[Prognosis in stage a prostate cancer]

In 39 hospitals in the Tokai region of Japan, 815 cases with prostatic cancer were registered between 1988 and 1991, 91 of which (13.3%) were diagnosed as stage A. Eighty cases of stage A cancer were subclassified into stage A1 (33 cases) or stage A2 (47 cases). A detailed investigation was performed on these 80 subclassified cases with respect to tumor markers, treatment methods and prognosis. The tumor marker, prostate specific antigen (PSA) was positive in 18.5% of the A1 cases and 53.8% of the A2 cases. Endocrine therapy was administered in 45.5% of the A1 and 78.7% of the A2 cases. There was 1 (3.0%) case of progression in the stage A1 group, and 2 cases in stage A2 group. The 5-year survival rate was 97.0% for stage A1 and 88.6% for stage A2. The prognosis of prostatic cancer in stage A was fairly good in both the A1 and A2 subclasses in our series.