Prostatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Exhibits More Advanced Histopathological Features than Acinar Adenocarcinoma

Ductal adenocarcinoma is an uncommon variant of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Most cases are mixed with acinar adenocarcionoma component. Pure ductal morphology is rare. Histologically, the ductal adenocarcinoma shows distinctive columnar cells in papillary or cribriform architectures. The impact of ductal component on pathological behavior is still controversial. In this study, we identified three cases with ductal adenocarcinoma morphology from over 250 prostatic adenocarcinoma cases diagnosed in our institute from 2007-2012. One case was graded as Gleason 9, and two other cases were graded as Gleason 7. Histopathological examinations on these cases showed that tumors with ductal adenocarcinoma component showed higher percentage of extraprostatic extension and/or seminal vesicle invasion, comparing with the acinar adenocarcinomas that have similar Gleason scores. These findings were in support of recent reports which suggested that ductal adenocarcinoma associated with more advanced clinicopathology features. [N A J Med Sci. 2012;5(4):208-211.]