Differences in pathological characteristics and prognosis of clinical A2 prostatic cancer from A1 and B disease.

A retrospective study was done of 53 cases of clinical stages A1 to B2 prostatic carcinomas staged by pelvic lymphadenectomy. The study compared the histologic differentiation, degree of lymphocytic infiltration, incidence of lymph node metastases and type of cellular response of clinical stage A2 to stages A1 and B disease. The available data pertaining to the incidence and survival of patients with stage A2 prostatic carcinoma were analyzed. Our study indicates that 1 of every 3 unsuspected carcinomas is of clinical stage A2. The stage A2 tumors are diffused, with a higher degree of undifferentiation and a higher incidence of lymph node metastases than tumors classified clinically as stages A1 and B1. Also the survival of patients with clinical stage A2 tumors is lower than the survival of patients with clinical stage B1 disease. Clinical stage A2 tumors are more advanced biologically than clinical stage B1 tumors.