Final Results of the ANDROCAN Study: Histopathological Characteristics and Biochemical Recurrence at 5 Years of Localized Prostate Cancer According to Preoperative Gonadal Status.

Failure rates after first-line treatment of localized prostate cancer (PCa) treatment remain high; therefore, it is essential to improve the selection and identification of at-risk patients to reduce mortality. The aim of the ANDROCAN study was to evaluate the biochemical recurrence (BCR) in patients with localized PCa treated by total prostatectomy at 5 yr after surgery, according to their presurgery gonadal status.

A prospective cohort study was conducted including 1318 patients undergoing total prostatectomy for localized PCa with a 5-yr postoperative follow-up. Clinical and hormonal data (assays of total testosterone [TT], bioavailable testosterone [BT], dihydrotestosterone, estrone, and estradiol were performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) as well as metabolic syndrome parameters were collected at baseline before surgery. Pathological data (predominant Gleason grade 4 and stage) were collected and cross-referenced centrally. Factors associated with BCR were assessed by a multivariate analysis, and BCR-free survival was assessed by a Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Among the 1318 patients, 237 had BCR of PCa. Considering demographic characteristics, populations with and without BCR were similar. However, patients with BCR had cancers with a higher Gleason score (p = 0.0001) and higher prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values (p = 0.0005) at baseline. Gleason score, pT >3a, and PSA level at baseline were positively correlated with BCR (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, and p = 0.0048, respectively), while BT and TT levels were not associated with BCR. This study includes patients with varying clinical characteristics, such as cancer history and metabolic syndrome, introducing variability that makes it challenging to isolate the specific effects of gonadal status on BCR. Another limitation is the lack of evaluation of long-term BCR beyond 5 yr, potentially overlooking recurrences that occur between 5 and 15 yr after surgery. This could lead to an underestimation of the actual long-term recurrence rates.

Overall, PSA levels, high Gleason score, and pT >3a are associated with a greater likelihood of disease recurrence following initial treatment and could serve as important prognostic indicators for predicting the risk of BCR. In this prospective study, biochemical hypogonadism was not associated with a higher occurrence of BCR within 5 yr of prostatectomy. The biological gonadal status of preoperative patients could potentially be useful for therapeutic decisions but does not provide an indication for the oncological follow-up.

Five-year follow up of patients after surgery showed that there is no association between hypogonadism (low levels of total testosterone and bioavailable testosterone) and cancer recurrence. However, cancer recurrence seems to be more associated with aggressiveness of cancer at the time of detection.

European urology oncology. 2024 Aug 28 [Epub ahead of print]

Yann Neuzillet, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Jean-François Dreyfus, Camélia Radulescu, Mathieu Rouanne, Marc Schneider, Sylvie Krish, Morgan Rouprêt, Sarah J Drouin, Eva Comperat, Marc Galiano, Xavier Cathelineau, Pierre Validire, Vincent Molinié, Jean Fiet, Franck Giton, Thierry Lebret, Henry Botto

Department of Urology, University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Foch Hospital, Suresnes, France. Electronic address: ., Sorbonne University, Paris, France., Department of Clinical Research and Innovation, University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Foch Hospital, Suresnes, France., Department of Pathology, Foch Hospital, Suresnes, France., Department of Urology, University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Foch Hospital, Suresnes, France., Department of Urology, Louis Pasteur Hospital, Colmar, France., Department of Pathology, Louis Pasteur Hospital, Colmar, France., Department of Urology, Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Sorbonne University, Paris, France., Department of Pathology, Tenon Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Sorbonne University, Paris, France., Department of Urology, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris-Descartes University, Paris, France., Department of Pathology, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris-Descartes University, Paris, France., Department of Pathology, Centre Hospitalier de Martinique, Le Lamentin, France., Inserm U955, Eq07, Recherches Translationnelles en oncogenèse génitale, Créteil, France.