Salvage cryosurgery for recurrent prostate cancer after radiation therapy: a seven-year follow-up

Cryosurgery of the prostate presents as an efficient therapy following failed radiation therapy. We report on a 7-year retrospective analysis evaluating the morbidity adn biochemical disease-free survival(bDFS) of this therapy. Between 1993 and 2001, 59 patients who had been previously treated with radiation therapy and had rising serum prostate-specific antigen(PSA) values underwent salvage cryoablation of the prostate for localized, histologically proven, recurrent prostate cancer. Serial serum PSA testing was performed, and biopsies were taken at 6, 12, and 24 months, and again at 5 years, and any time the PSA rose above 0.5 ng/mL. Patients were stratified along clinical parameters. The combined postsalvage bDFS rate using a PSA cutoff of 0.5 ng/mL was 59% and 69% with a 1.0 ng/mL PSA cut off. Using a PSA threshold of 0.5 ng/mL as evidence of biochemical recurrence, 61%, 62%, and 50% of patients with <4 ng/mL, 4-10 ng/mL, and > 10 ng/mL PSA, respectively, remain biochemically relapse free at 7 years. A threshold of 1.0 ng/mL yielded a disease-free status of 78%, 74%, and 46% respectively. Patients biopsies showed no evidence of residual or recurrent disease. Improved survival rates and no known latent complications indicate cryosurgery is a promising form of treatment for radiation-resistant prostate cancer. This 7-year analysis shows a promising validation of cryosurgery as an efficacious treatment modality for locally confined T1-T3 prostate cancer following primary radiation therapy failure.