A prostate biopsy can help diagnose prostate cancer. Your health care professional will use a needle to extract samples of prostate tissue, which are sent to a pathology lab to be analysed for signs of prostate cancer.

Only minor risks and side effects associated with a prostate biopsy, and they include:

• bleeding where the needle was inserted – should last for only a few days
• blood in the urine or semen – may continue for a couple of weeks
• difficulty urinating – is usually short term
• erection difficulty – transient for a few weeks
• infection – is rare and can be treated with antibiotics.

Speak to your specialist if you have questions about prostate biopsy risks and side effects.

A Gleason grade describes the pattern of prostate cancer cells seen under a microscope. The different patterns identify different grades of prostate cancer from 6 to 10. Two scores out of 5 are added together based on the most common types of grading. Gleason 6 is 3+3, Gleason 7 is 3+4 or 4+3 ( with the most common type listed first if differing), while Gleason 10 would be 5+5

A higher Gleason grade cancer is more likely to have spread outside the prostate, but most prostate cancers have not spread at the time of the diagnosis.

Some samples can show more than one grade, so adding two Gleason grades – the most common one and the highest one – gives an overall score called a Gleason score.

For example, if the biopsy samples show that:

• most of cancer seen is grade 3, and
• the highest grade of any other cancer seen is grade 4, then
• the Gleason score will be 7 (3+4).

Your doctor can explain your Gleason score for your specific prostate biopsy results and what it means for your treatment plan.