title: Analysis of differences in clinicopathological features between prostate cancers located in the transition and peripheral zones.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study was to retrospectively characterize differences in the clinicopathological features of prostate cancer according to the zonal origin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Among 185 consecutive patients who underwent radical prostatectomy without any neoadjuvant hormonal therapies, this study included 134 patients who were diagnosed as having either transition zone (TZ) or peripheral zone (PZ) cancer according to the following criteria: TZ or PZ cancers were considered when more than 70% of the cancer area was located in the TZ or PZ, respectively. The various clinicopathological features were then compared according to this classification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this series, 27 patients were diagnosed as having TZ cancer, while the remaining 107 were diagnosed as having PZ cancer. The percent of positive biopsy cores in TZ cancers was significantly lower than that in PZ cancers; however, there were no significant differences in the anatomical location of positive cores between these two groups except for the middle of prostate where TZ cancer showed a significantly lower rate of positive biopsies than PZ cancer. The preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) value in patients with TZ cancer was significantly higher than that in those with PZ cancer. Furthermore, tumor volume in TZ cancers was significantly greater than that in PZ cancers. However, there was no significant difference in biochemical recurrence-free survival between patients with TZ and PZ cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the significantly high PSA value as well as great tumor volume compared with those of PZ cancers, TZ cancers had similar biochemical cure rates following radical prostatectomy, suggesting a less aggressive phenotype of TZ cancers than that of PZ cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Hyogo Medical Center for Adults, Akashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Iori
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurahashi
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyake
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen