[Clinical study of prostatic cancer--statistical analysis of 184 cases in the latest 21 years]

One hundred and eighty-four patients with prostatic cancer were treated at Mie University Hospital from 1973 to 1993. They were between 47 and 90 years old, with an average age of 71.8 years old. One hundred and fifty-eight patients (85.8%) were in either stage C or D. Of the 146 cases histologically examined, 17.8% were well differentiated adenocarcinoma, and 47.9% and 34.2% were moderately and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, respectively. The overall 3-year, 5-year and 10-year survival rate were 64.2%, 44.9% and 24.2%, respectively. The patients with high stage and/or poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas revealed worse prognosis. Although the prognosis in the patients treated with estrogen and orchiectomy was better than that with estrogen alone, there was no significant difference between the 2 treatment groups. The prognosis of patients with prostatic cancer has been improved since 1988. A possible explanation is that prostate specific antigen has been introduced as a tumor marker, which might contribute to an accurate diagnosis in prostatic cancer and improve the prognosis of the disease. In conclusion, the diagnosis in lower stage and radical prostatectomy might bring favorable prognosis. In future, safer and more effective chemotherapy and endocrine therapy including LH-RH analogue are awaited, to obtain a better prognosis in the patients with advanced prostatic cancer.