Future directions in research of prostate carcinoma

Histological, cytological and growth characteristics of prostate carcinoma are presented in this review, as well as the importance of various cell kinetic methods such as autoradiography, DNA- and AgNOR-analysis. By combining these methods with nucleolar grading, carcinoma of the prostate can be divided into two different groups of malignancy regarding therapy and prognosis: I. Carcinoma patients with well differentiated carcinomas and low risk. II. Carcinoma patients with poorly differentiated carcinomas and high risk. Cytogenetic and oncogenetic findings are discussed according to these groups. Special features of neuroendocrinically differentiated carcinomas are also presented. This review contains our own data in addition to information from the literature, and it describes future directions in the research of prostate carcinoma. Prostatic carcinoma is at present the second most common tumor in males. This has led to extensive research and numerous clinical studies on the prostate gland in the recent years.