Seminal vesicle biopsies: an useful staging procedure—exposure of seminal vesicle biopsies protocol and review of the literature

Abstract

Although new MRI techniques have a high sensitivity but varying specificity with regard to diagnosing the seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) of prostate cancer, the low availability and high cost involved demands incorporating an inexpensive and accessible technique that might support adequate staging. Currently, uniformity does not exist with regard to the indication criteria of seminal vesicle biopsies (SVBs). Our objective is to analyse the protocol of SVBs at Morales Meseguer Hospital and conduct an exhaustive review of the literature in this field. SVBs were performed in patients who were amenable to a curative treatment and who showed at least one of the following indication criteria: prostate-specific antigen greater than or equal to 15 ng/ml, a prostate cancer nodule in the base of the prostate, or ultrasound abnormalities suggestive of vesicular involvement. SVBs were performed in 70 patients. These results revealed a rate of SVI of 15.7 and 25.58 % among all patients and patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, respectively. All biopsied patients who tested positive for the three indication criteria had T3b prostate cancer. Patients with a prostate cancer that altered the base of the prostate according to either digital rectal examination or ultrasound showed a T3b rate of 53.8 %. SVBs should be considered a complementary procedure for prostate cancer staging because provide important information and it is easy, inexpensive and has few complications.