Objective: To investigate the potential utility of a new combined immunostaining technique for diagnosing prostate cancer from histological analysis of needle biopsy specimens.
Materials and methods: Tissue was immunostained with a combination of antibodies against a basal cell marker (p63), and an enzyme commonly overexpressed in prostate cancer (p504s), on 63 small prostate cancer foci (<1 mm) and 109 cases of ambiguous lesions observed in needle biopsies.
Results: After p63/p504s immunostaining, 93% of the ambiguous lesions (102/109) were classified. The final diagnoses retained were: 92 prostate cancers, seven atypical small acinar proliferations suspected of being malignant but undiagnosed, 21 prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, five atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and 36 atrophic benign mimickers of cancer.
Conclusions: Combining p504s as a positive marker for prostate cancer and p63 as a negative marker might improve diagnostic performance, sensitivity and specificity, and lead to fewer false-negative results. This simple immunostaining procedure should reduce the percentage of residual ambiguous lesions and the need for additional biopsies.