Even if limited to one biopsy core, most urologists and radiation oncologists use the highest Gleason score (GS) to guide therapy. To evaluate the suitability of using biopsy characteristics to predict tumor characteristics at radical prostatectomy (RP) in men with high biopsy GS (BGS) cancer to better select men who will most benefit from various local therapies, we retrospectively reviewed the biopsy and RP findings of 144 men with a BGS 8-10. One hundred six and 38 patients with a BGS of 8 and 9-10, respectively, were included. Forty-eight percent of cases were downgraded to a final GS of 7 at RP, including 54% of BGS 8, and 32% of BGS 9-10 group. Overall, 31% had pT2 disease at RP. Multiple biopsy features, including the GS, the number of positive cores, the number of cores with high-GS cancer, and the maximum volume of high-grade cancer per core (MVPC) consistently predicted final GS and RP tumor stage. Multivariate analysis showed that biopsy GS and MVPC were independent predictors of final GS, while MVPC was also an independent predictor for final pT stage. Patients with high BGS are not a homogeneous group in terms of local tumor characteristics. In addition to BGS (9-10 being worse than 8), other biopsy findings, especially the number of involved cores, number of cores with high-BGS cancer, and MVPC are important predictors of findings at RP that should be incorporated in the decision treatment planning. Most patients with only one core BGS 8 cancer harbor GS 7 cancer.
Keywords: Biopsy; Core; Correlation; Gleason 8-10; Prostatectomy; Prostatic adenocarcinoma.
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