Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in men in the UK according to Cancer Research UK. It mainly affects men over the age of 50 and the risk is higher for people of African family background and people with a family history of prostate cancer.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has approved four tests for NHS use that carry a lower risk of infection.
At present, people with suspected prostate cancer get an MRI scan followed by a prostate biopsy for analysis. There are two ways of doing a prostate biopsy. In a transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) biopsy, samples are collected using a biopsy needle inserted through the rectal wall via the anus.
However TRUS can be associated with serious infections, sometimes requiring hospital admission and antibiotics.
NICE has now approved the use of local anaesthetic transperineal (LATP) biopsies instead, where the needle enters the body through the perineum, the skin area between the...