Callinectes sapidus
The blue crab is a important bottom-dwelling predator and a member of the swimming crab family, Portunidae. It is widely distributed from Nova Scotia to northern Argentina, but along the coasts of North America, it is most abundant from Texas to Massachusetts. Blue crabs are opportunistic and will feed on a variety of live and dead fish, crabs, clams, snails, eelgrass, sea lettuce, and decayed vegetation. Male and female crabs can be distinguished by examining their segmented abdomen. The abdomen is folded and fitted snugly into a groove on the underside of the crab. The male's abdomen is long and slender, resembling an inverted "T". A female's abdomen changes as it matures; an immature female has a triangular shaped abdomen whereas, a mature female's is rounded.
Crabs grow by molting or shedding their shell. Just prior to molting, the crab is encased in both the hard, old outer shell and a soft, new one just beneath it. The formation of a new shell is evident along the margins of the swimming paddles of a crab. The earliest indication of the new skeleton is the formation of a black line along the rim of the paddles. When this line turns pink or red, the crab is referred to as a "peeler" or "shedder". Immediately after the molt, the crab's new shell is pliable and easily stretched. In this condition, the crab is called a "soft crab" or a "soft shell crab". Large amounts of water are consumed prior to and shortly after the molt, causing the soft shell to expand and increase in size. This entire process takes 2-3 hours and within 2 hours after the shed, the new shell begins to harden. The "papershell" is formed within 12 hours and an additional 2-3 days are needed before the shell fully hardens. Unlike male crabs that continue to molt and grow throughout their entire lives, females stop growing when they reach sexual maturity, usually after 21 or 22 molts. During this final molt, mating takes place.
Blue crabs mate from May to October in the brackish or slightly salty waters of Chesapeake Bay. Just prior to the final molt, an immature female crab, known as a "she-crab", is cradled by a mature male. The female is escorted by the male, commonly referred to as a "doubler", for a few days before and after her molt. During the molt, the male releases the female, but remains nearby. After molting, the female turns on her back and unfolds her abdomen. The male then transfers his sperm to the female. Although the female mates only once, she may spawn several times. The sperm received is stored and used to fertilize the eggs of all future spawnings. After mating, the two crabs resume the cradle carry until the female's shell hardens. Shortly after mating, the now mature female crab, known as a sook, migrates to the saltier waters of the Bay near the ocean. Adult males and immature females remain in the brackish waters of the Bay and its tributaries, migrating to shallow grassbeds, shallow muddy bottoms, and/or deeper waters of mid-Bay as temperatures begin to drop in the fall.
[young sponge crab with egg mass][mature sponge crab with egg mass]The female crab lays her eggs from 2 to 9 months after mating, depending upon when the mating took place. For example, a spring mating would result in a late summer spawn, while a fall mating would result in an early summer spawn the following year. Females develop an external egg mass on the underside of their abdomen which may contain between 750,000 and 8 million eggs, depending on the size of the crab. Young sponges are orange and gradually turn to brown and then black as the sponge matures. These crabs are called "sponge crabs" and hatching of the eggs occurs in approximately 2 weeks from June through September.
The newly-hatched larvae are called zoea and look nothing like an adult crab. These young crabs are microscopic in size and drift about in the water currents. It is believed that the majority of these developing larvae are transported into the ocean by an interaction of seasonal winds and bottom water circulation patterns, and eventually returned to settle on seagrass beds in the spawning area. After approximately 6 or 7 molts, the zoea changes into a post-larval form known as the megalops. The megalops has claws like a crab, but can swim and crawl on the bottom. Eventually the megalops settles and metamorphoses to the first crab stage which looks much like an adult crab, but is only 1/5 of an inch from point to point. As these young crabs develop their locomotion, they will migrate away from the high salinity waters near the mouth of the Bay up to more brackish regions. By winter, juvenile crabs can be found as far north as the Susquehanna Flats.
As winter approaches, most crabs will bury themselves in the mud and shallow grassbeds of the Bay. Female crabs will remain in the higher salinity waters of the lower Bay, whereas males will remain in the upper portions, migrating to deeper waters to spend the winter months. Little or no growth occurs from December to March, but when the temperature begins to rise, crabs become more active, begin feeding and searching for a mate.
