Procaspase-3 status in benign prostatic hyperplasia and carcinoma : a correlative retrospective study

Abstract EN

Background : Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatic adenocarcinoma are two of the most common pathologic mass lesions.

Both are encountered mainly in elderly males.

The caspases family is a group of at least 15 known proteases that serve as initiator & effector molecules of the apoptosis pathway.

Caspase-3, in particular, is thought to play a pathogenetic role in both prostatic hyperplasia and carcinoma.

Finasteride is a medication that has routinely been given to patients with hyperplasia and carcinoma; its prostate size-reducing effect is thought to be mediated through caspases.

Patients and methods: fifty patients with prostatic mass lesions were included in this study (20 with hyperplasia & 30 with adenocarcinoma); all were on finasteride treatment.

The carcinoma cases were graded according to Gleason scoring system.

All cases were analyzed for procaspase-3 strength of staining.

Results: benign hyperplasia & well-differentiated carcinomas show high expression of procaspase-3, in contrast loss of expression of this marker was noted in moderately & poorly differentiated carcinomas.

Conclusion: there is a strong statistical correlation between caspase-3 expression and the degree of tumor differentiation.

This may allow the utilization of this marker as a potential prognostic factor, especially in limited biopsy samples.