KINETIC-ANALYSIS OF PROSTATIC VOLUME IN PATIENTS WITH STAGE-D PROSTATIC-CANCER TREATED WITH LHRH ANALOGS IN RELATION TO PROGNOSIS

Objective To evaluate the clinical usefulness of the kinetic analysis of prostatic volume in the prognosis of patients with Stage D prostati c cancer treated using luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) an alogues. Patients and methods The reduction of prostatic volume was mo nitored in 12 patients with Stage D prostatic cancer using transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) after treatment with LHRH analogues. Data obta ined from the kinetic analysis of prostatic volume were compared with the prognosis. Results All the patients having a reduction time, tau ( derived from the kinetic analysis of prostatic volume change with time ), of less than 41 days had neither clinical progression within 15 mon ths nor death caused by prostatic cancer during the 5-year follow-up, while the disease-specific 5-year survival rate in patients having a t au of greater than 42 days was as low as 17%. The difference in both t he progression and disease-specific survival between these groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05) despite the limited number of pat ients. In contrast, conventional prognostic parameters showed no signi ficant predictability for prognosis with the exception of prostatic ac id phosphatase, which correlated strongly with the occurrence of progr ession within 15 months. Conclusion The kinetic analysis of the change of prostatic volume using TRUS shows promise in the prognosis of the patients with Stage D prostatic cancer.