Chesapeake Bay Management
The blue crab stock behaves as one unit throughout Chesapeake Bay; therefore, a unified management approach among Bay jurisdictions was initiated with the development of the 1989 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP). A comprehensive stock assessment of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab was also completed in 1996. The principal goal of this work addressed the status of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population, the optimal levels of harvest, and management strategies to preserve this precious resource. After this assessment was completed, a revised 1997 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab FMP was developed. This overall goal has not changed substantially from the 1989 FMP. The goal is: to manage blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay to conserve the baywide stock, protect its ecological value, and optimize the long-term utilization of the resource. To achieve this goal, a sustainable and prudent level of spawning stock must be maintained; regulations must adequately protect the resource and optimize harvest; there must be fair allocation of the resource and minimal conflict among user groups; data must be collected to monitor and manage the fishery; research priorities need to be identified; submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) should be protected and restored in lower Bay nursery areas; and water quality should be improved (For further information on the Plan or to obtain a copy, please contact Nancy Butowski).
The partners of the Chesapeake Bay Program, which include Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a tri-state legislative body; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), representing the federal government; and participating citizen advisory groups, will continue to work towards the goals of this plan and furthering understanding of this complex creature. The Chesapeake Bay Commission's Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC), with diverse membership from Maryland and Virginia, will continue to be a valuable forum to assure complementary approaches to blue crab management among the jurisdictions and insure that research needs are identified and pursued so that actions are timely and based on sound science.
[biologists doing a dredge survey]Maryland DNR fishery biologists use data obtained from commercial landings and surveys independent of the commercial and recreational fisheries to monitor crabs. The Maryland trawl survey, started in 1975, examines the abundance of both adult and juvenile blue crabs from May through October in the lower portions of the Chester, Choptank, and Patuxent rivers, Eastern Bay, and Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. Maryland DNR, in a cooperative effort with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), also conducts the Chesapeake Bay Winter Dredge Survey. This survey randomly samples the entire Chesapeake Bay and its rivers during the winter months when crabs are inactive, and together, with the summer trawl survey, provides an important and consistent way to monitor Bay trends in the blue crab population.
Commercial and Recreational Fisheries
The blue crab is one of the most important species harvested in the Bay, and has the highest value of any commercial fishery and supports a recreational fishery of significant, but undetermined, value. Blue crabs are harvested as hard shell crabs, peeler crabs just prior to molting, and soft shell crabs immediately after the molt. For current minimum size and harvest limits, please check our updated commercial and recreational regulations information.
The hard crab fishery represents the largest commercial component of the crab fishery in Chesapeake Bay, both in terms of total dollar value and quantity landed. [bushels of crabs]Principal techniques for commercially harvesting hard crabs include trotlines, crab pots and dredges. The crab pot is the most widely used gear throughout the Bay and harvests approximately 60% of hard crabs landed in Maryland. Trotlines harvest approximately 40% of hard crab landings in Maryland, and the winter dredge fishery occurs exclusively in Virginia.
Soft and peeler fisheries use scapes, peeler pots and bank traps for the capture of soft crabs and peeler crabs for the soft-shell business and bait industry. Peeler crabs are also harvested as bycatch when they enter hard crab pots.
Three major license categories for commerical crabbing in Maryland currently exist. They include the Limited Crab Catcher License (LCC), which permits the use of trotlines and up to 50 crab pots; the Crab Harvester License (CB3), which allows for the use of trotlines and up to 300 crab pots; and the Tidal Fish License (TFL), which is a consolidated license for the harvest of finfish and shellfish, including blue crabs with trotlines and up to 300 crab pots. Both CB3 and TFL licensees may purchase additional allocations for up to 600 pots (1 allocation) or up to 900 pots (2 allocations), with the assistance of one or two unlicensed crew members, respectively.
Recreational gears include baited hand lines, mesh rings, collapsible traps, trotlines, and dip nets. Waterfront landowners are also allowed to use crab pots but now their crab pots need to include a Crab Pot Bycatch Reduction Device. For further information on the design of this device click here.
Blue Crab Fun Facts:
* Callinectes sapidus means "Beautiful swimmer that is savory".
* Crabs reach maturity in 12 to 18 months.
* Few crabs live longer than 3 years.
* The largest crab recorded from Maryland was a male measuring 9 inches; however bigger crabs (10-11 inches) have been captured in DNR crab surveys.
