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Prostate cancer and glandular architecture
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Prostate cancer starts in the prostate, and most cases are of a type called adenocarcinoma: a cancer whose cells still build glands, the structures that appear neatly arranged in healthy tissue. Not all adenocarcinomas look alike. They are told apart by their differentiation, which is how much of that glandular order they keep: from tissue where the original pattern is still recognizable to tissue where that pattern has fallen apart. That detail carries weight in the prognosis, though it does not decide it on its own.
Two other things can happen in the same prostate that get confused with cancer and are not. One is benign prostatic hyperplasia, the noncancerous growth of the gland. The other is prostatitis, inflammation of the prostate. Either one can be present at the same time as cancer and cause similar urinary problems. Even so, they are separate processes, and having them does not make prostate cancer more likely.
In brief
Prostate cancer starts in the prostate. Most cases are adenocarcinomas, cancers in which the cells form structures called glands.
Adenocarcinomas differ in their degree of differentiation, or how much normal glandular organization they retain. That feature is only one factor in the prognosis.
Differentiation is structural: some glands retain a recognizable architecture, while others are no longer organized like normal tissue.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis are processes separate from prostate cancer. They can occur alongside it, or cause similar urinary symptoms, but they do not raise its risk.
Sources (2)
- National Cancer InstituteProstate Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional VersionPublished
- National Cancer InstituteUnderstanding Prostate ChangesPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated