[Lymph node staging in prostatic carcinoma Lymphography, pedal and intraprostatic lymphoscintigraphy, transcutaneous fine-needle lymph node biopsy and pelvic "guided" lymphadenectomy. Considerations on a series of 20 cases (1 September 1978-31 January 1980)].

Evaluation of lymph node involvement in carcinoma of the prostate is an essential step in staging when radical management is still possible. For this purpose, lymphography, lymphoscintigraphy, thin-needle transcutaneous lymph node biopsy, and pelvic lymphadenectomy have been variously combined since 1978 in 20 new cases (T1-T2-T3/Mo). Pedal lymphography displayed a good correlation with the histological data offered by adenectomy, and proved indispensable for the execution of transcutaneous biopsy under fluoroscopic control. Pedal lymphoscintigraphy is less invasive than lymphography. It provided suggestive morphological pictures of the lymph node chains, including those outside the pelvis; these, however, were difficult to interpret and must be regarded as of great, but complementary utility. Intraprostatic lymphoscintigraphy by injecting the radionuclide into the gland capsule permitted visualisation of the periprostatic nodes and confirmed previous experimental and clinical data. Lymph node metastases were seen in 50% of cases. Their frequency was inversely proportional to the degree of histological differentiation. In all cases, the external iliac and "obturator" (internal chain of external iliac group) notes were involved. Voluminous metastases were observed in two cases of "incidental" (To) carcinoma. The lymphography contrast medium was always found in the "obturators". It is suggested that these findings underscore the need for careful lymph node examination, even in the earliest stages of prostate cancer. They also raise further queries with regard to the treatment of incidental carcinoma.