Transrectal Ultrasound in Prostate Cancer: State of the Art

Stijn W.T.P.J. Heijmink M.D., Marijke Eijkemans, Joop van de Kant, Jelle O. Barentsz M.D. Ph D.

The current prostate cancer disease burden is considerable due to the high prevalence of the disease, widespread early detection, and the relatively long survival time since many men will die with rather than due to prostate cancer. In the United States, one in every three new cases of cancer in men is prostate cancer. Worldwide, in 2002, it was predicted that 679,023 men received the diagnosis while 221,002 died of the disease. Thus, prostate cancer had the highest incidence of all cancers in men in developed countries.