IMPACT OF RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CLINICALLY LOCALIZED DISEASE

The cancer specific death rate following radical prostatectomy in pati ents with organ confined and specimen confined disease was 10% at 13.5 years, less than the noncancer death rate of 20% for patients in thes e disease extent categories. The median age of all patients in these c ategories was 65 years. Cancer remains the dominate cause of death in patients with margin-positive disease, being 40% at 13.5 years. Diseas e detected by prostate specific antigen (PSA) rather than digital rect al examination appears to be of smaller volume and to have a higher pr obability of negative margins. Data argue that early detection of PSA will shift patients to a more favorable disease category at surgical i ntervention. Disease recurrence or persistence by PSA detection seems to precede clinical detection of disease by 3 to 5 years. Disease recu rrence by PSA detection does not predict survival outcome, probably do es not differentiate between local and distant microscopic recurrence, and is not predictive of biological aggressiveness.