Communicating prostate biopsy results

Abstract Prostate biopsy data are critical for patient management. Guidelines focus of detailed criteria to ensure that these are precisely and reproducibly reported. However, conflicting recommendations by different expert groups have led to significant reporting variation that could negatively impact patient care. We describe a different approach focusing on optimising communication of histopathological parameters such as tumour extent and grade to the clinical team. Communication is crucial because clinicians usually do not view histological material and are dependent on the information included in the histopathology report. Precision could become less critical if the biopsy findings are effectively conveyed by the pathologist and correctly interpreted by the clinician. Strategies to effectively communicate the message in contentious scenarios such when a prostate needle biopsy set contains prostate cancer that is discontinuous, of borderline grade, of disparate grades or associated with intraductal carcinoma of the prostate are outlined.