Biopsy and clinical course after cryosurgery for prostatic cancer

Open perineal cryosurgical prostatectomy has been reported previously in 154 consecutive prostatic cancer patients at our center. In 37 of these patients post-cryosurgery biopsies of the prostate were obtained. In the present report we compare this tissue to the preoperative biopsies. The data suggest that well differentiated cancers are associated with advantageous survival in cryosurgery patients. Lymphoid and eosinophilic cell infiltrates may represent post-cryosurgical local immune responses, with improved survival. Estrogen therapy seems to suppress this local immune response. One month or more after cryosurgery cancer in the biopsy correlates with palpable local recurrence but prior to 1 month it does not correlate. Cryosurgery by the open perineal approach has been an effective method to eliminate the primary lesion in localized and extensive prostatic cancer.