title: Frequency of apoptotic bodies positively correlates with Gleason grade in prostate cancer.
abstract: Tissue samples from patients with carcinoma of the prostate of various Gleason grades were examined for the frequency of apoptotic bodies. Apoptotic bodies were scored by morphometric methods using hematoxylin-eosin (HE)-stained sections from surgical specimens of prostate cancer. Non-neoplastic prostate tissue adjacent to foci of cancer showed a very low frequency of apoptotic bodies. Significantly larger numbers of apoptotic bodies were observed in the areas of carcinoma than in the non-neoplastic control tissues, regardless of Gleason grade. Interestingly, a positive correlation was noted between apoptotic bodies and increasing Gleason grade. The positive correlation suggests that increased programmed cell death is a feature of the increasing malignant potential that is associated with higher Gleason grade in prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Scott Department of Urology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aihara
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Scardino
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008938:Mitosis; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling