Impact of positive surgical margin status in predicting early biochemical recurrence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

We investigated the association between positive surgical margin (PSM) status and biochemical recurrence (BCR) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) to develop a prognostic factor-based risk stratification model for BCR.

We analyzed the data of 483 patients who underwent RARP at our hospital between October 2010 and April 2019; 435 patients without neoadjuvant therapy were finally included. The BCR-free survival rate was determined using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Effects of the PSM status, including the number of PSMs, Gleason score (GS) at a PSM, and the maximum PSM length for BCR, were investigated using Cox regression analysis.

BCR was confirmed after RARP in 61 patients (14.0%), and PSM was confirmed in 74 patients (17.0%); PSM was a significant predictor of BCR (p < 0.001). The median number of PSMs was 2 (1-6), and the median maximum length of PSM was 6.0 (2.0-17.0) mm. Multivariable analysis showed lymph node invasion (p < 0.001), GS of ≥ 7 at a PSM (p = 0.022) and a maximum PSM length of > 6.0 mm (p = 0.003) were significant predictors of BCR. We classified the patients without lymph node invasion into good-, intermediate-, and poor-risk groups according to the other two risk factors (presence of 0, 1, and 2 factors, respectively) and rates of 1-year BCR-free survival (100.0, 72.7, and 48.1%, respectively).

Higher GS at PSM and greater length of PSM were significant predictors of BCR after RARP, and console surgeons should be careful to prevent PSM during RARP.

International journal of clinical oncology. 2021 Jul 27 [Epub ahead of print]

Shuichi Morizane, Tetsuya Yumioka, Karen Makishima, Panagiota Tsounapi, Hideto Iwamoto, Katsuya Hikita, Masashi Honda, Yoshihisa Umekita, Atsushi Takenaka

Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori, 683-8503, Japan. ., Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori, 683-8503, Japan., Department of Pathology, Tottori University Hospital, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Japan., Division of Pathology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Japan.