[Vanishing prostate cancer. Clinical presentation and histological review].
The impossibility to identify cancer in the final surgical specimen has been reported in some patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy. This has been attributed to either a wrong diagnosis or pathological technique, or to spontaneous or biopsy-induced cure of the tumor. This study assessed the incidence of vanishing prostate cancer in our department for 12 years, the clinical characteristics of patients, and their follow-up. The initial puncture biopsies were also re-evaluated using inmunohistochemical stains. Prostate cancer could not be confirmed in the surgical specimen in six out of 346 operated patients (1.73%) receiving no neoadjuvant therapy. When the initial biopsies were reviewed, cancer was only confirmed in three patients. Incidence of vanishing cancer at our department in the 12-year period considered was 0.86% (3/346). No tumor relapse occurred during 4.5 years of follow-up.
Ebel Sepúlveda
Luis
L
Servicio de Urología, Hospital Base Valdivia, Valdivia, Chile. luisebel@uach.cl
Corti
Dante
D
Foneron
Andónico
A
Troncoso
Luis
L
Gil
Gonzalo
G
Carpio
Daniel
D
Cañoles
Raúl
R
Hornig
Alvaro
A
Valdevenito
Gonzalo
G
D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*