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Transferrin receptors (TfR) were measured in benign and malignant prostatic cells by performing Scatchard analysis following the administration of 125I-transferrin. Established human prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3 and DU-145) as well as biologically aggressive variants (PC-3 ASC and PC-3 DES) were shown to possess significant levels of high affinity TfR when assessed in vitro. In contrast, TfR content was negligible in cultured stromal cell fractions derived from human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) specimens. Scatchard analysis was also performed on in vivo derived prostatic tissues: tumors resulting from the subcutaneous xenografting of PC-3 ASC cells into athymic, nude mice and fresh BPH surgical specimens. These tissues were dissociated and their stromal and epithelial components separated. TfR were only detected in the epithelial component of both malignant and benign epithelial cells. PC-3 ASC tumor cells exhibited TfR levels comparable to their in vitro expression and these levels were 10-fold greater than in the BPH cells. These findings suggest that elevated TfRs may serve as another useful marker of the transformed phenotype within human prostate tumor systems.

Early decatheterization directed by postoperative gravity cystography in 55 consecutive radical prostatectomy patients is described. The catheter-free status was 22 per cent by postoperative day 8, 62 per cent by postoperative day 11 and 80 per cent by postoperative day 14. Cystograms performed beginning on postoperative day 7 identified 3 groups of patients and dictated their management: 1) no extravasation resulting in immediate catheter removal (36 patients), 2) moderate extravasation requiring repeat cystography leading to decatheterization by postoperative day 15 (9 patients) and 3) severe extravasation necessitating prolonged catheter drainage (8 patients). A decatheterization protocol is presented.

We reviewed the tissue histology of 115 patients with clinically localized carcinoma to determine the correlation between tumor grades in the biopsy and the prostatectomy specimen. Gleason's primary and secondary pattern score systems were used, and each specimen was graded on a scale of 2 to 10 by a referee pathologist in a blind fashion. If the difference in the summed primary and secondary grades in the 2 specimens was no more than 1 grade, the discrepancy was regarded as insignificant. In all but 32 cases initial diagnostic biopsy specimens predicted accurately the final prostatectomy specimen score. The discrepancy was 3 grades in 7 cases and 2 grades in 25 cases. As a result, the lesions in 19 cases were changed from a well differentiated (2 to 4), a moderately differentiated (5 to 7) or a poorly differentiated (8 to 10) lesion to another of these categories. The lesions were upgraded from a well differentiated to a moderately differentiated category in 9 cases and from a moderately to a poorly differentiated category in 4 cases. The lesions were downgraded from a moderately differentiated to a well differentiated category in 6 cases. In 13 other cases the discrepancy was 2 but the lesion remained within the moderately differentiated group. Although in 19 cases the cancerous tissue occupied less than 10 per cent of the biopsy specimen, accurate prediction could be made in 16. The results indicate that diagnostic biopsy specimens will predict the grade of the primary tumor in a majority (72 per cent) but not all of the cases.

This review will present a new concept on the etiology of the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Conventionally, two known etiological factors for the development of BPH have been aging and the presence of functional testes. Assignment of these two factors, although reasonable, has not been conducive to aid the research community to identify and isolate the patho‐physiological agents that are directly responsible for the development of this disease. In the present review, we proposed a broadened concept of intrinsic and extrinsic factors for BPH. This concept offers identifiable research opportunities that will facilitate our quest in search for etiological agents for BPH. A brief description of various intrinsic and extrinsic factors and justifications for their selection will be discussed. Prostate 31:131–138, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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Our results suggested that the ventral prostate weight of the rat is increased without affecting the androgen axis by feeding the animals with high fat diet beginning at 21 days of age. This observation is potentially important since epidemiological data suggest that saturated fat consumption is a major risk factor associated with prostate cancer incidence rate.

We examined the roles of excretory urography and cystoscopy in the evaluation and management of 153 otherwise healthy women seen consecutively with recurrent urinary tract infections. The excretory urograms were entirely normal in 89 per cent of the patients; the abnormalities were incidental findings with no influence on subsequent management. These results, combined with the known expense and risks inherent in the use of iodinated radiologic contrast material, suggest that excretory urography be limited to those patients possessing other risk factors. These include a history of unexplained hematuria, obstructive symptoms, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, renal calculi, analgesic abuse, severe diabetes mellitus or bacteriologic evidence of rapid recurrence suggesting bacterial persistence within the urinary tract or an enterovesical fistula. On the other hand, cystoscopy under local anesthesia has essentially no risks and occasionally will yield information helpful in future management.