Histopathological review of prostatic diseases in Kano, Nigeria

Diseases of the prostate are common causes of morbidity in adult males and show wide geographical and ethnic variations in incidence and mortality worldwide. It is in the light of this that records of prostatic biopsies were reviewed in retrospect at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano and Murtala Mohammed Hospital Kano over a 4-year period in order to determine the histological pattern and age distribution of the various prostatic lesions. Three hundred and three prostatic lesions constituting 7.4% of all surgical biopsy specimens received were studied. Two hundred and thirty five (77.6%) of these were cases of BPH while prostatic cancer accounted for 22.4% of cases. The ratio of benign to malignant prostatic disease was 3:5:1. Chronic non-specific prostatitis, acute prostatitis, schistosomiasis and tuberculosis were present in 22.8%, 3.3%, 0.7% of the total number of cases respectively. The mean age of BPH patients was 63.7 years, and 88% of them had a glandulostromal histological pattern. Majority (64.2%) of the prostate cancers were well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and the mean age was 67.1 years. The findings confirm earlier observations that prostatic diseases are common causes of morbidity in our environment, and early diagnosis and treatment remain key measures in reducing mortality. The practice of 5-region biopsy is advocated to improve detection of clinical prostate cancer.