Is a Single Focus of Low-Grade Prostate Cancer Diagnosed on Saturation Biopsy Predictive of Clinically Insignificant Cancer?

Objectives: To evaluate the incidence of indolent prostate cancer (PCa; <0.5 ml cancer and Gleason score, GS, ≤6) in men with microfocal PCa diagnosed on saturation biopsy (SPBx) submitted to radical retropubic prostatectomy. Methods: From January 2005 to December 2008, 413 patients (median age 61.5 years) underwent SPBx (median 30 cores). A single neoplastic microfocus (5% or less of cancer in a single core) was found in 55 men and all patients underwent retropubic prostatectomy. Median PSA was equal to 8.2 ng/ml, digital rectal examination was negative and GS was 6 in 40 cases and not evaluable in 15 cases. Results: Prostatectomy specimens showed a significant cancer in 48/55 (87.3%) patients with a median GS of 6.2 (range 5–8), presence of extraprostatic extension and positive surgical margins in 15 (27.3%) and 8 (14.5%) cases, respectively. Six patients had an indolent PCa, and in 1 case no tumor was found. Conclusions: Patients with a single microfocal PCa diagnosed on SPBx corresponded to an insignificant cancer in surgical specimens only in 12.7% of cases, but they should be informed that they may harbor more aggressive disease with a risk of non-organ-confined cancer that in our series was 27.3%. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]