Prostate Cancer Tests
Each of the tests below will assist your physician in determining if cancer has spread outside the prostate:

Bone Scan
It is a nuclear medicine test in which a small amount of radioactive material is injected into the blood. This test provides images of the bones which can show areas of increased uptake of the radioactive material suggesting the presence of cancer.

CAT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography)
It is a detailed x-ray that can show both bones and soft tissue of the body.
It is often used to look for enlarged lymph nodes in the pelvis which may indicate the spread of cancer outside of the prostate.

MRI Scan (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
An MRI scan uses a very strong magnet, radio waves, and a computer to make very detailed images of areas inside the body. A device called an endorectal coil, which is placed inside the rectum just before the scan, can be used to give very detailed images of the prostate and the immediate surrounding tissue.

This test can be very helpful in determining if cancer has extended outside the prostate and into adjacent organs or tissues. Newer techniques such as diffusion weighting and dynamic contrast enhancement provide even more detail within and around the prostate. MRI images can be fused with real-time ultrasound images to more accurately direct biopsy needles at areas suspicious for cancer within the prostate.

Sodium Fluoride PET Scan
This is a nuclear medicine test similar to a bone scan (above) using a radioactive dye called 18F-sodium fluoride. This test can be used if findings on bone scan are negative, but there is still a high suspicion of spread of prostate cancer to the bones.