Genetic Analysis of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

__Abstract__ The human prostate has the size of a chestnut and envelops the urethra as it exits the bladder, below the bladder neck. It is the largest of the male accessory sex glands, which also include the seminal vesicles, and bulbourethral gland. The prostate is composed of glandular structures, which are tightly fused within a common capsule. The prostate can be subdivided in a transitional, a central, and a peripheral zone(McNeal 1997). Histologically, the glandular structures are complex arrays of luminal structures. Except for the larger ducts near the urethra, the ductal-acinar system is lined by highly differentiated secretory columnar epithelial cells layered on undifferentiated nonsecretory basal epithelial cells, thus forming a continuous layer adjacent to the basement membrane. The glandular structures are supported by stroma. The stromal compartment encompasses all cellular and extracellular elements outside the epithelial basement membrane and includes smooth muscle cells, blood vessels, lymphatic tissues, nerves, and fibroblasts embedded in a loose collagenous matrix (reviewed by Cunha et al. 1987)(McNeal 1997)