Parenchymal brain metastases from adenocarcinoma of prostate

Abstract

Two patients with parenchymal brain metastases from adenocarcinoma of the prostate (CaP) are presented. Both patients had the diagnosis made antemortem by biopsy, and tumor immunoreactivity for prostatic phosphatase and prostate specific antigen confirmed prostatic origin. Brain metastases from prostatic adenocarcinoma are unusual, occurring in only 0.2 per cent of all patients with CaP. Patients present with symptoms of motor dysfunction, headache, and seizures. The mean age at presentation of brain metastases from CaP is fifty-nine years old, which is younger than most patients with CaP. The majority of patients die within weeks after diagnosis. Craniotomy with tumor debulking, radiation therapy, and androgen deprivation may be useful in prolonging survival. All reported cases of CaP metastatic to brain have been histologically moderately differentiated or poorly differentiated. The periprostatic venous plexus is considered the most likely route of tumor spread to the brain.