Initial atypical diagnosis with carcinoma on subsequent prostate needle biopsy: findings at radical prostatectomy.

PURPOSE: Limited data exist on radical prostatectomy findings performed for cancer on repeat biopsy following an initial atypical biopsy (atypical glands suspicious but not diagnostic for carcinoma).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared 169 such men to 15,810 without an initial diagnosis of atypical glands suspicious for carcinoma who underwent radical prostatectomy from 1993 to 2008.

RESULTS: Median time between atypical biopsy and repeat biopsy showing cancer was 6.1 months (range 0.7 to 94.8). An initial diagnosis of atypical glands suspicious but not diagnostic for carcinoma correlated significantly with nonpalpable disease, biopsy Gleason score 6 and lower tumor volume on needle cores. Compared to radical prostatectomy without prior atypical findings, radical prostatectomy cases with an initial atypical biopsy had a significantly lower Gleason score (p <0.0001) and pathological stage (p = 0.001), with 126 (74.5%) Gleason score 6 and 140 (83.0%) organ confined. Only 2 (1.2%) cases showed seminal vesicle involvement and none had lymph node metastases. In addition to known preoperative parameters (clinical stage and biopsy Gleason score), the presence of initial atypical biopsy was an independent predictor of organ confined disease at radical prostatectomy. However, when tumor volume on needle biopsy was included in the multivariate analysis a diagnosis of atypical glands suspicious but not diagnostic for carcinoma lost its independent predictive value.

CONCLUSIONS: Prostate cancer diagnosed on needle biopsy following a diagnosis of atypical glands suspicious but not diagnostic of carcinoma demonstrates a significantly lower tumor grade and pathological stage at radical prostatectomy than cancer without such a diagnosis. Correlating with lower tumor volume on biopsy, the presence of initial atypical biopsy predicts organ confined disease at radical prostatectomy. However, a few cases with high Gleason score and advanced pathological stage in this group emphasize the importance of re-biopsy within 3 to 6 months following such a diagnosis.