Diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma after therapy.

CONTEXT: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer of men in the United States and is third only to lung and colon cancer as a cause of cancer death. In 2006, 27,350 Americans will die of prostate cancer, and 234,460 new cases will be diagnosed. Treatment changes in the benign and cancerous prostate create diagnostic challenges in pathologic interpretation, particularly in needle biopsy specimens and in evaluation of extraprostatic metastases.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize therapy-related pathologic findings in the prostate with emphasis on recognition of treated adenocarcinoma.

DATA SOURCES: Extensive review of published literature and the authors' experience.

CONCLUSIONS: Following therapy for prostate cancer, it is critical that the clinician provide the pertinent history of androgen deprivation or radiation therapy to assist the pathologist in rendering the correct diagnosis.