Histologic grading as predictor of response to chemotherapy in patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma

In patients with hormone-resistant, Stage D adenocarcinoma of the prostate histologic grading using the Gleason classification allowed stratification of a subgroup of patients in whom response to chemotherapy could be predicted from the growth pattern of the original prostatic tumor. Sixteen of 30 patients (53 per cent) with Gleason sums of 6 or 7 demonstrated a response to chemotherapy. Conversely, only 4 of 21 patients (19 per cent) with elevated Gleason sums of 8, 9, or 10 achieved a response to chemotherapy (P