Elsevier

Human Pathology

Volume 25, Issue 8, August 1994, Pages 797-801
Human Pathology

Original contribution
Frequency of apoptotic bodies positively correlates with Gleason grade in prostate cancer

https://doi.org/10.1016/0046-8177(94)90249-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Tissue samples from patients with carcinoma of the prostate of various Gleason grades were examined for the frequency of apoptotic bodies. Apoptotic bodies were scored by morphometric methods using hematoxylin-eosin (HE)-stained sections from surgical specimens of prostate cancer. Non-neoplastic prostate tissue adjacent to foci of cancer showed a very low frequency of apoptotic bodies. Significantly larger numbers of apoptotic bodies were observed in the areas of carcinoma than in the non-neoplastic control tissues, regardless of Gleason grade. Interestingly, a positive correlation was noted between apoptotic bodies and increasing Gleason grade. The positive correlation suggests that increased programmed cell death is a feature of the increasing malignant potential that is associated with higher Gleason grade in prostate cancer.

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    Supported by grants no. CA50588 and SPORE P50-CA58204 from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, and in part by the Veterans Administration, Wilmington, DE.

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