Abstract
Two hundred consecutive staging lymphadenectomies with metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma and 100 consecutive autopsies with widely disseminated metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma were identified. The metastases from 41% of the staging lymphadenectomies were entirely differentiated (gland forming) and an additional 43% were predominantly (50% or more) differentiated. In contrast, the metastases from 70% of the autopsies were entirely undifferentiated (non-gland forming) and an additional 18% were predominantly undifferentiated. Further, five patients with completely or predominantly differentiated metastases in staging lymphadenectomies were found to have widespread completely or predominantly undifferentiated metastases at autopsy 4-7 years later. These findings suggest that dedifferentiation occurs within metastases and that dedifferentiation within metastases may be important in understanding the widespread dissemination of metastatic prostate carcinoma.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Brawn P. N., Ayala A. G., Von Eschenbach A. C., Hussey D. H., Johnson D. E. Histologic grading study of prostate adenocarcinoma: the development of a new system and comparison with other methods--a preliminary study. Cancer. 1982 Feb 1;49(3):525–532. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820201)49:3<525::aid-cncr2820490321>3.0.co;2-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brawn P. N., Johnson C. F., 3rd The metastatic potential of prostate carcinomas composed entirely of single malignant glands. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol. 1987;411(5):399–402. doi: 10.1007/BF00735219. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brawn P. N. The dedifferentiation of prostate carcinoma. Cancer. 1983 Jul 15;52(2):246–251. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19830715)52:2<246::aid-cncr2820520210>3.0.co;2-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Butler J. J., Howe C. D., Johnson D. E. Enlargement of the supraclavicular lymph nodes as the initial sign of prostatic carcinoma. Cancer. 1971 May;27(5):1055–1063. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197105)27:5<1055::aid-cncr2820270509>3.0.co;2-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FOULDS L. The experimental study of tumor progression: a review. Cancer Res. 1954 Jun;14(5):327–339. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FRANKS L. M. Estrogen-treated prostatic cancer: the variation in responsiveness of tumor ells. Cancer. 1960 May-Jun;13:490–501. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196005/06)13:3<490::aid-cncr2820130311>3.0.co;2-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kastendieck H., Altenähr E. Cyto- and histomorphogenesis of the prostate carcinoma. A comparative light- and electron-microscopic study. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histol. 1976 Jun 22;370(3):207–224. doi: 10.1007/BF00427581. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Leonard R. C., Smyth J. F. The heterogeneity of human cancers and its influence on metastases and therapy. Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol. 1985 Sep;21(9):1001–1004. doi: 10.1016/0277-5379(85)90281-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mostofi F. K. Grading of prostatic carcinoma. Cancer Chemother Rep. 1975 Jan-Feb;59(1):111–117. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nadji M., Tabei S. Z., Castro A., Chu T. M., Murphy G. P., Wang M. C., Morales A. R. Prostatic-specific antigen: an immunohistologic marker for prostatic neoplasms. Cancer. 1981 Sep 1;48(5):1229–1232. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19810901)48:5<1229::aid-cncr2820480529>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nowell P. C. The clonal evolution of tumor cell populations. Science. 1976 Oct 1;194(4260):23–28. doi: 10.1126/science.959840. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Poste G. Pathogenesis of metastatic disease: implications for current therapy and for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Cancer Treat Rep. 1986 Jan;70(1):183–199. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]