Distinction between intraductal carcinoma of the prostate (IDC-P), high-grade dysplasia (PIN), and invasive prostatic adenocarcinoma, using molecular markers of cancer progression

Prostate. 2000 Sep 1;44(4):265-70. doi: 10.1002/1097-0045(20000901)44:4<265::aid-pros1>3.0.co;2-i.

Abstract

Background: Prostate ducts and acini whose lumens are filled with malignant cells represent a well-recognized histological pattern recently termed intraductal carcinoma of the prostate (IDC-P). These tumors are often associated with rapid disease progression, and most recur after radical surgery. Controversy exists as to whether IDC-P should be recognized as a separate entity, an extension of high-grade dysplasia (PIN) or invasive carcinoma as described by the Gleason grading system. This study investigates the use of molecular markers in defining the position of IDC-P in the evolutionary hierarchy of prostate cancer progression.

Methods: IDC-P, high-grade dysplasia, and invasive cancers from a cohort of 20 selected radical prostatectomy specimens were screened for loss of heterozygosity (LOH), using 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers frequently lost in prostate cancer.

Results: LOH was absent in Gleason grade 3 cancer, infrequent in high-grade dysplasia (9%) and Gleason grade 4 cancer (29%), but common in IDC-P (60%). In IDC-P, and to a lesser extent Gleason grade 4 cancers, multiple sites of allelic loss in individual cases were usual.

Conclusions: Allelic instability provides further evidence that IDC-P is not a simple extension of dysplasia, nor does it represent invasion of Gleason grade 3 cancers into the ductal/acinar system. IDC-P and Gleason grade 4 cancer represent late but possibly separate events in prostate cancer evolution.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / genetics*
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery
  • Alleles
  • Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / genetics*
  • Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / surgery
  • Disease Progression
  • Genetic Markers / genetics
  • Humans
  • Loss of Heterozygosity*
  • Male
  • Microsatellite Repeats / genetics
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Prostatectomy
  • Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia / genetics*
  • Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia / pathology
  • Prostatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia / surgery
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / surgery

Substances

  • Genetic Markers