How to detect prostate cancer with ultrasound diagnosis

Ultrasound examination is a non-invasive examination that can detect nodular changes in the prostate at an early stage, which is helpful for early diagnosis of prostate cancer and observation of treatment effects. Commonly used ultrasound examinations include transabdominal, transrectal, and transurethral. Among them, transrectal ultrasound is the most accurate in diagnosing prostate cancer, which can clearly show subtle structural changes in the prostate and can confirm lesions with a diameter of 5 mm.

Typical ultrasound findings of prostate cancer are:

(1) Manifestations of lower urinary tract obstruction: Prostate cancer causes obstruction of the bladder neck and posterior urethra, resulting in hydronephrosis. The bladder mucosa shows trabecular changes, and residual urine can be seen.

(2) The capsule is rough and thickened, the continuous bright lines are interrupted and damaged, and the local layers are unclear.

(3) The prostate gland becomes larger, asymmetrical, and morphologically inconsistent.

(4) The internal echo is uneven, and irregular focal hypoechoic areas may appear, accompanied by strong light spots and light clusters, and may have acoustic attenuation. The lesions often appear in the posterior lobe or the left and right lateral lobes, and the boundaries between the inner and outer membrane structures are unclear.

(5) Invasion of adjacent tissues: echoes of the mass may be detected in the seminal vesicle, bladder, vesicorectal pouch, or rectal wall, or there may be irregular thickening of the bladder neck that protrudes into the bladder.

In addition, under the guidance of B-ultrasound, puncture biopsy can be performed on suspicious space-occupying lesions. It is widely used in clinical practice because of its accurate positioning, simple operation, little pain for patients and few complications. Recently, three-dimensional ultrasound has been used in clinical practice, which can show the three-dimensional structure and fine structure of the prostate. It is incomparable to two-dimensional ultrasound in diagnosing prostate cancer.