Clinicopathological Significance of the Lymphovascular Invasion Detected in Specimens from Radical Retropubic Prostatectomies / 대한비뇨기과학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We tried to determine the clinicopathological significance of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in patients who were treated for prostate cancer with radical retropubic prostatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From November 2003 to June 2005, 165 patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy for clinically-localized prostate cancer at our institution. The results of the final pathologic analyses were reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 165 total patients, foci of LVI were identified in 46 patients. LVI was associated with a higher preoperative serum level of prostate-specific antigen (p=0.006), the Gleason score (p<0.0001), a higher weight of tumor volume (p<0.0001), a higher rate of capsular penetration (p<0.0001), a higher rate of seminal vesicle involvement (p<0.0001), and a higher rate of a positive margin (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Since the pathological features of LVI appear to be associated with the other established features of more advanced prostate cancers, they may prove to be useful markers for predicting the prognosis of patients who undergo radical prostatectomy. Our findings support performing routine evaluation for LVI in radical prostatectomy specimens and its inclusion in the models for predicting the clinical outcome.