OBJECTIVE: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the major public health problems among men: 50% of men over 55 are concerned with this disease. Prostate growth is under the control of androgens which act by means of several growth factors such as fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), epidermal growth factor and transforming growth factor beta. Basic FGF (bFGF) has been shown to stimulate prostatic stromal growth. In BPH, bFGF concentration is two- to threefold higher than in normal prostate. In this work, the bFGF receptors (FGFR1, FGFR2-IIIc and FGFR3) genes expression was evaluated to study the correlation between the expression of bFGF receptors and induction of BPH. METHODS: The expression of FGFRs was analyzed by RT-PCR, FGFR1 was localized by immunohistochemistry and protein expression was evaluated by Western blot. RESULTS: A two- to eightfold over-expression of FGFR1 was observed in BPH compared with normal prostates. FGFR1 was localized in the stroma both in BPH and in normal prostates and 1.5- to 2.5-fold over-expression of the protein was observed. The expression of FGFR2-IIIc and FGFR3, more secondary receptors, was not significantly different between BPH and normal prostates. CONCLUSIONS: bFGF receptors and particularly FGFR1 seem to be involved in the induction and evolution of BPH and probably potentiate bFGF over-expression effects in BPH.