Correlation between Gleason score of needle biopsy and radical prostatectomy tissue

Predictors of Gleason score upgrading in a large African-American population

PURPOSE

Gleason score from biopsy specimens is important for prostate cancer (PCa) risk stratification and influences treatment decisions. Gleason score upgrading (GSU) between biopsy and surgical pathology specimens has been reported as high as 50 % and presents a challenge in counseling low-risk patients. While recent studies have investigated predictors of GSU, populations in these studies have been largely Caucasian. We report our analysis of predictors of GSU in a large urban African-American population.

METHODS

A total of 959 patients with D'Amico low-risk prostate cancer underwent radical prostatectomy at Georgetown University or Washington Hospital Center between January 2005 and July 2012. Race, age, PSA, body mass index (BMI), cancer of the prostate risk assessment (CAPRA) score, and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy characteristics (percent of biopsy cores showing adenocarcinoma, highest percent of biopsy core involved with cancer, and measured TRUS prostate volume) were analyzed with both univariate and multivariate analyses to identify significant predictors of GSU while controlling for clinical parameters.

RESULTS

Of the 959 cases, 288 (30.0 %) were upgraded on final pathologic specimen with approximately 38 % (133/355) of African-American patients experiencing GSU. BMI (P = 0.02), percent positive biopsy cores (P < 0.01) and percent of core involved with cancer (P < 0.01), increasing CAPRA score, and serum PSA were independent predictors of GSU on both uni- and multivariate regression analyses. African Americans had a 73 % increase in the incidence of GSU over other races.

CONCLUSION

More than a quarter of low-risk prostate cancer patients were upgraded on final pathology in our series. Higher BMI, serum PSA, CAPRA score, percent of cores positive, and percent of cores involved were independent predictors of GSU. Individuals with those clinical parameters may harbor occult high-grade disease and should be carefully counseled on treatment decisions.

Predictors for clinically relevant Gleason score upgrade in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate clinical predictors for Gleason score upgrade (GSU) in radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen, especially in patients with 'very' low risk PCA (T1c and biopsy Gleason score ≤6 and PSA <10 ng/ml and ≤2 positive biopsy cores and PSA density <0.15).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

402 consecutive patients undergoing RP between 2004 and 2006, including a subgroup of 62 patients with 'very' low risk PCA, were examined. Patients were categorized for clinically relevant GSU (defined as upgrade into a higher PCA risk category). Parameters including number of biopsy cores obtained, positive biopsy cores, prostate weight, PSA, DRE and pathology department were evaluated for their role as predictors. Furthermore, GSU in RP specimen was analyzed for its impact on pT-stage.

RESULTS

Clinically relevant GSU occurred in 38.1% in the whole cohort and in 32.3% in the 'very' low risk PCA subgroup. Gleason score downgrade (GSD) occurred in 4.7%. Number of biopsy cores obtained and prostate weight were independent negative predictors of GSU in all 402 patients (P = 0.02 and P = 0.03, respectively). In the 'very' low risk group, only number of biopsy cores obtained revealed as an independent negative predictor of GSU (P = 0.02). PSA, DRE, number of positive cores or pathology department were not associated to GSU. In the 'very' low risk group, GSU was related with extracapsular tumor extension (P = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Clinically relevant GSU in RP specimen is still a challenging problem. Increasing the number of biopsy cores lower this risk significantly. GSD is rare and thus of minor importance for treatment decisions.

Evaluating the cancer detection and grading potential of prostatic-zinc imaging: a simulation study

The present work deals with the analysis of prostatic-zinc-concentration images. The goal is to evaluate potential clinically relevant information that can be extracted from such images. In the absence of experimental images, synthetic ones are produced from clinically measured zinc-concentration distributions in certified benign and cancerous tissue samples, classified by the lesion grade. We describe the method for producing the images and model the effect of counting statistics noise. We present in detail the image analysis, which is based on a combination of standard image processing and segmentation tools, optimized for this particular application. The information on lowest zinc value obtained from the image analysis is translated to clinical data such as tumour presence, location, size and grade. Their confidence is evaluated with the help of standard statistical tools such as receiver operating characteristic analysis. The present work predicts a potential for detecting small prostate-cancer lesions, of grade (4+3) and above, with very good specificity and sensitivity. The present analysis further provides data on the pixel size and image counting statistics requested from the trans-rectal probe that will record in vivo prostatic-zinc maps in patients.