* The annual harvest of hard crabs from Chesapeake Bay accounts for over 50% of total U.S. landings.
* Cannibalism of young blue crabs by larger crabs is common and may regulate population abundance.
* A spring-spawned crab can reach a size of 2½ inches by their first winter.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Dried Maldive tuna fish recipes : das_wunschdenken blogs on sulekha, Food blogs, das_wunschdenken blog from india
Dried Maldive tuna fish recipes : das_wunschdenken blogs on sulekha, Food blogs, das_wunschdenken blog from india
A dried Maldivian tuna fish is called 'Maasi Karuvaadu' and resembles a mouldy chunk of wood that your grandfather left in the attic sometime in the ice age to be discovered by Egyptologists. Obviously it is very unappetising to look at and I've taken the special trouble NOT to post a pic lest you tender damsels barf on seeing that. As it is we have a lot of injuries on this forum. Yea, Sweet Sup's injury kinda brought all my dreames crashing. Hope she gets well soon.
Once you break the chunk of dried tuna with a hammer or a wooden mallet it resembles flakes of waste wood.
Next you powder it in the mixie and store in airtight containers for further use. That is if you cook.
Chop 10 shallots and 5 green chillies and keep aside a teaspoon of red chilli powder. Pour about 3-4 teaspoons of oil in a kadai and saute the chopped shallots and green chillies.
Once they are sauteed well add the red chilli powder and saute till the raw smell disappears, now add about 100 gms of the dried tuna fish powder along with some curry leaves and fry well for 5 mins. Garnish with cilantro and your dish is ready. Simple and easy. Its a neat side dish that goes well with rice and dal or rice and rasam.
Another recipe which you can store for about a month:
Clean 100gms. of the powdered tuna, wash and dry roast in a pan till the moisture evaporates. Grate 1/4 a coconut and dry fry in a pan till golden brown. When cool, powder and set aside. Then finely chop 50gms. of small onions and split 4 dried red chillies into bits. Now, run the onions and chillies in a mixie. You then mix the onion-chilli thingy with the dry fried coconut and the tuna fish powder. Add little salt, and store in clean , airtight bottles. Can be eaten with hot rice and some ghee / gingelly oil.
Alternately you can make a salad-like sambal of fried slivers of okra tossed with sliced shallots, tomatoes, chillies, lime juice and pounded Maldive fish.
Amen
A dried Maldivian tuna fish is called 'Maasi Karuvaadu' and resembles a mouldy chunk of wood that your grandfather left in the attic sometime in the ice age to be discovered by Egyptologists. Obviously it is very unappetising to look at and I've taken the special trouble NOT to post a pic lest you tender damsels barf on seeing that. As it is we have a lot of injuries on this forum. Yea, Sweet Sup's injury kinda brought all my dreames crashing. Hope she gets well soon.
Once you break the chunk of dried tuna with a hammer or a wooden mallet it resembles flakes of waste wood.
Next you powder it in the mixie and store in airtight containers for further use. That is if you cook.
Chop 10 shallots and 5 green chillies and keep aside a teaspoon of red chilli powder. Pour about 3-4 teaspoons of oil in a kadai and saute the chopped shallots and green chillies.
Once they are sauteed well add the red chilli powder and saute till the raw smell disappears, now add about 100 gms of the dried tuna fish powder along with some curry leaves and fry well for 5 mins. Garnish with cilantro and your dish is ready. Simple and easy. Its a neat side dish that goes well with rice and dal or rice and rasam.
Another recipe which you can store for about a month:
Clean 100gms. of the powdered tuna, wash and dry roast in a pan till the moisture evaporates. Grate 1/4 a coconut and dry fry in a pan till golden brown. When cool, powder and set aside. Then finely chop 50gms. of small onions and split 4 dried red chillies into bits. Now, run the onions and chillies in a mixie. You then mix the onion-chilli thingy with the dry fried coconut and the tuna fish powder. Add little salt, and store in clean , airtight bottles. Can be eaten with hot rice and some ghee / gingelly oil.
Alternately you can make a salad-like sambal of fried slivers of okra tossed with sliced shallots, tomatoes, chillies, lime juice and pounded Maldive fish.
