Comparison of radical prostatectomy versus conservative treatment in localized prostate cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the effects of radical prostatectomy (RP) and conservative treatment (CT) on the survival of localized prostate cancer by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.

We searched for all studies about RP and CT for localized prostate cancer in PubMed and Web of Science up to December 2017. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed.

There were 4 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and 12 cohort studies including 69871 patients treated with RP and 65765 patients treated with CT. There was a significantly reduced all-cause mortality (HR:0.575;95%CI:0.487 to 0.678;p<0.001) along with a reduced risk of prostate cancer mortality in patients treated with RP compared to those treated with CT (HR:0.408;95%CI:0.313 to 0.533;p<0.001). RP was effective with a lower all-cause mortality and prostate cancer mortality for patients with intermediate risk disease (HR:0.774;95%CI:0.664 to 0.902,p=0.001; HR:0.428;95%CI:0.286 to 0.641, p=0.001, respectively). However, for low risk (HR:0.774;95%CI:0.505 to 1.187, p=0.241; HR:0.603;95%CI:0.332 to 1.097, p=0.098, respectively) and high risk (HR:0.662;95%CI:0.376 to 1.164, p=0.152; HR:0.584;95%CI:0.315 to 1.084, p=0.089, respectively) prostate cancer patients, there was no significant difference between RP and CT. In the subgroup analysis according to the age and follow-up time, the results favored the RP and there was no specific factor affecting the outcomes.

RP offers a better survival rate than CT in patients with localized prostate cancer. For some patients with localized prostate cancer, treatment should be chosen very carefully.