Results of radical perineal prostatectomy with adjuvant brachytherapy

Retrospective analysis of outcome in 137 patients who underwent radical perineal prostatectomy and bilateral injection of gold-198 implants into the periprostatic tissues and/or neurovascular pedicles as treatment for prostatic adenocarcinoma was performed. Patients had undergone treatment between 1975 and 1985. Local recurrence developed in 22 patients (16.1%) and distant metastases developed in 33 (24.1%). Clinical and surgical staging of disease and Gleason grading of pathologic specimens were performed retrospectively. Kaplan-Meier local recurrence, freedom from relapse (FFR), and survival rates decreased with increasing stage and pathologic grade. With clinical staging, these rates were not statistically different from previous rates achieved with external beam radiation therapy, and with pathologic staging, they were not statistically different from previous rates achieved with prostatectomy. The authors conclude that (a) 5-year follow-up is inadequate to determine local control rates after prostatectomy; (b) use of implants did not improve local control, FFR, or survival rates of 10 years; and (c) method of staging probably has more effect on local control, FFR, and survival rates than does treatment modality.