Amen
Friday, May 28, 2010
BONITO FLAKES
MARUKEI (SHANGHAI)CO.,LTD.& PARTNERSHIP
●Raw material
Japanese Name:Bonito,scientific name: Katsuwonus pelamis,English name: Skipjack, Skipjack tuna, Oceanic skipjack, Bonito, Oceanic bonito, Striped tuna
Bonito grows along the equator 40 degrees north latitude, 40 degrees south latitude waters. Larger body length 1m, weight 25kg. Usually 40~ 65cm fish length has been used for katsuobushi, fish two to three years and less fat is best for producing bushi.
●Cut
Removal of head, skin and internal organs. With a kitchen knife into the back, cut into three pieces. Larger fish divided into five.
●display cage
Bonito will cut down the cross-section, arranged in the cage used in cooked products.
●Boil
Put the bonito into about 80 ℃ hot water heating, and then temperature increased to 95 ℃ for about 60-90 minutes cooking, put the cold after cooking.
●Bone Removel
Remove the bone manually after it be cool. Work in the water is called “the water bone way” and not in the water is called “the land bone way”. Take care it,otherwise destroy the section or causes the bonito distortion.
●Smoking
Eliminating the moisture calls“the fire”. Light Guang Ye wood (xylosma japonicum, pao tree) and smoke the products in 30 minutes to one hour.
●Drying
In dries in the storehouse, the main use “makes the storehouse way anxiously” and “dries the storehouse way”, in addition, but also has “the hand volcano way”. While uses Guang Ye hardwood,to reduce the bonito internal moisture, must carry on the heating, cooling, the steam boiling circulation repeatedly drying method.It has the very vital significance, this working procedure can the bonito internal moisture transfer surface, cause it even dry.
●KATSUOBUSHI
It needs 8 times to 12 times of smoking can form the katsuobushi. We named "katsuobushi" because of the surface full of jet black tar.
Work flow of Bonito flakes.
●Raw material
Raw material preserves in 5 degrees centigrade frozen storage. Puts in the pool and cleans up the foreign matter.
●Sterilization
Put the katsuobushi into the high-pressured sterilization pot for 10 mins under 105 degress centigrade then move to the coolingroom cooling.
●Shaving
0.03mm~0.05mm thickness of bonito flakes can dance on any dry food,just like a butterfly.
●Wind power classification machine /Metal detector
Weigh and Packing after checking by Metal detector
●Nitrogen Charge
Charge 98% nitrogen after vacuum.
●Products
Bonito flakes
Bonito Silk
●Packaging and storage
Packaging and storage
MARUKEI (SHANGHAI)CO.,LTD.& PARTNERSHIP
Marukei (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd
●Raw material
Japanese Name:Bonito,scientific name: Katsuwonus pelamis,English name: Skipjack, Skipjack tuna, Oceanic skipjack, Bonito, Oceanic bonito, Striped tuna
Bonito grows along the equator 40 degrees north latitude, 40 degrees south latitude waters. Larger body length 1m, weight 25kg. Usually 40~ 65cm fish length has been used for katsuobushi, fish two to three years and less fat is best for producing bushi.
●Cut
Removal of head, skin and internal organs. With a kitchen knife into the back, cut into three pieces. Larger fish divided into five.
●display cage
Bonito will cut down the cross-section, arranged in the cage used in cooked products.
●Boil
Put the bonito into about 80 ℃ hot water heating, and then temperature increased to 95 ℃ for about 60-90 minutes cooking, put the cold after cooking.
●Bone Removel
Remove the bone manually after it be cool. Work in the water is called “the water bone way” and not in the water is called “the land bone way”. Take care it,otherwise destroy the section or causes the bonito distortion.
●Smoking
Eliminating the moisture calls“the fire”. Light Guang Ye wood (xylosma japonicum, pao tree) and smoke the products in 30 minutes to one hour.
●Drying
In dries in the storehouse, the main use “makes the storehouse way anxiously” and “dries the storehouse way”, in addition, but also has “the hand volcano way”. While uses Guang Ye hardwood,to reduce the bonito internal moisture, must carry on the heating, cooling, the steam boiling circulation repeatedly drying method.It has the very vital significance, this working procedure can the bonito internal moisture transfer surface, cause it even dry.
●KATSUOBUSHI
It needs 8 times to 12 times of smoking can form the katsuobushi. We named "katsuobushi" because of the surface full of jet black tar.
Work flow of Bonito flakes.
