[Value and limitations of transrectal ultrasonography and computer tomography in preoperative staging of prostate carcinoma].

Abstract

A careful evaluation of local tumoral extension is mandatory in patient selected for radical surgery for prostate cancer. Nevertheless, prostatic imaging, achieved with transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) and CT scan, is often unable to stage accurately the disease. The Authors report a retrospective analysis of 43 patients treated with radical retropublic prostatectomy: their findings support the idea that both TRUS and CT scan are unable to define the extent of the tumor, reaching respectively accuracies of 38 and 46%. From these data they conclude that CT can be excluded from the preoperatory workup of prostate cancer, except in selected patients, at high risk of nodal metastasis on the basis of PSA. TRUS is the mainstay of prostate cancer diagnosis and staging because it guides transrectal biopsies, but any conclusion made exclusively on the base of its imaging seems not reliable.