Prostate Cancer · Short answers
Do I need to stop blood thinners before a biopsy?
Often, yes, but it depends on the medicine and why you take it.
The short answer
Often, yes, but it depends on the medicine and why you take it.
A closer look
Never stop a blood thinner on your own. Our team will coordinate with the doctor who prescribed it, so any pause is planned with both doctors involved.
Some men can stay on low-dose aspirin.
What you can do next
Call us if you take a blood thinner and have a biopsy or procedure coming up.
How we talk about this in Johns Creek and Cumming
If this topic is why you are booking, tell us when you call or use Book online so we can place you in Johns Creek or Cumming. Operating-room steps that follow a clinic plan are performed at Johns Creek.
A related official video
An official Advanced Urology video on this topic.
Watch: #020 - Decoding PSMA PET / CT for Prostate CancerWhat the video covers. Titled "#020 - Decoding PSMA PET / CT for Prostate Cancer." The public description covers a prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan, used to look for prostate cancer.
Where to read more
- Our page on this topic
- Johns Creek Clinic & Surgery Center
- Cumming Clinic
- Read this topic on learn.advancedurology.com
- Related page on advancedurology.com
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Do I need to stop blood thinners before a biopsy?
Often, yes, but it depends on the medicine and why you take it.
Can I discuss this at either office?
Yes. We see patients at the Johns Creek Clinic & Surgery Center and at the Cumming Clinic. Mention prostate cancer when you book, and we will place the visit.
Schedule your visit with Advanced Urology, with locations across metro Atlanta. Call 678-344-8900 or Book online.
How we handle blood thinners in this practice, without asking you to guess
Bring the bottle or a clear name and dose to the pre-biopsy visit at Johns Creek or Cumming. Our urologists will say whether a pause is needed, for how long, and whether the clinician who prescribed the thinner has to be part of that plan. Leave a prescribed blood thinner in place until our urologists and the clinician who prescribed it have a plan.
When to call before the biopsy day
If the written instructions and the label on your medicine seem to disagree, call 678-344-8900 before the morning of the procedure. If you have not yet decided on a biopsy, start with a PSA visit and bring the same medicine list. Related reading: our article on how biopsy results are delivered, and the official prostate-cancer videos below.
Official prostate-cancer videos, for the larger work-up around a biopsy
These official practice videos — a PSMA PET/CT explainer plus a DocTalk with Dr. Nicholas Farber — are about the wider prostate-cancer path, not about blood thinners themselves. We include them because a biopsy decision often sits in that path.
- Watch: #020 - Decoding PSMA PET / CT for Prostate Cancer
What the video covers. Titled "#020 - Decoding PSMA PET / CT for Prostate Cancer." The public description covers a prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan, used to look for prostate cancer.
Watch: DocTalk: Primary Care Physician & Urologist Discuss Prostate CancerWhat the video covers. Titled "DocTalk: Primary Care Physician & Urologist Discuss Prostate Cancer." The public description states that early prostate cancer typically presents no symptoms, and it features Dr. Farber of this practice and Piedmont Internal Medicine's Dr. Cutler on their approach.
Whenever a visit would help, the Johns Creek and Cumming teams are a phone call or a booked appointment away.