●Raw material
Raw material preserves in 5 degrees centigrade frozen storage. Puts in the pool and cleans up the foreign matter.
●Sterilization
Put the katsuobushi into the high-pressured sterilization pot for 10 mins under 105 degress centigrade then move to the coolingroom cooling.
●Shaving
0.03mm~0.05mm thickness of bonito flakes can dance on any dry food,just like a butterfly.
●Wind power classification machine /Metal detector
Weigh and Packing after checking by Metal detector
●Nitrogen Charge
Charge 98% nitrogen after vacuum.
●Products
Bonito flakes
Bonito Silk
●Packaging and storage
Packaging and storage
MARUKEI (SHANGHAI)CO.,LTD.& PARTNERSHIP
Marukei (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu (11/15/2007)
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu (11/15/2007)
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu
IMPORTANT NOTES
Please know that items purchased from us will be shipped direct from California. Your item will arrive much sooner and the shipping cost will be far less than items being shipped direct from Japan. Take advantage of our combined shipping to save even more!
DETAILS OF ITEM
This piece measures 11" long x 4.5" high x 4.75" wide. T is a plane in the upper part of the box and a drawer. This piece was once often used kitchen tool for shaving dried bonito for stock and the sliding drawer with a handle is a container to receive the shaved bonito. Katsuobushi or dried bonito is the key element behind almost every Japanese food and it is the Flavor of Japan. Until around the 1950's, this item was a commonly used and familiar household item in Japanese kitchen; however, since the ready to use vacuum-sealed commercial packages became available, this once familiar kitchen tool is now a collectible vintage kitchen tool in Japan. Katsuobushi is made by smoking fresh bonito repeatedly and the works of nature completes the process by drying them in the sun together with the use of a type of mold (Eurotium Herbariorum) that absorbs the inner moisture of the fish completely. The most important component of Katsuobushi is Inosinic Acid that gives and enhances the flavor of food. Since the mold literally sucks every drop of moisture out of the fish, Katsuobushi is considered one of the hardest foods in the world, hence the use of a heavy duty plane. The inscription on the piece reads "Nihonbashi, Ninben." Ninben in Nihonbashi Tokyo has specialized exclusively in "katsuobushi", or dried bonito, since it was established in 1699.
This piece also has a rarely seen hinged bottom door panel for an easy clean out of the case. The entire piece was constructed out of Horse Chestnut called Tochi wood. The age of this piece is from the 1950's and it has never been used. T is only a slight amount of rust on the blade that should be easy to clean off.
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu
Japanese Vintage Bonito Shaver Plane Box Tansu
IMPORTANT NOTES
Please know that items purchased from us will be shipped direct from California. Your item will arrive much sooner and the shipping cost will be far less than items being shipped direct from Japan. Take advantage of our combined shipping to save even more!
DETAILS OF ITEM
This piece measures 11" long x 4.5" high x 4.75" wide. T is a plane in the upper part of the box and a drawer. This piece was once often used kitchen tool for shaving dried bonito for stock and the sliding drawer with a handle is a container to receive the shaved bonito. Katsuobushi or dried bonito is the key element behind almost every Japanese food and it is the Flavor of Japan. Until around the 1950's, this item was a commonly used and familiar household item in Japanese kitchen; however, since the ready to use vacuum-sealed commercial packages became available, this once familiar kitchen tool is now a collectible vintage kitchen tool in Japan. Katsuobushi is made by smoking fresh bonito repeatedly and the works of nature completes the process by drying them in the sun together with the use of a type of mold (Eurotium Herbariorum) that absorbs the inner moisture of the fish completely. The most important component of Katsuobushi is Inosinic Acid that gives and enhances the flavor of food. Since the mold literally sucks every drop of moisture out of the fish, Katsuobushi is considered one of the hardest foods in the world, hence the use of a heavy duty plane. The inscription on the piece reads "Nihonbashi, Ninben." Ninben in Nihonbashi Tokyo has specialized exclusively in "katsuobushi", or dried bonito, since it was established in 1699.
This piece also has a rarely seen hinged bottom door panel for an easy clean out of the case. The entire piece was constructed out of Horse Chestnut called Tochi wood. The age of this piece is from the 1950's and it has never been used. T is only a slight amount of rust on the blade that should be easy to clean off.
