Well differentiated adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

One hundred and one adenocarcinomas of the prostate that over a five-year period had been classified as being "well differentiated" or "grade 1" were reviewed and reclassified. Thirty-eight of the cases met strict criteria for such a classification. Twenty-six patients died of prostatic carcinoma. Seventy-five patients (74%) survived for five years, including 87% of the patients with clearly well differentiated carcinomas and 67% of those with somewhat less differentiated tumors. Forty-six percent of all patients including 22 of the 38 well differentiated review cases (58%) are now alive 7-11 years after prostatectomy without evidence of residual disease. Grading appears to be useful and the prognosis of well differentiated carcinomas is better than average but some cases even if focal and incidentally found will terminate with disseminated disease, usually more than five years after the original diagnosis.