Skip to main content
Log in

Prostate specific antigen and prostate specific acid phosphatase in adenocarcinoma of Skene's paraurethral glands and ducts

  • Case Report
  • Published:
Virchows Archiv A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

An autopsy case of adenocarcinoma of Skene's paraurethral gland co-incident with renal cell carcinoma is described. The adenocarcinoma showed distinct prostate specific antigen and prostate specific acid phosphatase pointing to the equivalence between the male prostate and Skene's paraurethral glands and ducts. Skene's gland are the homologue of the prostate in females and tumours arising from them are immunohistochemically similar to male prostate carcinoma.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler M (1968) Report on a primary carcinoma of the urethra as contribution to the problem of gynaecologico-urological borderline cases (in German). Zentralbl Gynakol 90:123–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaustein A (1982) Pathology of the female genital tract. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell M (1954) Urology. Saunders, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • De Haan QC (1965) Paraurethral gland adenocarcinoma. Am J Obstet Gynecol 93:903–904

    Google Scholar 

  • Egloff B (1972) Pathological anatomy of the female urethra (in German). In: Lubarsch O, Henke F, Rossle R, Uehlinger E (eds) Handbook of pathological anatomy VII (4) female reproductive organs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 433–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein JI, Kuhajda FP, Liebermann PH (1986) Prostate specific acid phosphatase immunoreactivity in adenocarcinomas of the urinary bladder. Hum Pathol 17:939–944

    Google Scholar 

  • Groben P, Karis M, Reddick RL, Siegal GP (1985) Primary transitional cell carcinoma of the female urethra with features of clear cell adenocarcinoma. Urol Int 40:294–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Huffman JW (1948) The detailed anatomy of the paraurethral ducts in the adult human female. Am J Obst Gynecol 55:86–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Huffman JW (1951) Clinical significance of the paraurethral ducts and glands. Arch Surg 62:615–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Jöbsis AC (1990) Prostate. In: Filipe MI, Lake BD (eds) Histochemistry in pathology. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, pp 367–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Jöbsis AC, Vries GP, De Meier AEFH, Ploem JS (1981) The immunohistochemical detection of prostatic acid phosphatase: its possibilities and limitation in tumour histochemistry. Histochem J 13:961–973

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamat MR, Kulkarni JN, Dhumale RG (1981) Primary carcinoma of female urethra: review of 20 cases. J Surg Oncol 16:105–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine RL (1980) Urethral cancer. Cancer 45:1965–1972

    Google Scholar 

  • Longo VJ (1982) The female prostate. Urology 20:108–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadji M, Tabei SZ, Castro A, Chu M, Murphy GP, Wang MC, Morales AR (1981) Prostatic-specific-antigen. Cancer 48:1229–1232

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollen JJ, Dreilinger A (1984) Immunohistochemical identification of prostatic acid phosphatase and prostatic specific antigen in female periurethral glands. Urology 23:303–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts TW, Melicow MM (1977) Pathology and natural history of urethral tumours in females. Urology 10:583–589

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnitzer B (1964) Primary adenocarcinoma of the female urethra, a review and report of 2 cases. J Urol 92:35–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobin LH, Hjermstad BM, Sesterhenn IA, Helwig EB (1986) Prostatic acid phosphatase activity in carcinoid tumours. Cancer 58:136–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Svanholm H (1986) Evaluation of commercial immunoperoxidase kits for prostatic specific antigen and prostatic specific acid phosphatase. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand [A] 94:7–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Svanholm H, Anderson OP, Rohl H (1987) Tumour of female paraurethral duct. Immunohistochemical similarity with prostatic carcinoma. Virchows Arch [A] 411:395–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Tepper SL, Jagirdar J, Heath D, Geller SA (1984) Homology between the female paraurethral (Skene's) gland and the prostate. Arch Pathol Lab Med 108:423–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaviačič M (1987) The female prostate: non-vestigial organ of the female. A reappraisal (letter). J Sex Marit Ther 13:148–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaviačič M, Zaviačičová A, Brozman M, Holomán IK, Brucháč D, Oberučová J, Kokavec M (1985) The female prostate or Skene's paraurethral glands and ducts? Reasons for returning to the original term of De Graaf (In Slovak). čs Gynek 50:372–377

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

In the title and text the authors used the official term of Nomina Anatomica “paraurethral (Skene's) glands and ducts”. Nevertheless recently published data on cross-antigenicity between the male prostate and Skene's glands and the newly discovered exocrine and neuroendocrine parameters of the prostate homologue in the female, comparable with the male prostate (Zaviačič 1987), support the use of the same term — the prostate — for prostatic tissue in both sexes (Zaviačič 1987, Zaviačič et al. 1985). The designations “female prostate homologue” or “female prostate equivalent” are a compromise between terms the female prostate and Skene's paraurethral glands.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zaviačič, M., Šidlo, J. & Borovský, M. Prostate specific antigen and prostate specific acid phosphatase in adenocarcinoma of Skene's paraurethral glands and ducts. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 423, 503–505 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01606542

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01606542

Key words

Navigation