Pathologic characterization of prostate cancers with a very low serum prostate specific antigen (0-2 ng/mL) incidental to cystoprostatectomy: is PSA a useful indicator of clinical significance?

Cystoprostatectomy specimens removed for bladder malignancy (1988-2000) at two referral centers (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, The University Hospital of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria) were examined for the coincidental finding of prostate cancer (PCA). Centralized examination of the prostate by a single uropathologist was performed if at the time of surgery the patient's serum PSA was < or =2.0 ng/mL and there were no suspicious lesions by digital prostate examination. Pathologic grade, stage, morphometric volume, number of tumor foci and association with areas of high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) were assessed by light microscopy. DNA ploidy and cellular proliferative index were assessed through digital image analysis. Clinically significant cancers were defined as tumors with > or =0.5 cc volume, Gleason 4 or 5 architecture, pT3, positive surgical margin, multifocality >3, nondiploid DNA content or proliferation index >5%. From nearly 1600 cystoprostatectomy specimens, 129 met the enrollment criteria. Thirty-patients (23%) within this group had PCA identified. Sixty percent of these tumors met the criteria for a clinically significant cancer. Nondiploid nuclear content was present in 17%. HGPIN was present in 70% and directly abutting carcinoma in 86% of prostates. The biologic activity of PCA appears to be independent of serum PSA. Any future definition of a clinically significant PCA should not be solely based upon histologic criteria, but needs to encompass clinical parameters (age, co-morbidities) and a noninvasive assessment of tumor volume and biologic doubling time.