Prostate Biopsy

Hi Baroudi19643,

Thanks for getting in touch, and welcome to the online community.

My name is Ursula and I’m one of the cancer information nurse specialists on the Macmillan support line.

Going through tests and investigations and waiting for results can be a challenging time. It’s understandable you should have questions around this.

As we are independent of the NHS and do not have access to medical records, we are therefore unable to offer personalised advice. However, hopefully understanding the process of what happens will help you understand, rather than being able to offer you a fixed timescale.

Results from a prostate biopsy can take up to 3 weeks to come back. These will usually be discussed by a team of health professionals at a multidisciplinary team meeting. If cancer is found your specialist team will talk you through what your results mean, and based on your results, will talk about the next best step for you. 

Although your query relates only to having a prostatectomy, there may be other treatment options to consider, which may involve a referral on to another specialist for example a robotic surgeon or an oncologist.

Please remember, it may also be the case that no cancer cells are found.

I hope this information is helpful, and please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you require any further information or support.

Sending best wishes,

Ursula

You can speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

Ref:UH/LZD

Yeah but I don’t want to have chemotherapy I watched that destroy my father & that is definitely not going to happen to me, really the only thing I can do is wait & see what their hand is & then decide what I am going to have to do Thank you for your advice I appreciate it 

Hello Baroudi19643,

My colleague Ursula responded yesterday to your original question on the Ask a Nurse online platform. I cannot imagine how this process and waiting for results is making you feel at the moment. My name is George and like Ursula I’m one of the Cancer Information Specialist Nurses here on the Macmillan Support Line and online community.

You mention your personal experiences of watching your father go through chemotherapy. Chemotherapy treatment has improved and changed greatly over recent years, and we can manage its side effects more effectively. However, the decision to have or not to have a specific treatment is always a personal choice. We encourage you to ask as many questions and have as much information regarding these treatments as possible so you can make the right decision.

My colleague touched upon other treatments, and chemotherapy is just one of those possible treatments. There is radiotherapy, and there are different types of radiotherapy used for prostate cancer. There is hormone therapy and also procedures which involve destroying the tumour inside the prostate, and this is called brachytherapy.

I just wanted to highlight the treatments that are often available other than chemotherapy, but as you mentioned, your primary choice would be a prostatectomy, and this can also be a choice depending on your biopsy and multidisciplinary meeting (MDT).

Prostate Cancer UK can be an invaluable organisation. You can contact them via their website, ask a nurse like this, or call them on their helpline.

And as my colleague mentioned there is still the possibility that cancer cells will not be found.

I hope this information is helpful, and please don’t hesitate to get back in touch if you require any further information or support.

Kind Regards George

You can speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. 

Ref:GHi/HM