Diagnostic utility of immunohistochemistry using basal cell markers in distinguishing benign from malignant prostatic lesions

Immunohistochemical detection of basal cells plays a significant role in the diagnosis or exclusion of prostatic carcinoma in diagnostically challenging cases. The objective of this research is to study the expression of immunohistochemical markers p63 and high molecular weight cytokeratin (34βE12) in various prostatic lesions and comparing the sensitivity and specificity of 34βE12 and p63 in prostatic lesions. This was a cross sectional study carried out in our institution on 40 cases of prostatic lesions. It was found that p63 is more sensitive than HMWCK in identifying the basal cells in diagnostically challenging cases.