Study of mast cells in prostate lesions: Adenocarcinoma compared with hyperplasia

Background: (1) To study and correlate the mast cell numbers in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate carcinoma lesions. (2) To compare mast cell numbers of intratumoral and peritumoral regions in prostate adenocarcinomas. (3) To ascertain a relationship between the number of mast cells and age, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, and Gleason Grade. Subjects and Methods: One-hundred cases of prostate lesions, consisting of 75 cases of BPH and 25 cases of prostatic adenocarcinoma, received in the form of transurethral resection of prostate chips in the Department of Pathology, were included in the study. After histopathological diagnosis, the paraffin sections were stained with toluidine blue. Results: The mean value of mast cell count per mm² in benign and malignant lesion was 37.05 and 92.20, respectively. The difference in mean mast cell count in BPH and prostatic adenocarcinoma was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.001). The correlation between mast cell count and Gleason Grade was found to be statistically significant (P: Grades I–III - 0.043; 0.002; 0.012). However, no correlation was found between mast cell count with age and PSA levels. Conclusion: In this study, an increase in the number of mast cells was observed in patients with prostate cancer than in benign lesions. This suggests a stimulating role of mast cells in the progression of cancer.