Design: Prospective multicentre single-arm study
Population: 230 biopsy-naive men with suspected prostate cancer
Primary outcome: Adverse events and patient-reported outcomes at 6 months
Effect: 94.8% symptom-free after biopsy; cancer diagnosis vs worse QoL OR 12.94

The prospective multicentre DEPROMP study, published 17 September, enrolled 230 biopsy-naive men with suspected prostate cancer who had systematic, MRI-targeted and PSMA PET/CT-targeted transrectal biopsy in one session, and followed adverse events and patient-reported outcomes for six months.

After biopsy, 94.8% had no symptoms, and 87.4% were symptom-free at six months. Most adverse events were Clavien-Dindo grade 1–2, and infections were rare. At six months, 29.5% reported worse quality of life; 49.6% of those attributed it to the cancer diagnosis and only 1.7% to the biopsy. A cancer diagnosis was strongly associated with worse quality of life (OR 12.94).

Adding PSMA targets did not appear to make biopsy more morbid. The larger burden for patients is psychological, and counselling should be planned around the result, not only the procedure.

Reassure patients that combined MRI- and PSMA-targeted biopsy carried low complication rates here.
Most adverse events were minor; infections were rare despite the transrectal route.
Prepare patients for the psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis, which drove quality-of-life decline.
Transrectal biopsy was used here; transperineal routes may reduce infection further.

Why it matters

Supports adding PSMA targets without fear of extra morbidity, and shifts attention to the psychological burden.

The statistics, in plain English

An odds ratio of 12.94 means men diagnosed with cancer had about 13 times the odds of reporting worse quality of life than those without; the study was not designed to compare biopsy techniques.