Dissemination of disease following transurethral resection for locally advanced prostate cancer

Between 1974 and 1978, 258 patients with clinical Stage C adenocarcinoma of the prostate were treated at the U.T. M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. Of these, 208 were considered evaluable for a review of the impact of transurethral resection (TUR) on the dissemination of disease. After TUR, the incidence of disease progression was 38.9 per cent, compared with 36.4 per cent for patients who did not undergo TUR. There were significant differences in both incidence of progression (31.2% versus 55.6%, p = 0.002) and time to progression (p less than 0.001) when patients were divided into Stages C1 and C2 (presence or absence of pelvic side wall fixation) irrespective of their TUR status. Therefore, it appears that for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, the degree of tumor burden and not the TUR status has a significant influence on disease progression.