why biopsy can be negative during disease follow-up?

Cancer sometimes sends mixed signals: biopsies of men being followed for prostate cancer can be negative. They don’t mean the cancer is gone but rather that it is “hidden away”. American researchers explain it in The Journal of Urology. “For men under active surveillance, negative biopsies indicate that the disease is low in severity and that its rate of progression is low “, says Carissa E. Chu, one of the authors of this study. According to her, these tumors “hidden away“are generally well treated.

What is a biopsy?

A biopsy is the removal of part of a tissue for subsequent analysis. When a man is being followed up for prostate cancer, these tests are one of the techniques regularly used to observe the progression of the disease. Sometimes they are negative and until now the researchers did not know how to interpret them “hidden cancers“.

More than 500 men monitored

In this research, the scientific team recruited 514 men who were followed up regularly for early-stage prostate cancer between 2000 and 2019. Each of the patients underwent at least three biopsies after their cancer diagnosis. A total of 37% of them had negative biopsy results. In general, their clinical characteristics were better: their prostate specific antigen level was lower. This rate is that of a protein produced by this organ, when it is high it means that there is an anomaly.

Several negative biopsies

Some men have had negative biopsies multiple times in a row. In this group, 84% of them did not need surgery or radiation therapy to recover. This rate was 74% in men who had a single negative biopsy, compared with 66% for patients who had positive results on each of these tests. Whatever the outcome, the study authors encourage men with prostate cancer to follow their own path of care. “Getting negative biopsy results doesn’t mean the cancer is gone, some men with more negative results later tested positive or were diagnosed with more advanced cancer., the researchers specify.

A frequent cancer in France

Prostate cancer is the most common in France: 54,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The main symptoms are urinary disorders: frequent urination, urination disorders, blood in the semen or urine, etc. If diagnosed early, it may only require active surveillance, as some cancers do not progress. In most cases, prostate cancer treatment requires treatment with surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, or chemotherapy.