Anatomy and Histology
Both the glandular epithelial cells and the stromal cells (including muscular fibers) undergo hyperplasia in BPH.:694 Most sources agree that of the two tissues, stromal hyperplasia predominates, but the exact ratio of the two is unclear.:694
Anatomically, BPH is most strongly associated with the posterior urethral glands (PUG) and transitional zone (TZ) of the prostate. The earliest microscopic signs of BPH usually begin between the age of 30 and 50 years old in the PUG, which are posterior to the proximal urethra.:694 However, the majority of growth eventually occurs in the TZ.:694 In addition to these two classic areas, the peripheral zone (PZ) of the prostate is also involved to a lesser extent.:695 Since prostatic cancer also occurs in the PZ, BPH nodules in the PZ are often biopsied to rule out cancer.:695
Read more about this topic: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
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“But a man must keep an eye on his servants, if he would not have them rule him. Man is a shrewd inventor, and is ever taking the hint of a new machine from his own structure, adapting some secret of his own anatomy in iron, wood, and leather, to some required function in the work of the world. But it is found that the machine unmans the user. What he gains in making cloth, he loses in general power.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)