Correlation between tumor extent in radical prostatectomies and preoperative PSA, histological grade, surgical margins, and extraprostatic extension: application of a new practical method for tumor extent evaluation

PURPOSE: To evaluate a new method designed for estimating the tumor extent in radical prostatectomy specimens. The tumor extent was correlated to preoperative PSA and to several pathologic findings in the surgical specimens as well. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumor extent was estimated in 118 consecutive radical prostatectomies through a simple point-count method. Drawn on a sheet of paper, each quadrant of the whole mount sections contained 8 equidistant points. During the microscopic slides examination, the tumor area was drawn over the correspondent quadrant of the paper sheet. According to the...