Whether to track biopsies to any greater subdivision of the gland than "right" or "left" is still considerably debated. [disclaimer] And, as of 2005, we are unaware of any other surgical pathology lab in the world using a method as thorough as ours (and the method is not FDA approved). Tissue-sample biopsy cores, about 1 by 1/16 inch each (1 x 15 mm), are removed from the patient's prostate gland. How? The "biopty gun" instrument is inserted into the rectum, and the "firing tip" of the "gun" aimed at the gland by ultrasound imaging visible on a bed-side monitor. The sampling technique can be primitive to elaborately optimized. The latter offers the most in-depth information possible. One of our group invented an optimized sample-handling technique in February 1991, and it was published in the Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association in June 1996 [***see the prostate Bx manuscript **with notes/links to additional agar uses]. It is in routine use in our lab. Since a biopsy series removes less than 2% of the prostate gland, one must make an optimal effort to detect the cancer present in each core (if any is present) so that staging is more precise prior to treatment decisions [impact on staging of a precision system for processing]

To begin the graphic and explanatory presentation, above is a sample consisting of numerous random cores presented to the lab in a single specimen bottle: gathered together as a "wad of worms" ready to be dropped into the plastic processing cassette. There is no orientation at all! One ends up with a very suboptimal pathology report "answer"...a binary choice of benign or malignant.

[our group's resource page & links on prostate cancer]