Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Clinical Research

Anterior tumors of the prostate: clinicopathological features and outcomes

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 17, pages 75–80 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background:

To determine whether prostate cancers detected in the anterior vs posterior zones impact clinicopathological features and patient outcomes. This information could potentially affect clinical management.

Methods:

A retrospective pathological review of 1528 radical prostatectomy specimens submitted between 1989 and 2011 was completed. Specimens were characterized as anterior zone vs posterior zone based on index tumor and predominant tumor volume location. The chi-square test was used to determine associations between tumor location and categorical patient features. Kaplan–Meier unadjusted analysis was used to compare biochemical recurrence-free and overall survival.

Results:

Tumors occurred predominantly in the anterior location in 155 (10.1%) of specimens. There was no difference between mean age, body mass index, racial distribution, family history, number of previous biopsies, clinical Gleason sum or pathological stage in the two groups. Fewer patients had clinically palpable disease in the anterior tumor group, 28.8% vs 40.7% (P=0.0150). Pretreatment PSA was lower in the anterior tumor group. Total tumor volume did differ with anterior tumors having a mean 8.3 cc vs 5.6 cc (P<0.0001) size and a higher incidence of positive margins (P=0.0008). There were no differences in biochemical recurrence-free or overall survival.

Conclusions:

Despite the potential for adverse pathological features in anterior-based disease, there appears to be no demographic predilection, notable delay in diagnosis or significant difference in survival outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Stephenson AJ, Scardino PT, Eastham JA, Dotan ZA, Fearn PA, Kattan MW et al. Preoperative nomogram predicting the 10-year probability of prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006; 98: 715–717.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Koppie TM, Bianco FJ, Kuroiwa K, Reuter VE, Guillonneau B, Eastham JA et al. The clinical features of anterior prostate cancer. BJU 2006; 98: 1167–1172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Furusato B, Gao CL, Ravindranath L, Chen Y, Cullen J, McLeod DG et al. Mapping of TMPRSS2-ERG fusions in the context of multi-focal prostate cancer. Mod Pathol 2008; 21: 67–75.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Rosen P, Pfisters D, Young D, Petrovics G, Chen Y, Cullen J et al. Differences in frequency of ERG oncogene expression between index tumors of Caucasian and African American patients with prostate cancer. Urology 2012; 80: 749–753.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bott SR, Young MP, Kellet MJ, Parkinson MC, Contributors to the UCL Hospitals’ Trust Radical Prostatectomy Database. Anterior prostate cancer: is it more difficult to diagnose? BJU Int 2002; 89: 886–889.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Wright JL, Ellis WJ . Improved prostate cancer detection with anterior apical biopsies. Urol Oncol 2006; 24: 492–495.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Meng MV, Franks JH, Presti JC, Shinohara K . The utility of apical anterior horn biopsies in prostate cancer detection. Urol Oncol 2003; 21: 361–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Iremashvili V, Pelaez L, Jorda M, Manoharan M, Rosenberg DL, Soloway MS . Prostate cancers of different zonal origin: clinicopahtological characteristics and biochemical outcomes after radical prostatectomy. Urology 2012; 80: 1063–1069.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Tokuda Y, Carlino LJ, Gopalan A, Tickoo SK, Kaag MG, Guillonneau B et al. Prostate cancer topography and patterns of lymph node metastasis. Am J Surg Path 2010; 34: 1862–1876.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Al-Ahmadie HA, Tickoo SK, Olgac S, Gopalan A, Scardino PT, Reuter VE et al. Anterior-predominant prostate tumors: zone of origin and pathologic outcomes after radical prostatectomy. Am J Surg Path 2008; 32: 229–235.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Puech P, Potiron E, Lemaitre L, Leroy X, Haber GP, Crouzet S et al. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of intraprostatic prostate cancer: correlation with radical prostatectomy specimens. Urology 2009; 74: 1094–1099.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Ouzzane A, Puech P, Lemaitre L, Leroy X, Nevoux P, Betrouni N et al. Combined multiparametric MRI and targeted biopsies improve anterior prostate cancer detection, staging, and grading. Urology 2011; 78: 1356–1362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Urology Service, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA

    J Mygatt, I Sesterhenn, I Rosner & D McLeod

  2. Center for Prostate Disease Research, Rockville, MD, USA

    I Sesterhenn, I Rosner, Y Chen, J Cullen, T Morris-Gore, J Barton, A Dobi, S Srivastava & D McLeod

  3. Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    J Cullen

  4. Urology Service, Mountain States Tumor Institute, Saint Luke’s Health Care System, Boise, ID, USA

    S A Brassell

Authors
  1. J Mygatt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. I Sesterhenn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I Rosner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Y Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J Cullen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. T Morris-Gore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. J Barton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. A Dobi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. S Srivastava
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. D McLeod
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. S A Brassell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S A Brassell.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mygatt, J., Sesterhenn, I., Rosner, I. et al. Anterior tumors of the prostate: clinicopathological features and outcomes. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 17, 75–80 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2013.54

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2013.54

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links