Does prior benign prostate biopsy predict outcome for patients treated with radical perineal prostatectomy?

To determine the effect of prior benign prostate biopsies on the surgical and clinical outcomes of patients treated with radical perineal prostatectomy for prostate cancer.

A total of 1369 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon between 1991 and 2001. A subset of 203 patients (14.9%), who had undergone at least one prior benign prostate biopsy for a rising prostate-specific antigen and/or abnormal digital rectal examination, constituted our study population. A total of 1115 patients with no prior biopsy represented our control group. After prostatectomy, patients were evaluated at 6-month intervals for biochemical evidence of recurrence, defined as a prostate-specific antigen level of 0.5 ng/mL or greater.

Patients with a prior benign biopsy had more favorable pathologic features with more organ-confined (74% versus 64%; P <0.001) and less margin-positive (9.8% versus 18%) disease. Only 24 patients (12%) in the study group (versus 20% in control group; P = 0.01) had eventual evidence of biochemical failure. Kaplan-Meier analyses suggested that patients with prior benign biopsies have improved biochemical disease-free survival, especially for those with more aggressive disease (Gleason sum 7 or greater; P <0.01). Overall, patients in the study group had lower probability (odds ratio 0.57, P <0.001) of biochemical failure compared with those in the control group.

A prior benign prostate biopsy may be independently associated with more favorable surgical and biochemical outcomes after prostatectomy. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.