TY - JOUR
T1 - Prostatic foamy gland carcinoma with aggressive behavior
T2 - Clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analysis
AU - Tran, Thuy T.
AU - Sengupta, Elizabeth
AU - Yang, Ximing J.
PY - 2001/5/21
Y1 - 2001/5/21
N2 - Foamy gland carcinoma is a recently described histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma characterized by abundant foamy cytoplasm and minimal cytologic atypia. The biologic behavior and biochemical nature of the foamy adenocarcinoma cells are unknown. Six cases of prostatic adenocarcinoma with marked foamy appearance were identified from radical prostatectomies. Clinicopathologic, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analyses were conducted. The patients ranged in age from 50 to 73 years (mean age, 65 years) with preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen levels ranging from 2.7 to 37.5 ng/mL (mean, 15.2 ng/mL). All six cases were bilateral high-volume tumors. Five of six patients had high-grade tumors with extraprostatic extension. The foamy tumor cells were negative for mucin and lipid stains, but were positive for colloidal iron and Alcian blue stain. Ultrastructurally, the foamy cells displayed numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles and numerous polyribosomes. The authors conclude that the foamy appearance of these tumor cells is the result of the presence of numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles, and not the result of the presence of lipid or neutral mucin. This study illustrates that foamy gland carcinoma is a distinctive histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma and is often associated with an aggressive behavior despite its deceivingly benign histologic appearance.
AB - Foamy gland carcinoma is a recently described histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma characterized by abundant foamy cytoplasm and minimal cytologic atypia. The biologic behavior and biochemical nature of the foamy adenocarcinoma cells are unknown. Six cases of prostatic adenocarcinoma with marked foamy appearance were identified from radical prostatectomies. Clinicopathologic, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural analyses were conducted. The patients ranged in age from 50 to 73 years (mean age, 65 years) with preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen levels ranging from 2.7 to 37.5 ng/mL (mean, 15.2 ng/mL). All six cases were bilateral high-volume tumors. Five of six patients had high-grade tumors with extraprostatic extension. The foamy tumor cells were negative for mucin and lipid stains, but were positive for colloidal iron and Alcian blue stain. Ultrastructurally, the foamy cells displayed numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles and numerous polyribosomes. The authors conclude that the foamy appearance of these tumor cells is the result of the presence of numerous intracytoplasmic vesicles, and not the result of the presence of lipid or neutral mucin. This study illustrates that foamy gland carcinoma is a distinctive histologic variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma and is often associated with an aggressive behavior despite its deceivingly benign histologic appearance.
KW - Colloidal iron
KW - Electron microscopy
KW - Prostatic adenocarcinoma
KW - Xanthomatous cytoplasm
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U2 - 10.1097/00000478-200105000-00008
DO - 10.1097/00000478-200105000-00008
M3 - Article
C2 - 11342773
AN - SCOPUS:0035002626
VL - 25
SP - 618
EP - 623
JO - American Journal of Surgical Pathology
JF - American Journal of Surgical Pathology
SN - 0147-5185
IS - 5
ER -