[Precancerous conditions of the prostate--histologic and morphometric investigation]

The nuclear ploidy of epithelial cells in biopsy specimens from precancerous prostatic tissues was investigated in 80 patients. Histological specimens stained after Felgen were examined using an Imager-CG computer analyzer (Avtan-Sun protocol). The study compared interphase nuclei of intact prostate epithelial cells, low-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, high-grade prostatic intraepithelial hyperplasia (PIH) and atypical small acinar proliferation. Nuclear ploidy was shown to vary with said conditions: high-grade (PIH) should be considered an obligatory precursor of cancer while the other two conditions--potential precursors. These correlations may be used to improve the accuracy of morphological examination of biopsy specimens.