Epidermal growth factor and prostatic carcinoma: an immunohistochemical study.

Associations between epidermal growth factor (EGF) and carcinoma of the prostate (CAP) have not been systematically investigated. We used indirect immunohistochemical techniques to demonstrate cytoplasmic EGF in paraffin-embedded sections of the following primary prostatic tissues: benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (N = 10), BPH adjacent to CAP (N = 42), clinically localized CAP (N = 45), untreated metastatic CAP (N = 10), and metastatic CAP after varying periods of androgen deprivation (N = 10). In six of the latter 10 cases biopsies of the primary tumor obtained before androgen deprivation therapy were also available for study. Three of the BPH specimens (6%) and 44 of the CAP specimens (68%) stained. Forty per cent of the localized tumors stained but all untreated and treated metastatic tumors stained (p less than 0.01). There were direct but statistically insignificant correlations between the demonstration of EGF and both the Gleason score of localized and untreated metastatic tumors and the pathologic stage of localized tumors. The proportion of malignant cells stained in EGF positive tumors was similar regardless of Gleason score, pathologic stage or the presence or absence of metastases. However, the proportion of cells stained was greater in five of six specimens obtained during hormonal deprivation compared to specimens of the same tumor obtained before treatment. These data suggest that some prostatic cancers interact with EGF and that the interaction may be influenced by the androgenic milieu.