[Small suggestive lesions of the prostate. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses -- report of the uropathology consultation service].

Punch biopsies have been taken from the prostate with increasing frequency in recent years, with a resulting increase in the number of diagnoses made. To check the diagnosis of "small two- or three-gland carcinoma" we prepared new H and E sections and, when the atypical glands were no longer available, also performed immunohistochemical analyses in 1,041 cases referred to our uropathology consultation service, comparing the diagnoses supplied by the referring doctors with the final diagnoses. In 61.6 of these cases histology confirmed the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the prostate; the diagnosis recorded when the basal cell marker was absent and the tumour marker P504S was strongly expressed was atypical microglandular proliferation or suspected carcinoma. Previous diagnoses of prostatic carcinoma were confirmed in 99% of cases. In this way we also confirmed a further 27.9% of cases of prostate carcinoma in the grey area of diagnoses endorsed "suggestive" or "suspected". The patients concerned were thus spared multiple screening biopsies and were assigned for definitive treatment.