Adjuvant radiotherapy (ART) after prostatectomy for patients with high-risk features [extracapsular extension (ECE), seminal vesicle invasion (SVI), and positive margin] has been shown to be associated with improved biochemical disease-free survival in three large randomized trials and with improved overall survival in one.
Similarly, salvage radiotherapy (SRT) can effectively achieve biochemical control in a significant proportion of patients with a rising PSA after surgery. Nonetheless, both approaches of postoperative RT remain highly underutilized. This might be partly due to concerns with overtreatment inherent to adjuvant approaches, and/or hesitance about causing radiation toxicities and their subsequent effects on the patient's quality of life. Herein, we review the literature lending evidence to these arguments. We show recent series of ART/SRT and their low rates of acute and long-term toxicities, translating only in transient decline in quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes. We conclude that concerns with side effects should not preclude the recommendation of an effective and curative-intent therapy for men with prostate cancer initially treated with radical surgery.
Frontiers in oncology. 2016 Mar 24*** epublish ***
Hamid Raziee, Alejandro Berlin
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada., Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.