods.
  
• The enhanced accuracy allows doctors to better distinguish between men who do and do not require treatment.
  
• Cancer located at the front of the prostate, where cancers are often difficult to find, are easier to detect.
  

Targeted prostate biopsy requires a high level of expertise to produce meaningful results. At Stanford Health Care, you get access to this cancer detection technology and the doctors who are specially trained to use it.

A targeted prostate biopsy is recommended for:

• Men who would like to utilize the most advanced technology to perform their first biopsy
• Men who have received a prior negative biopsy but continue to experience persistent or unexplained elevated PSA levels
• Men with low-risk prostate cancer being monitored by active surveillance (or watchful waiting)

PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen. It is a protein made by the prostate gland that can be measured in a blood test. PSA levels are correlated with increased risk of prostate cancer, but could also relate to other non-cancer causes.

Most prostate cancers are detected after a man is found to have a high PSA level on a blood test. A high PSA will lead to a prostate biopsy.

To conduct the traditional biopsy, one or two samples are taken, with visibility provided by an ultrasound, from each of six zones in the prostate known to be the most likely spots for cancer. On average, a biopsy takes 12 separate samples from the prostate.

However, while ultrasound is very good at seeing large tumors, it does not always pick up on small cancers peppered throughout the prostate. MRI alone does not give a complete picture either. Taking tissue samples is the only way to confirm and grade prostate tumors.

Targeted prostate biopsy combines ultrasound and MRI to help doctors find aggressive cancers that have the most chance of spreading to other parts of the body. It also reduces the need to repeat biopsies if cancer was missed in a non-targeted prostate biopsy.

Stanford Health Care is committed to detecting prostate cancer early and accurately. Through the use of advanced detection techniques like targeted prostate biopsy, we are helping men fight prostate cancer and avoid unnecessary treatment.

The detailed imagery gathered in the MRI is combined with the real-time view of the prostate that ultrasound provides. One week later, you will be called with the pathological results from any targeted and systematic biopsies.