The characteristics and spatial distributions of prostate cancer in autopsy specimens

Background The characteristics of prostate cancer on autopsy and early‐stage prostate cancer are identical. Using autopsy specimens, we analysed prostate cancer characteristics and clarified the spatial distributions of lesions. Method We obtained prostate specimens from Chinese donors without a prostate cancer diagnosis and analyzed prostate cancer pathological characteristics on autopsy by whole‐mount sampling. We determined the distributions of lesions in horizontal and vertical dimensions. The horizontal dimension included four horizontal quadrants (left‐anterior, left‐posterior, right‐anterior, and right‐posterior quadrants), the peripheral zone, and the transition zone. Result The overall positive rate of prostate cancer among 113 specimens was 35.4%. There were 73 lesions in 40 prostates with prostate cancer. The positive rates of lesions in the left‐anterior, left‐posterior, right‐anterior, and right‐posterior quadrants were 24.7% (18/73), 27.4% (20/73), 26.0% (19/73), and 21.9% (16/73), respectively. The positive rate of prostate cancer was 74% in the areas between the apex above 0.5–0.8 cm and the middle slice. There were 22 (30.1%) and 51 (69.9%) lesions in the superior and inferior half of the prostate. There were no significant differences in the median volume and Gleason grade group between the superior and inferior half (p = .876 and p = .228). Conclusion In the horizontal dimension, the positive rate of prostate cancer was consistent in the four quadrants. Prostate cancer mainly originated from the areas between the apex above 0.5–0.8 cm and the middle slice. Compared with the superior half, the inferior half of the prostate had a higher positive rate but the same lesion characteristics.