Radiation therapy as adjuvant treatment after radical prostatectomy

Between 1977 and 1984, adjuvant radiation therapy was administered after radical prostatectomy to 71 patients at high risk for recurrence of carcinoma of the prostate. In 35 patients, tumor remained at the surgical margin (stage C2 disease) and/or the disease had invaded the seminal vesicles (stage C3). Thirty-six patients had microscopic metastases in the pelvic lymph nodes (stage D1a). Radiation therapy was administered only after full recovery from surgery, which included full recovery of continence. The average period between surgery and initiation of radiation therapy was 3 months. Serious or long-term complications attributable to irradiation occurred in 7% of the patients. Tumor recurred locally in only 2 patients. Five-year actuarial survival, disease-related survival, and disease-free survival for patients with stage C2 and C3 disease were 86%, 96%, and 80%, respectively. These survival values for patients with stage D1a disease were 74%, 90%, and 69%, respectively. Our results suggest a greater therapeutic benefit from radical prostatectomy and adjuvant radiation therapy than from radical prostatectomy alone for stages C2 and C3 disease or from radical prostatectomy alone or radiation therapy alone for stage D1a disease; however, the length of follow-up, number of patients treated, and problems in comparing our results with those from historical controls do not allow us to draw firm conclusions about the benefits of this combined therapy. Controlled, randomized studies clearly are required. The serum levels of prostate-specific antigen, but not prostatic acid phosphatase, were invariably elevated in patients at the time of clinical detection of disease recurrence and predicted recurrence up to 4 years before the event.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)