RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: During the last decade, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) used as a screening tool for prostate carcinoma, and the 18-guage prostate biopsy gun, which allows for relative ease of prostate gland sampling, became available at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The aim of this study was to investigate what impact these diagnostic tools have had on the histopathogy services and in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. METHODS: A retrospective search of all prostate tissue specimens received in the Department of Pathology over the ten-year period 1991 to 2000 was conducted and their histology reports examined. Parameters recorded included the type of specimen received and the diagnosis issued by the pathologist. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated a small but gradual increase in the total number of prostate specimens accessioned until 1997, followed by a marked and sustained rise. This pattern reflected almost exclusively a similar trend in the number of biopsy specimens reviewed. During the period under review, there was a marginal decrease in the number of chips accessioned but a slight increase in the number of open prostatectomies. Radical prostatectomies were frequently performed. A total number of 106 cases of carcinoma of the prostate was diagnosed from biopsy specimens (35 percent of the biopsies received) during the first 5 years of the study, compared with 362 in the latter period (48 percent of biopsies received). CONCLUSION: The availability of the serum PSA test and the prostate biopsy gun had a significant impact on the number of specimens received in the histopathology laboratory and in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in particular. (AU)
