Argyrophil crystalloids in adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Considering the advantages provided by the study of glandular secretions in proliferative diseases of the prostate, we carried out a study of 100 consecutive cases of benign hyperplasia (68), glandular dysplasia (12), and carcinoma (20). Samples were predominantly obtained by transurethral resection from patients whose mean ages were 64, 67, and 73.5 years, respectively. The paraffin embedded material was sectioned and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, PAS-diastase, PAS-Alcian blue, methenamine silver, and Masson trichrome. Intraglandular secretion in normal, hyperplastic, and even neoplastic samples was predominantly neutral mucin, but in 2 cases of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and in all the carcinomas, we found acid mucin secretion. Holmes crystalloids were present in one case of nodular hyperplasia (1.4%), 2 cases of dysplasia (16.6%), and in 5 carcinomas (25%). As another manifestation of altered secretion, we also saw numerous needle-shaped argyrophilic and isotropic crystalloids, not previously described, in 12 of the 20 carcinomas (60%). These crystalloids were exclusively found in the carcinomas, reached a size of 50 mu, and were completely differentiated from the Holmes crystalloids by their odd needleshape and their staining characteristics.