German urologists develop online prostate biopsy tool:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Urologists at Berlin's Charite Hospital have developed a computer programme aimed at determining whether a biopsy is necessary in the event of elevated PSA values. The programme, called "Risk estimation for prostate cancer", was devised on the basis of results from 944 patients who visited the hospital between 1996-2001. Free and total PSA values, as well as the patient's age, prostate volume and results of digital rectal examinations are fed into the programme. Additionally, doctors can include specificity and sensitivity values to determine the necessity of biopsy. The programme, which was developed by Carsten Stephan and Henning Cammann, does not yet recognise PSA values recorded when using the test system developed by Los Angeles, California-based firm Immulite, however the system may be adapted to cover these in the future. It can be accessed via the internet at: http://www.charite.de/ch/uro/schwerpunkte/pclass.html