Echogenic structure of prostatic cancer imaged on radical prostatectomy specimens.

Twenty radical prostatectomy specimens were scanned ultrasonically in vitro using a transrectal ultrasonic probe to evaluate the ultrasonic pattern of prostatic cancer. Histological and ultrasonic findings of the same areas were compared. No ultrasonic pattern specific for intracapsular prostatic cancer was found. Most often (in 40% of cases) the areas of prostatic cancer appeared hypoechoic on the ultrasonograms. In 30% of cases the carcinoma had a hyperechoic or mixed ultrasonic pattern, and in 30% the echo structure of the prostate was fairly uniform; intracapsular cancer could not be detected ultrasonically in these latter cases. The lack of a specific ultrasonic pattern for intracapsular prostatic carcinoma reduces the value of transrectal ultrasonography in detecting early intracapsular cancers. The main value of ultrasonography in patients with prostatic cancer is in the preoperative staging of the disease and in the follow-up of patients.