THE CANINE PROSTATE IS A SPONTANEOUS MODEL OF INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA AND PROSTATE-CANCER PROGRESSION

Increasing evidence suggests that high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) represents a precancerous stage in the morphologic co ntinuum of progression from benign epithelium to carcinoma. In this re port, we summarize our work characterizing the high grade PIN that occ urs spontaneously in the canine prostate. The similarity between canin e and human PIN for basal cell layer disruption, proliferative index, microvessel density, and its association with carcinoma suggest that t he canine prostate may be a useful model for studying carcinogenesis a nd cancer progression.