Characterization of prostatic basal cell hyperplasia and neoplasia in aged macaques: Comparative pathology in human and nonhuman primates

There are very few reports of proliferative prostatic lesions occurring spontaneously in nonhuman primates. We found that 15 of 19 glands in aged macaques contained one or more epithelial lesions in the cranial lobe. These originated in the basal cell compartment and were characterized as hyperplasia and benign neoplasia. The adenomas contained variable gland formation, with morphologic and immunohistochemical evidence of secretory, mucigenous, neuroendocrine, transitional, and squamous cell differentiation. These cell types are resident in the normal prostate or appear in metaplastic lesions, and their presence in the macaque tumors is consistent with differentiation of a stem cell along multiple phenotypic pathways. The macaque growths are similar to human prostatic basal cell lesions and could provide insights into their pathogenesis as well as cellular ontogeny and general mechanisms of carcinogenesis in this organ.