The heterogeneous Gleason 7 carcinoma of the prostate: analyses of low and high grade (risk) carcinomas with criteria of the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP).

Prostate carcinoma (PCa) with Gleason score (GS) 7 has to be examined differentially regarding its prognosis. Using the criteria of ISUP and supplementations, we attempted to analyze the heterogeneity of PCa with GS 7 of biopsy and corresponding specimens of radical prostatectomies (RP). PCa of 530 patients were graded according to Gleason under additional consideration of the state of the nucleoli. Investigating the biopsy specimens, we determined the pattern of Gleason 4 of GS 7, the extension of the tumors in percent, and the number of biopsies containing tumor. In the corresponding specimens of RP, the grading and the state of TNM with margins were assessed. Carcinomas with GS 7 (4+3) in biopsy and RP specimens were unequivocally assigned to the group of high-grade tumors. Carcinomas with GS 7 (3+4) were significantly different from carcinomas with GS 6 when only few and small nucleoli in GS 6 were present (low grade type, p≤0.0001), but were similar to the GS 6 group when nucleoli were prominent (intermediary type, p=0.71). The intermediary group showed an upgrading rate of 36% from GS 6 to GS 7. Furthermore the correlation between organ-confined and non-organ-confined growth showed differences of 63% and 37% in the intermediary group (p=0.0001). The values of grading, staging, margins and metastases indicate that carcinomas of the prostate with the Gleason 3+4 pattern correspond to an intermediary group of carcinomas in contrast to high-grade (high risk) carcinomas with GS 7 and pattern 4+3.