Histopathology of Prostatic Lesions: a Hospital Based Autopsy Study

Nodular prostatatic hyperplasia is universal in aging men while prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males. In the current study, we analyze the spectrum of lesions in routine medicolegal autopsy specimens. This was a prospective study of 100 consecutive autopsy cases. The age of the cases ranged from 12 to 84 years. The weight ranged form 15 to 80 gm. Chronic inflammation was seen in 62 cases while acute inflammation was noted in 2 cases only. Nodular hyperplasia was present in almost all cases after 50 years and was also associated with low grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), high grade PIN, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and atrophy associated hyperplasia. Low grade PIN was seen in 15 cases while high grade PIN was seen in only 1 case. Transitional and mucinous metaplasia was seen in 21 and 2 cases respectively. The present study showed that normal prostate gains its maximum weight in 20s and it remains fairly constant till 50 years of age. Nodular hyperplasia was the commonest pathology followed by chronic prostatitis and basal cell hyperplasia. Though all PIN cases were above 30 years, interestingly 56% of all PIN was seen below 50 years.