Saturation biopsy improves preoperative Gleason scoring of prostate cancer

We evaluated the differences between conventional needle biopsy (CB) and saturation biopsy (SB) techniques with regard to the prediction of Gleason score, tumor stage, and insignificant prostate cancer. Data from a total number of 240 patients were analyzed. The main group, consisting of 185 patients, was diagnosed according to a saturation prostate needle biopsy protocol (SB), by which more than 12 cores were taken per biopsy. The control group was diagnosed using CB, by which 12 or less than 12 cores were taken per biopsy (n=55). In the main group, the Gleason score of the biopsy was confirmed in 19.5%, in the control group in 23.5% according to the prostatectomy specimen (p=0.50). Upgrading after the operation was found in 56.7% in the main group and in 60% in the control group (p=0.24). Downgrading after the operation was found in 23.9% in the main group and in 16.3% in the control group (p=0.24). If the Gleason score of the postoperative specimens differed by only one point from the biopsy, we considered this a minor deviation. In the main group, 59% of the carcinomas were preoperatively classified correctly or revealed minor deviation in Gleason scores. In contrast, only 47% of the carcinomas in the control group were assessed correctly or with minor deviation in Gleason scores. Thus, the main group demonstrated a better rate of preoperative prediction in tumor grading assessed by Gleason score (p=0.05). In addition, the Gleason scores of both protocols were assigned to three groups (Gleason <7; Gleason 7; Gleason >7), and the group changes from the biopsy to the prostatectomy specimen were found to be significantly more frequent in the CB group (p=0.04). There was no significant difference between the two types of biopsy techniques regarding tumor stage or the detection of insignificant carcinomas. The advantage of the extensive prostate needle biopsy technique (SB) is a better preoperative prediction of the Gleason score as well as the risk groups with Gleason scores <7, equal to 7, or >7. Both techniques fail to detect insignificant prostate cancer.

Gleason score on biopsy: is it reliable for predicting the final grade on pathology?

OBJECTIVE

To assess the correlation of the Gleason score on biopsy and the final pathology after radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate adenocarcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In a retrospective analysis within a tertiary-care centre, the charts of 537 patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy from April 1989 to November 2000 were reviewed. The RPs were undertaken in one institution; 167 biopsies were taken and interpreted in the referring centres, and 355 were taken and interpreted in the authors' institution by up to 15 pathologists. All the final pathology specimens were interpreted by the same group of pathologists. The main outcome measures were: the pathological report of the biopsy including the primary and secondary Gleason grade; the final pathological grade (primary and secondary); the margin status; and the identification of the pathologist for the biopsy and final pathology.

RESULTS

In all, 390 patients had inclusion criteria (the Gleason grade before and after RP) available. For the individual scores 38.2% of tumours were undergraded, 32.6% overgraded and only 29.2% had identical grading in preoperative biopsies and final specimens. When grouped into more meaningful categories (Gleason 2-4, 5-6, 7 and 8-10) the correlation improved, with 48.5% of patients remaining in the same group after RP. For 39 patients the same pathologist assessed the biopsy and final specimen; in these cases individual scores were identical in 49% and group scores were identical in 64%.

CONCLUSION

Gleason grading of the prostate biopsy remains a poor predictor of pathological outcome. Assessment by the same pathologist reduces the discrepancy but over half the patients are under- or overgraded on final pathology. Clinicians should be aware of these limitations when using the biopsy Gleason grade in decision making.

Accuracy of transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy: histopathological correlation to matched prostatectomy specimens

BACKGROUND

The Gleason grading system is currently the world's most commonly used histological system for prostate cancer. It provides significant information about the prognosis. Therefore, Gleason score is accepted as an important factor in therapeutic decision-making for prostate cancer. This retrospective study assessed the correlation of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy and radical prostatectomy specimens in terms of Gleason scores.

METHODS

We reviewed the records of 103 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy due to clinically localized prostate cancer. The Gleason scores of the TRUS biopsies were compared with the respective Gleason scores of surgical specimen.

RESULTS

In 28.7% of cases, the TRUS biopsy score was the same as that of the radical prostatectomy specimen. The most significant discordance was the upgrading of well-differentiated tumors after surgery in 71.7% of cases. However, in 81.8% of cases with high Gleason score on TRUS, biopsy was correlated with poorly differentiated tumor after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Well-differentiated tumors on TRUS biopsy did not correlate with the grades of final pathology in the majority of cases; however, a high Gleason score on TRUS biopsy usually indicated a poorly differentiated tumor on prostatectomy specimen. Therefore, the treatment algorithms for particularly well-differentiated tumors should not be deduced from biopsy histology alone.