EAU 2018: Oncological Outcome of Radical Salvage Prostatectomy in a Large Contemporary Series

Copenhagen, Denmark (UroToday.com) The use of salvage prostatectomy remains highly controversial due to the high incidence of surgical complications, poor functional outcomes, and questionable oncological results. Emerging data from small retrospective trials have suggested that salvage prostatectomy in highly selected patients can improve cancer-specific survival while maintaining a high safety profile. Dr. Heidenreich, from the University Hospital of Cologne, presents a multi-institutional (University Hospital of Cologne and Mayo Clinic) collaboration aim at assessing the oncological outcomes of patients treated with salvage radical prostatectomy (SRP) in a contemporary cohort. 

The study included 262 patients with radio-recurrence prostate cancer who underwent SRP at two high volume referral centers from 2000 to 2016. All patients underwent metastatic work-up conventional imaging (CT scan and bone scans), 53 pts undergoing further evaluation with PSMA-PET/CT. A transrectal or trans-perineal prostate biopsy was obtained in all patients to confirm a local relapse. The primary goals of the study were to assess the impact of SRP on oncological outcomes mainly biochemical-free survival. Of the patients who underwent resection, 45% had localized disease (pT2a-c). The positive margin was high at 33%, but this was expected given the challenging nature of the case and the advanced stage in more than half of the cohort. Nodal involvement was observed in approximately 40% of the cohort, increasing pathological stage being the best predictor of nodal involvement. At a median follow-up of 45.6 months, 53% of the cohort remained without biochemical recurrence (BCR), the great majority being those with localized node-negative disease (71.4%). Interestingly, almost 40% of the patients with nodal involvement remained BRC NED following lymphadenectomy, without the need for hormonal treatments. 

The procedure was found to be safe with a complication rate of ~ 9.1%, most of the complications being minor (Clavein 1-3). The risk of anastomotic leakage was 5.3%, with none of the patients developing a bladder neck contracture. At 6-month follow-up, 35% of the patients were fully continent, with 39% and 25% reporting moderate and severe incontinence, respectively. Potency rates were not reported by the authors. 

Subset analysis of those undergoing PSMA-PET showed that the imaging technique had a 97.4% accuracy at identifying intraprostatic relapse, but only an 80% accuracy at identifying nodal recurrences. 

In summary, SRP can provide excellent long-term oncological outcomes results with low surgery-associated morbidity in experienced tertiary referral centers. Patients with organ-confined node-negative disease have the best oncological outcomes. PSMA-PET is highly predictive of intraprostatic relapse but was inferior at predicting nodal involvement. 


Presented by: Professor Axel Heidenreich MD, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany

 Written by: Andres F. Correa, Urologic Oncology Fellow, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA at the 2018 European Association of Urology Meeting EAU18, 16-20 March, 2018 Copenhagen, Denmark