Glossary
A plain-language urology glossary.
Definitions for the terms you will hear during prostate cancer evaluation, BPH treatment, and image-guided urology, written for patients and families.
- Active surveillance
- Structured monitoring of low-risk prostate cancer instead of immediate treatment.
- A program of scheduled PSA tests, multiparametric MRI, and targeted re-biopsy used to safely defer treatment in men with low-volume, low-grade prostate cancer. Treatment is started only when biology shows the disease is progressing.
- Angiomyolipoma (AML)
- A benign kidney tumor made of blood vessels, smooth muscle, and fat.
- Most AMLs are found incidentally on imaging. Tumors larger than 4 cm or those that bleed are candidates for selective renal artery embolization, which preserves kidney function and avoids surgery.
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
- Non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate causing urinary symptoms.
- BPH is the most common cause of urinary symptoms in men over 60, weak stream, urgency, frequency, and nocturia. Treatment ranges from medication to image-guided options like prostate artery embolization (PAE).
- Cryotherapy
- Image-guided freezing used to destroy targeted tissue.
- Cryoprobes are placed under MRI or ultrasound guidance and cycled through freezing and thawing to ablate cancer cells, used for select prostate and renal tumors.
- Focal therapy
- Treating only the prostate tumor rather than the whole gland.
- Focal therapy uses image-guided ablation, cryotherapy, HIFU, laser, or nanoparticle-directed methods, to destroy the cancer plus a safety margin, preserving urinary and sexual function for the majority of patients.
- Gold-nanoshell ablation
- Photothermal destruction of prostate tumors using laser-activated gold nanoparticles.
- Engineered gold nanoshells accumulate in prostate tumors and convert near-infrared laser energy to heat, ablating the cancer with very high spatial precision. Dr. Rastinehad performed the first-in-human trial.
- HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound)
- Focused sound waves used to thermally ablate prostate tumors.
- HIFU delivers focused ultrasound energy through a transrectal probe to heat and destroy targeted prostate tissue without an incision. It is one of several focal therapy options.
- IPSS (International Prostate Symptom Score)
- A validated questionnaire that quantifies BPH urinary symptoms.
- The IPSS uses seven questions to score symptom severity from 0 to 35 and helps guide whether observation, medication, or a procedure is appropriate.
- MRI-fusion biopsy
- A targeted prostate biopsy that fuses prior MRI with real-time ultrasound.
- Suspicious zones identified on multiparametric MRI are co-registered with live ultrasound so the needle is placed directly into the lesion. MRI-fusion biopsy improves detection of clinically significant cancer and reduces detection of indolent disease.
- Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI)
- A prostate MRI protocol that combines anatomical and functional sequences.
- mpMRI combines T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCE) to identify and grade suspicious prostate lesions, scored using the PI-RADS system.
- PI-RADS
- A standardized 1-to-5 scale for scoring suspicious prostate lesions on MRI.
- Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) grades lesions from 1 (very unlikely cancer) to 5 (very likely clinically significant cancer). PI-RADS ≥ 3 generally prompts targeted biopsy.
- Prostate artery embolization (PAE)
- Minimally invasive embolization treatment for BPH.
- A microcatheter is advanced from the wrist or groin into the prostatic arteries and embolic particles block blood flow, shrinking the prostate. PAE relieves BPH without cutting prostate tissue and avoids sexual side effects.
- Prostatectomy (robotic)
- Surgical removal of the prostate using a robotic platform.
- Da Vinci robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy removes the entire prostate through several keyhole incisions, with nerve-sparing dissection when oncologically safe.
- PSA (prostate-specific antigen)
- A blood test used to screen for and monitor prostate disease.
- PSA is a protein produced by prostate cells. Elevated or rising PSA can signal cancer but also BPH, prostatitis, or recent instrumentation, so it is interpreted in context with MRI and exam findings.
- PSA density
- PSA value divided by prostate volume on imaging.
- PSA density helps distinguish PSA elevation from BPH alone versus clinically significant cancer. A density above ~0.15 ng/mL/cc raises suspicion and may push toward biopsy.
- PSMA PET
- A nuclear scan that detects prostate cancer using a PSMA-targeted tracer.
- PSMA PET/CT or PET/MRI binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen on prostate cancer cells and identifies disease outside the prostate at much lower volumes than conventional imaging.
- Renal embolization
- Image-guided occlusion of arteries feeding a kidney tumor.
- A microcatheter is advanced into the artery supplying a renal mass or angiomyolipoma; particles or coils shrink the tumor and reduce bleeding risk while preserving more kidney function than surgery.
- Transperineal biopsy
- A prostate biopsy approached through the perineum rather than the rectum.
- Transperineal access reaches the entire prostate, including the anterior gland, and has a dramatically lower infection risk than the transrectal approach.
- Varicocele
- Enlargement of the veins draining the testicle.
- Varicoceles can cause scrotal pain, testicular atrophy, and male-factor infertility. Embolization through a single pinhole at the wrist or groin treats the problem without incisions or general anesthesia.
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