As those studies show, pathological grade usually stays the same as needle-biopsy or is downgraded. Sometimes yes, it is upgraded. If there is concern of something more serious lurking unseen, there are no less than a half-dozen other non-intrusive tests and calculations that can be done to estimate this rather than getting a prostatectomy just to find out.

Yes, 2nd opinions can be valuable (I’ve had two). But, I fully understand that much of the interpretation of images, scans, and slides is often as much an art as it is a science and dependent on the skill and experience of whoever is doing the reading. It’s good to have an independent set of eyes reviewing images, scans, or biopsies. But even then, there is no guarantee that that’s what it really is. Such is life….