Abstract

Aim: Prostatic calcification is usually encountered incidentally during transrectal ultrasonography while performing prostate biopsy or other radiological investigations which could be done for some other reasons. Although prostatic calcification is a common manifestation discovered fortuitously the clinilical significance of this entity has not been well established yet. We evaluated prostatic calcification as a risk factor for prostate cancer. Material and Method: 217 patient who underwent prostate biopsy with prostate cancer suspicion were enrolled the study. Abnormal digital rectal examination findings and/or PSA values higher than 2,5 ng/dl are considered as prostate biopsy indications. According the histopathological reports of biopsy materials patients are enrolled BPH, prostatitis and prostate cancer groups respectively. Statistics were calculated with SPSS software version 15.0 and all hypothesis tests were performed at the.05 level of significance. Findings: Mean age and PSA of patients were 64.46 ± 8.35 (44-90 age), 13.4 ± 19.09 ng/dl (2.34-147 ng/dl) respectively. Prostatic calcification was encountered in 107 patients (49.3%) and not in 110 patients (50.7%) (p>0.05). After comparing all groups according to presence of calcification we found significant difference in BPH and postate cancer groups but no difference was seen in prostatitis group. Also prostate calcification percentage was statistically higher in prostate cancer group than others (p<0.05). Conclusion: The significance of prostate calcification in urologic diseases has not been well established yet. Although the prostatic calcification was detected in higher rates in prostate cancer patients than BPH or prostatitis patients, more detailed studies are needed to enlighten the relationship between inflammation, calcification and prostate cancer.