PROSTATIC-CARCINOMA - A MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS OF PROGNOSTIC FACTORS

Tissue specimens from 150 patients with localised prostatic carcinomas and 116 patients with prostatic carcinomas with distant metastases we re analysed for histological grade (WHO and Gleason) and immunoreactiv ity for prostate acid phosphatase (PAP), prostate-specific antigen (PS A), neurone-specific enolase (NSE), p53 protein, c-erbB-2 protein, cyt okeratins (AE1/AE3) and vimentin. After stratification for the presenc e or absence of distant metastases, multivariate regression analysis r evealed that WHO grading was the most powerful independent prognostica tor, followed by age and prostate acid phosphatase expression. There w as a trend towards reduced survival with decreasing prostate-specific antigen reactivity. The Gleason system showed poor prognostic ability. The analysis predicted reduced survival in the presence of extensive neurone-specific enolase reactivity, mostly because of one case of sma ll-cell carcinoma.