Prostate gland & seminal vesicles

Nonneoplastic

Sclerosing adenosis



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Last staff update: 4 September 2020

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PubMed Search: Sclerosing adenosis [title] prostate

Andres Matoso, M.D.
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Cite this page: Matoso A. Sclerosing adenosis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/prostatesclerosingadenosis.html. Accessed March 18th, 2024.
Definition / general
  • A mixture of well formed glands, usually very small, in a background of very cellular stroma composed of spindle cells
Essential features
  • Sclerosing adenosis is a benign proliferation of small well formed glands, similar to adenosis but with prominent cellular spindle cell stroma
  • The stroma displays a characteristic myxoid appearance
  • Rare finding in ~2% of radical prostatectomy specimens, more frequent in TURP specimens
Terminology
  • Historically designated as adenomatoid prostatic tumor, but the term sclerosing adenosis is preferred as it is unrelated to adenomatoid tumor of other sites
Epidemiology
  • More frequently seen in TURP specimens, but occasionally seen in needle biopsies
  • One series reported it in 2% of radical prostatectomies
Sites
  • Central zone of the prostate
Clinical features
  • The only clinical relevance is that it may be confused with prostatic adenocarcinoma
Diagnosis
  • The glands of sclerosing adenosis display cells with clear or amphophilic cytoplasm and nuclei without prominent nucleoli
  • Basal cell layer can be seen in H&E stained slide or highlighted with basal cell markers
Case reports
Positive stains
Electron microscopy description
Differential diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is the main differential diagnosis; in contrast to carcinoma, sclerosis adenosis shows a basal cell layer
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