Simplified bone marrow biopsy needle for staging of carcinoma of prostate

Radiation therapy as definitive treatment for localized carcinoma of prostate

A progress report on the treatment of 116 patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate treated by external irradiation is presented. Fifteen, 60, and 41 patients presented initially with Stages A, B, and C, respectively. The majority of the patients received 7,000-7,500 rads during a period of seven to eight weeks, locally to the prostate gland. The five-year actuarial survival were 90, 70, and 40 per cent for Stages A, B, and C, respectively. The five-year survival rates for patients with well and moderately differentiated tumors were significantly better (45 per cent) than for those with poorly differentiated tumors (24 per cent). The five-year survival rate in the patients who received prior or concomitant hormone manipulation was lower (33 per cent) as compared with those receiving radiation therapy alone (43 per cent). All of the above differences were statistically significant (0.01 level). Of the patients failing, distant metastases have developed in 88 per cent suggesting that subclinical distant metastases might have been present prior to initiation of radiotherapy. The local control rate was 82 per cent. The morbidity of this mode of therapy was found to be acceptable. Radical radiation therapy is an effective method for control of carcinoma of the prostate and is potentially curative.

Radioimmunochemical measurement of bone marrow prostatic acid phosphatase

Human acid phosphatases are ubiquitous phosphohydrolases that are present in most respiring tissues and cells. Specifically, human prostatic acid phosphatase is a unique enzyme within a vast family of acid phosphatases concerned with catabolic processes in cellular metabolism. The majority of serum and bone marrow acid phosphatases are of non-prostatic origin and are present chiefly in erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets and other maturing cells in the bone marrow. The specific concentration of prostatic acid phosphatase in serum and bone marrow is normally relatively low compared to non-prostatic acid phosphatases. Many falsely positive assays for total serum acid phosphatases and bone marrow acid phosphatases have been reported, particularly after traumatic marrow biopsy procedures and mishandling of blood samples in the clinical laboratory and in hematologic disease states. The disruption and lysis of whole blood and marrow cells can liberate non-specific acid phosphatases into the serum. Since standard enzymatic assays do not discriminate accurately prostatic acid phosphatase from non-prostatic acid phosphatase present in the serum spurious results can be realized. A preliminary experience with a promising radioimmunoassay for the specific measurement of prostatic acid phosphatase in bone marrow and serum is presented.

Bone marrow acid phosphatase: prognostic value in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy

Preoperative bone marrow acid phosphatase determinations were elevated in 18 of 31 patients who underwent radical prostatectomies. A review of the surgical pathology and clinical followup demonstrated a higher incidence of metastasis in these patients.