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Posted 6/1/2010 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
OK, just got biopsy results...2nd biopsy in 11 months. This time one of the twelve sections showed PIN (prostate interstitial neoplasia). They have scheduled ANOTHER biopsy in a week. Now they aren't that bad.... BUT, who wants another one. Seems likely they found dysplasia but to what degree is unknown, just "suspicious." Anyone ever done this?
Posted 6/1/2010 6:32 PM (GMT 0)

marathonman46 said...
OK, just got biopsy results...2nd biopsy in 11 months. This time one of the twelve sections showed PIN (prostate interstitial neoplasia). They have scheduled ANOTHER biopsy in a week. Now they aren't that bad.... BUT, who wants another one. Seems likely they found dysplasia but to what degree is unknown, just "suspicious." Anyone ever done this?

It's almost difficult to call PIN an abnormality (dysplasia) because it is so common.

Almost half of all men have PIN (prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) by the age of 50, and in fact PIN begins to appear in the prostates of men as young as 20.

I'm guessing that you had "high-grade" PIN, since your doctor is looking so hard for some signs of further development.  Unfortunately, "high-grade" PIN is usually considered "pre-cancerous", but keep in mind that it is merely one step in the continuium of natural prostate cell development...a bunch of guys with white coats sat in a conference room one day and declared the next step in the continuium to be officially "cancer."  I hate to be the one to tell you this, but prostate cancer (PC) might be in your future.  But the good news is that it is very, very managable...in fact many people with very low risk prostate cancer are encouraged not to undertake aggressive treatments (I won't dwell on this now, but many consider there to be a PC "overtreatment" epidemic going on now). 

It's never too early for someone who might have PC in his future to start reading and learning.  I recommend a book written by Dr Stephen Strum called "A Primer on Prostate Cancer:  The Empowered Patient's Guide."

best wishes...

Do I need to inform you that I'm not a doctor?    Just in case I need to say this:  I am not a doctor (myabe you had already guessed this); just someone who has read a little about this topic and hopes to offer helpful words of experience.

Posted 6/1/2010 6:56 PM (GMT 0)
Sure you biopsy report didn't indicate HGPIN, which is the High Grade version of PIN? That would make more sense. As the above poster indicated, PIN by itself is quite common. I had 3 biopsies done before I had a PC dx, in all 3, there was evidence of HGPIN, in each biopsy, they found more and more of it. It is also quite common for HGPIN to become cancer cells over time, and its precence at all in your biopsy, could mean, that there is cancer nearby that the cores that were taken just happened to miss. This is believed to be the case between my 2nd and 3rd biopsy. When they targeted the "shadowy" areas where HGPIN was found on my 2nd one, they hit pay dirt, with 7 out of 7 cores testing positive with cancer, in farily high %.

If your doctor is wanting to do another biopsy soon after that first one, it could be a similar case. Please keep us well posted.

David in SC
Posted 6/1/2010 7:29 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks men. Didn't even have enough information from the 1 in 12 biopsies that it was high grade... just suspicious. So, I guess it's go for another biopsy. did you ever get "used" to them?
Posted 6/1/2010 7:52 PM (GMT 0)
Couldnt help but smile, new friend. No, I never got use to having a probe up my you know what 3 times, and having that snapping sound go off each time they took a core. My first one, done with nothing for pain, not so bad. Second one, had pain med, but the needles used hurt more than the test, so on the 3rd one, no pain med. Glad I will never need another one again, no more prostate. On the digital exams, depends how big the dr's hand is, and how rough he/she is. Mine were all uncomfortable, but came up negative. PS, even since surgery and radiation, still have DRE's done, thought they would be history, but not the case.
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