A Clinical and Histochemical Study of Acid and Alkaline Phosphatase in Normal and Abnormal Prostatic Tissue

Abstract

A study on acid and alkaline phosphatase was carried out on prostatic tissue from 24 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia, 54 cases of prostatic carcinoma, and 2 normal subjects, according to the methods of Gomori as modified by Goetsch and Reynolds. A high degree of acid phosphatase activity was regularly found in prostatic epithelial cells, either benign or malignant. The activity was greatest in the secreting end of the cell. In carcinoma there was no difference between the primary lesion and its metastases. There was no correlation between the morphology of the carcinoma and the acid phosphatase activity demonstrated in cell cytoplasm, no correlation between the acid phosphatase activity of the cytoplasm and the malignant characteristics of the cells, and no correlation between the degree of enzyme activity in the cytoplasm and the level of acid phosphatase activity in the serum.