Clinical outcomes of low-dose-rate brachytherapy based radiotherapy for intermediate risk prostate cancer

To monitor the outcomes for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated with biologically effective dose (BED) ≥ 200 Gy radiotherapy using low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy.

Between 2005 and 2016, a total of 397 patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer were treated by LDR-based radiotherapy with a BED ≥ 200 Gy. Treatments consisted of LDR brachytherapy alone (177 cases) or LDR and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (220 cases). Short-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was used in 186 patients (46.9%). The median follow-up period was 72 months (range 29-165 months). Dosimetric parameters and BED were studied in each case. The numbers of intermediate-risk features were: 163 patients with 1 intermediate-risk feature (41%), 169 patients with 2 intermediate-risk features (43%), and 65 patients with 3 intermediate-risk features (16%). A total of 145 cases were diagnosed as having primary Gleason pattern 4: Gleason score 4 + 3 (36.5%).

Three patients developed biochemical failure, thus providing a 7-year actual biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS) rate of 99.1%. Biochemical failure was observed exclusively in cases with distant metastasis: two cases with lymph node metastasis and one case with bone metastasis, thus yielding a 7-year freedom from clinical failure (FFCF) rate of 99.1%. We observed eight deaths, but there was no death from prostate cancer, thus yielding a 7-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rate of 100%, and an overall survival (OS) rate of 98.4%.

This study highlights excellent outcomes for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, including unfavorable intermediate-risk cases, treated with BED ≥ 200 Gy radiotherapy using LDR brachytherapy. LDR alone with a BED of 200 Gy may be an optimal treatment for both favorable and unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, although a longer follow-up is mandatory to confirm the present findings.