Prostate cancer and the role of color Doppler US.

Abstract

To determine the role of color Doppler imaging (CDI) in diagnosis of prostate cancer. Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and CDI were performed in 456 patients with possible prostate cancer. Of these patients, 158 underwent prostate biopsy, and these formed the study group. The frequency of malignancy was 47% (75 of 158). Of 136 TRUS-positive cases, 72 were malignant and 64 benign. Of 84 CDI-positive cases, 65 were malignant and 19 benign (chi 2 = 12.18, P < .001). Thirteen percent of histopathologically proved cases (10 of 75) were normal at CDI. TRUS alone had a sensitivity of 96% and a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.53. The addition of CDI increased the PPV to 0.77 but reduced the sensitivity to 87%. In only one case out of 158 did CDI suggest the diagnosis of malignancy independently of TRUS. CDI improves the PPV of TRUS but appears to have little additional value over TRUS alone in diagnosis of prostate cancer.