Percutaneous lymph node aspiration biopsy and tumor grade in staging of prostatic carcinoma

Percutaneous fluoroscopy-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed for staging procedures in 31 patients with clinically localized carcinoma of the prostate and showed overall accuracy of 93.54%, with a false-negative rate of 6.46%. The Gleason grading system was found to be highly accurate in predicting the absence or presence of nodal metastases in low- and high-grade tumors (Gleason's sums 2, 3, or 4, and 8, 9, or 10). The combination of pelvic node biopsy aspiration and tumor grade can result in a very accurate prediction of nodal involvement, and may spare patients a staging lymphadenectomy or even an unnecessary radical operation.