Does biopsy spread cancer?

[Eadgbe]

I've been diagnosed with Stage 2/3 PC. I wonder whether biopsies, by piercing the prostrate wall, allow cancer sells to migrate outside the prostate. Certainly e-coli can be pushed into it, since I got sepsis from my directed biopsy. What is the danger of METS being introduced to organs outside it with a biopsy?

[Hidden]

Good question. I know someone that had a biopsy and an RP in his hometown and his PSA went down initially but then up to .7. A scan at the big university medical system determined he had a spot on his rectum, which he now has had radiated. He said they denied it came from anything the doctors did. I think I've read it is possible but very uncommon.

Somewhere in one of the Kwon videos I think he mentioned a man had cancer in his belly button area, which is where the surgery removes the prostate. He seemed to imply it came from the surgery

[Tall_Allen]

Probably not. The cancer in your prostate is probably all non-metastatic. Metastatic cancer differs from non-metastatic cancer in that metastatic cancer can survive outside of the prostate environment and travel systemically. Non-metastatic cancer has to undergo an Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) before it can migrate and spread. If any of the cancer in your prostate has already undergone EMT, it does not need a biopsy to spread. There have been a handful of cases of needle-tracking, but as I said, if viable outside the prostate, it doesn't need the biopsy to spread.

[Eadgbe in reply to Tall_Allen]

Can adenocarcinoma migrate through biopsy?

[Tall_Allen in reply to Eadgbe]

I just answered that. Only if it is metastatic already.

[dentaltwin in reply to Tall_Allen]

Wow--at this late date I don't remember ever hearing about this phenomenon, but apparently its importance in metastasis is fairly new. This is a little above my pay grade, but what I can understand is interesting--thanks!:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Tall_Allen in reply to dentaltwin]

I think it's been known at least since the 1980's, possibly earlier. Here's a review about EMT in oral development:

journals.biologists.com/jcs...

[dentaltwin in reply to Tall_Allen]

My confusion may be the nomenclature. This article discusses mesenchymal signaling of epithelial cells, which I'd known about--rather than conversion of epithelial cells to mesenchymal, which implies there's some kind of de-differentiation involved. Still above my pay grade, but interesting stuff--thanks.

[MrG68]

I think there's an accepted view that there's a small possibility that that can happen. But it's also considered that the biopsy benefits outweigh the risks.There was a book published by Ronald Wheeler specifically on prostate cancer about this, but I never read it so I don't know of it's good information or not.

I know that Dr Seyfried has also raised this possibility but I don't think there's any stats on the subject. I'm not sure how you could actually measure this.

[FMOH_N]

cancer.net/blog/2021-03/can...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[srose007 in reply to FMOH_N]

Thanks for posting the links. Small sample size but comforting.