Incidence of perineural invasion in prostate adenocarcinoma: Rural Kenyan population experience

Abstract

Introduction: Prostate cancer appears to be more aggressive amongst patients of African descent, a condition which could be associated with the presence of perineural invasion and higher Gleason scores of the cancer. Objective: This study evaluated the incidence of perineural invasion in previously diagnosed prostate cancer cases in a rural hospital which receive numerous cases of prostate cancer annually. Setting: This was a retrospective cross sectional study conducted at a busy mission referral hospital in rural Kenya. A total of 151 cases were included in the study. Patients' biodata was retrieved from the laboratory information system. Hematoxylin and eosin stained slides of previously diagnosed cases of prostate cancer over a period of one year (January 2012 to December 2012) were retrieved. These slides were microscopically examined for perineural invasion and the tumour grade determined using Gleason sconng. Results: Specimens from 151 patients were examined for perineural invasion. The patients' ages ranged from 46 to 93, mean age 73.77 (SD 9.474).Tumours in high grade category were 75.5% of the total number of cases while the rest (24.5%) were intennediatellow grade tumours. Out of these, 55.6% of the biopsies had perineural invasion. There was no significant relationship between the patients' age and the grade of tumour. Data on comparison of the cancers with perineural invasion and those without perineural invasion for grade demonstrated significant association between the tumour grade and the presence of perineural invasion (p:::;O.OOOI).