Of 148 patients with clinical stage A1 (32) or A2 (116) disease who had radical prostatectomy only 63% and 62%, respectively, had pathological stage A disease. Although 25% of those with clinical stage A1 and 9% of those with clinical stage A2 disease had no cancer at radical prostatectomy, 12% and 29%, respectively, had pathological stage C disease or higher. Clinical Mayo grade 1 was never associated with extracapsular disease but 60% of those with grade 3 or higher tumor did have extracapsular disease. Over-all survival was comparable to the expected survival. Clinical stage A2 cancer was associated with a significantly higher progression rate (when prostate specific antigen values were considered, p = 0.0011) and cancer death rate (p less than 0.045) than stage A1 disease, whereas pathological stage was not significantly related to disease outcome, possibly because of the use of adjuvant treatment (hormonal or radiation) for some patients with pathological stage C or higher disease. The vagaries of clinical staging associated with stage A disease, as well as the previously documented progression on long-term followup (8 to 10 years) in younger (60 years old or less) patients with stage A1 prostate cancer make radical prostatectomy with its limited morbidity an acceptable treatment choice.