PROGNOSTIC-SIGNIFICANCE OF NEUROENDOCRINE DIFFERENTIATION IN CLINICALLY LOCALIZED PROSTATIC-CARCINOMA

Several recent studies have focused attention on neuroendocrine differ entiation (NED) in prostatic carcinoma (PC). Clinical studies have sho wn PC with NED to behave aggressively and to be associated with poor p rognosis. To evaluate NED as an independent prognostic factor, we cond ucted a retrospective study of 87 patients with clinically localized P C who underwent radical prostatectomy. The presence of neuroendocrine tumor cells was confirmed by positive immunostaining for serotonin, ch romogranin A, and neuron-specific enolase. The correlation between NED and disease progression was assessed. Progression of cancer was demon strated in 35 (40%) of the patients. The presence of NED was confirmed in 60 (69%) of cases, and of these patients 26 (43%) manifested evide nce of disease progression. Disease progression was also manifest in n ine (33%) of the 27 patients without evidence of NED. Thus, in the set ting of clinically localized carcinoma of the prostate, NED does not a ppear to be a statistically significant independent prognostic factor. Prostate Supplement 8:37-42, 1998. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.