[Regressive changes after short-term neoadjuvant antihormonal therapy in prostatic carcinoma: the value of Gleason grading].

Although neoadjuvant, antihormonal therapy does not lead to an improvement in the outcome of prostatic carcinoma it is still used in the short-term in a subset of patients. Here we report the regressive changes due to this short-term treatment and analyse the impact on Gleason grading. The most frequent regressive changes in 82 tumors treated short-term were determined and quantified. The results were compared to a matched control group and also to the preoperative needle biopsies.A steep increase in regressive changes was observed within the first 4 weeks. After this point, changes increased only mildly. Within the first 2 weeks of treatment no significant changes compared to control tissue were present. Compared to the preoperative needle biopsies, pretreated tumors showed a significant upgrading. After 2 weeks of neoadjuvant antihormonal therapy, regressive changes are so great, that Gleason grading can no longer be recommended.