Description: Physicians may soon be able to identify which men have a more deadly form of prostate cancer, U.S. researchers report.

More than one million prostate biopsies are performed each year, note a team from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Of these, only 25 percent test positive for cancer, but another 25 percent have false negative findings, which means the test comes back negative even though it is later found that the patient does have cancer.

New research that is expected to be presented Feb. 22 at the Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Symposium in Orlando, Fla., may help identify which men need a second prostate biopsy after an initial negative biopsy, the Oregon group said.

"Until now, we've really had no clear and consistent method to recommend further follow-up or diagnostic procedures for men who have a negative biopsy. We have derived a simple marker, so urologists can identify who is at risk for high-grade prostate cancer,"