A histochemical study of glycosidases in benign prostatic hyperplasia and in prostatic carcinoma in the human.

In benign hyperplasia marked beta-glucuronidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity was seen in the prostatic epithelium whereas the reactions for 5 other glycosidases were only slight or negative. The intensity of the reaction for the glycosidases in prostatic carcinoma was dependent upon the degree of the differentiation. The possible importance of glycosidases for the invasiveness of prostatic carcinoma is briefly discussed.