Transrectal ultrasonography. Early experience with use as prostate cancer detection tool.

Two hundred forty asymptomatic males, aged fifty-five to seventy years, underwent transrectal ultrasound of the prostate as part of a screening examination in conjunction with The National Prostate Cancer Detection Project (NPCDP). Nineteen prostate adenocarcinomas were detected, eight of which were nonpalpable. Fifteen of these patients had pathologic Stage B, 2 had microscopic Stage C (seminal vesicle involvement), and 2 had Stage D2 (bone) disease. While the activity and treatment of the eight nonpalpable lesions remain in question, the diagnosis certainly was made only with this type of examination. The use of transrectal ultrasound as a screening tool must continue to be prospectively evaluated in a multicenter trial.