The frequency of prostatic involvement in radical cystectomy specimens for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the frequency of prostatic involvement in pathologic samples of the patients who had undergone radical cystectomy due to transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. MATERIALS The files of the patients who had been subjected to radical cystectomy due to bladder TCC between 1998 and 2004 were evaluated retrospectively. A total of 164 radical cystectomies had been done during this period. Seventeen cases were excluded because the primary tumour was not TCC or the patient had previously undergone prostatectomy. RESULTS Of 147 patients, 36 (24/4%) had prostate TCC and 19 (12.9%) had prostate adenocarcinoma. Two patients had both TCC and prostate adenocarcinoma. Twenty-one cases had superficial bladder cancer (T1) and prostatic involvement was detected in TCC cases but in 9.5% of those with adenocarcinoma. The prevalence of prostate adenocarcinoma in radical cystectomy samples (due to bladder TCC) is much lower in Iranian patients in comparison with the European and American patients (vs 12.9 and 17.5 to 45%, respectively). CONCLUSION Prostatic involvement by TCC had a direct relation with the stage (P = .01) and grade (P = .008) of the bladder tumour. If we try to preserve the prostate or its capsule during the radical cystectomy procedure, attention to these findings is worthwhile