[The management of prostate cancer: a retrospective chart review in 808 French men undergoing biopsy]

We explored the characteristics of a sample of men who had undergone a biopsy in clinical practice in France and evaluated initial treatment choice in men with a positive biopsy.

This was a multi-centre, retrospective chart review including men who had undergone a biopsy in France. Clinical variables were collected using an electronic data capture system.

Eight hundred and eight men were included; 632 men (78%) had an initial biopsy and 176 men (22%) had one or more repeat biopsy. The mean age was 64 years and 9% of men were 75 years or more. The mean (median) PSA was 11.6 (7.0) ng/mL; 25% of men had a PSA greater than 10 ng/mL. Twenty-eight percent of men had a suspicious DRE. A total of 52% of men had a positive initial and 26% a positive repeat biopsy. One hundred and eleven patients (34%) had low-risk PCa (stage T1c-2a, PSA<10 ng/mL, Gleason sum<7) and 195 (59%) were at intermediate/high risk of disease progression. The most common treatment was radical therapy (54% of patients), even in men with low-risk PCa (40% of patients). A total of 38% of low-risk patients chose active surveillance.

The French biopsy sample appeared to be at a relatively high risk of having PCa at initial biopsy. Radical therapy was the most common treatment choice in men with a positive biopsy. In patients with low-risk PCa, radical therapy and active surveillance were used most often and to the same extent.