title: What information are urologists extracting from prostate needle biopsy reports and what do they need for clinical management of prostate cancer?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This survey-based study examines what information urologists are extracting from prostate needle biopsy reports, and what they need for clinical management of prostate cancer (PC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was used to investigate several topics related to PC biopsy reporting. Two different clinical situations were separately explored, depending on whether the urologist intended a curative or a palliative therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  110 of the 300 (37%) urologists responded to the questionnaire and returned anonymous responses. The mean age of respondents was 47.5 years old (range 27-66). On average, they performed 31 (range 0-182) radical prostatectomies per year. Before proposing a curative therapy, several biopsy parameters were requested by the majority of respondents, including number of positive biopsies (104/110 or 95%), Gleason score (103/110 or 94%), highest Gleason grade (94/110 or 85%), localization of positive biopsies (80/110 or 73%), length of tumor on biopsy (58/110 or 53%), presence of extraprostatic extension (66/110 or 60%). In a palliative situation, only three parameters were requested by the majority of respondents: Gleason score (101/110 or 92%), highest Gleason grade (67/110 or 61%) and number of positive biopsies (59/110 or 54%). In prostate needle biopsies harboring cancer on multiple cores from separately designated locations, 77% (68/88) of respondents used the highest Gleason score, regardless of the overall percentage involvement, to determine their treatment plan. PIN (Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia) on biopsy without PC was considered sufficient to re-biopsy by 77% (85/110) of respondents. Thirty six percent (40/110) of the respondents considered ASAP (Atypical Small Acinar Proliferation) to be equivalent to PIN. There was no significant association between the demographic data and the type of information requested on the biopsy report.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this sample of 110 French and Belgian urologists there was high variability in the way clinicians use prostate needle biopsy pathology report. Results of this survey should improve communication between urologists and pathologists and should help evaluate what data should be included in routine pathology reports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology and Pathology, INSERMEMI03.3, Hopital Henri Mondor, Creteil, France.
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Descazeaud
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Allory
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burchardt
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salomon
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chopin
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abbou
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de la Taille
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014572:Urology / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends