Prostate gland & seminal vesicles
Nonneoplastic
Sclerosing adenosis
Author: Andres Matoso, M.D.
Last author update: 1 November 2015
Last staff update: 4 September 2020
Copyright: 2003-2020, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Sclerosing adenosis [title] prostate
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Essential features | Terminology | Epidemiology | Sites | Clinical features | Diagnosis | Case reports | Positive stains | Electron microscopy description | Differential diagnosis | Additional referencesCite this page: Matoso A. Sclerosing adenosis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/prostatesclerosingadenosis.html. Accessed April 19th, 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
- 83 year old man with coexisting basal cell hyperplasia (Med Mol Morphol 2010;43:226)
Positive stains
- Basal cells are positive for high molecular weight cytokeratin, S100 and muscle specific actin
Electron microscopy description
- Myoepithelial type cells may arise from basal cells by metaplasia (Am J Surg Pathol 1992;16:383)
Differential diagnosis
- Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is the main differential diagnosis; in contrast to carcinoma, sclerosis adenosis shows a basal cell layer
Additional references