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Currently available treatment options for the early (localized) stages of prostate cancer are potentially curative. However, patients with locally advanced disease are less likely to be cured by today’s treatments.
The Problem of Misstaging
If your doctor finds that you have prostate cancer after carrying out a biopsy, the next question that he has to try to answer is, “What is the clinical stage of this cancer?” Unfortunately, this can be a hard question to answer in any particular case except that of clearly metastatic disease, where tumors have spread to parts of the body far from the prostate, and can be seen on a bone scan.
Hank had a DRE and a PSA a while ago, and went on to have a biopsy. This is what Hank’s urologist knew after he’d got the biopsy results:
On a classical basis, Hank has all the indications of clinical stage T2aN0M0 disease — locally confined prostate cancer in one lobe of the prostate detectable by DRE.
Hank was just 49 years old at the time, and he opted for minimally invasive surgery. Unfortunately, after the procedure, Hank’s doctor had to tell him that his prostate cancer was in fact locally advanced. Despite the fact that there was no good reason to expect this, prostate cancer cells were found in Hank’s seminal vesicles by the pathologist. His pathological stage is actually T3bNxM0. Why the Nx? Because there was no good reason for anyone to think about doing a lymph node dissection at the time of the surgery, so no one knows whether Hank’s regional lymph nodes are positive or negative.
About 18 months later, despite an excellent initial response to surgical treatment, Hank’s PSA starts to rise again. Hank has recurrent prostate cancer.
Of course, Hank’s doctor knew that this outcome was possible, and he had told Hank that this was a possibility when they discussed treatment options together. He also told him that this was a not a strong probability. That doesn’t make anyone any happier. But it happens … and it happens more often than anyone would like.
There is a strong and very natural desire on the part of patients and their physicians to want to believe (and thus to act as though) individual cases of apparently localized prostate cancer are going to curable — particularly those cases of prostate cancer which look as though they have a good chance of being curable — like Hank’s! After all, who wants to throw in the towel on the grounds that the worst case is bound to happen?
However, it is relatively easy to mis-estimate the initial clinical stage of an individual patient’s cancer. Most often, when the stage is wrong, the cancer is subsequently found to be of higher stage than the doctors first thought. In Hank’s case, because he insisted on having aProstaScint test when his PSA started to rise again, the cancer was actually discovered to be stage T3bNoM1a, with a tiny degree of extension of the cancer into one of Hank’s seminal vesicles and micrometastasis to a non-regional lymph node.
There is, in fact, no reasonable way that anyone could have known Hank’s precise stage at the time of diagnosis. Even if his doctor had given him the ProstaScint test prior to surgery, the degree of accuracy of this test is not sufficient to confirm distant metastasis in one of the non-regional lymph nodes, and (given the position of the apparently small tumor clearly confined in the prostate), there was also no apparent need to biopsy the seminal vesicles.
The Problem of Misgrading
The other thing that happens in somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of cases is the problem of misgrading, where the initial Gleason grades (and therefore the Gleason score ) assigned by the pathologist at the time of biopsy are later found to be higher (or lower) than the grade of the tumor when the actual prostate is surgically removed.
Data from over 1,350 patients published by one experienced academic center on the correlation between pre-surgical (biopsy-based) staging and post-surgical staging (based on the entire prostate) clearly demonstrated that the accuracy of pre-surgical staging at that institution improved significantly from 1992-96 (when there was 58 percent correlation) to 2002-06 (when there was 75 percent correlation). However, that still means that there is a lack of correlation among 25 percent of recent patients.
In this situation, of course, the pathologist can only grade what he or she gets to see. If the biopsy needle doesn’t “hit” a piece of tumor with the highest grade at the time of the biopsy, then no one could have known that there actually was higher grade tumor until the pathologist was able to look at the entire prostate after surgery.
As in the case of mis-staging, the published data also clearly show that undergrading at biopsy is far more common than overgrading. Of the 1,363 patients in the study referenced, 361 (26 percent) were undergraded at biopsy and just 65 (5 percent) were overgraded.
The point of this discussion is only, once again, to advise you that there are no certainties in the treatment of prostate cancer. Despite everyone’s best attempts, there will be many occasions when the apparent best is not good enough. Until we are able to develop absolutely definitive tests that can tell any individual patient whether there is any cancer outside his prostate, this situation will continue to be the case.