Quantitative determination of prostatic epithelial and stromal hyperplasia by a new technique. Biomorphometrics.

Recent studies of neonatal and pathologic growth of the prostate have postulated the possible importance of stromal-epithelial interaction in the control of prostatic growth. To allow further analysis of the possible importance of this interaction, a new technique has been developed that permits quantification of the total number of stromal and epithelial cells in the prostate gland. This technique has been termed biomorphometrics and is a combination of standard morphometric and biochemical methodology. This method has been applied to analyze the hormonal response of the stromal and epithelial cells of the rat ventral prostate.