[External radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for cancer of the prostate, stage C or DI. Preliminary study]

Between february 1985 and february 1988, 45 patients upstaged to stages C or D 1 cancer after radical prostatectomy, were treated by adjuvant radiotherapy with a view to control the risk of local recurrence and distant metastases. Radical prostatectomy has a low morbidity (less than 10%) whereas the radiotherapy morbidity rate is important (40% with 10% severe complications). With an average 33.4 months follow-up, we observe cancer dissemination in 37.7% of the cases and local recurrence in 13.3% of the cases. The prognosis seems to be worse, on one hand when the urethral margins are invaded and/or when the seminal vesicles are macroscopically invaded (C3) and on the other hand when the pelvic nodes are macroscopically invaded. Radiotherapy avoids locals recurrence in some cases but does not permit a general control of the disease. This observation leads us to recommend an early postoperative hormonotherapy in patients upstaged to stage C3 or with positive nodes.