[Clinicopathological significance of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy prior to radical prostatectomy: whole section...

We investigated whether the histopathological effect (cell viability) of neoadjuvant hormonal treatment before radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer is involved in the biochemical outcome, i.e., androgen independency. Non-randomized prospective trial was carried out between September 1996 and April 2001 involving the patients with clinical stage T1-3 prostate cancer, including 62 who underwent radical prostatectomy after receiving neoadjuvant hormonal treatment for an average of 6.3 months and 76 who underwent radical prostectomy only. All resected specimens were histopathologically diagnosed by whole section analysis. The patients receiving neoadjuvant hormonal treatment were categorized into 4 groups according to the histological change in the resected prostate. There were 8 patients in G0 (all viable cells), 11 patients in G1 (more than 50% viable cells), 26 patients G2 (more than 50% non-viable cells) and 17 patients in G3 (no cancer cells). No difference in the patient background (prostate specific antigen, stage, Gleason score, positive core Nr, duration of neoadjuvant therapy) was observed in any group, except for the duration of (p < 0.05). Multivariate hazards analyses revealed that only the duration of neoadjuvant hormonal treatment was independently associated with excellent responders with grade 3 histological effect. Neoadjuvant hormonal therapy prior to radical operation resulted in various histopathological changes in the prostate, but it is not clear whether the histological effects of hormonal treatment might be involved in the outcome. A longer follow-up randomized prospective trial is necessary.