Prognostic impact of transurethral resection on patients irradiated for localized prostate cancer

The prognosis for irradiated patients with localized prostatic carcinoma following transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) has been debated. Controversy centers upon whether or not TURP has an adverse effect on the outcome. A retrospective analysis of 264 patients treated during 1974-1991 with radical external beam radiotherapy was performed. Ten patients who were irradiated postoperatively were excluded. One hundred and nine patients with urinary obstruction underwent TURP. In another 155 patients, pathological diagnosis was made by needle aspiration or tru-cut biopsies. One hundred and one patients received endocrine manipulation, 58 (40%) in the needle biopsy group, and 43 (39.5%) in the TURP group. Lymph node staging by pelvic lymphadenectomy (20 cases), lymphangiography (15 cases), and CAT and/or NMR (113 cases) was performed in 148 patients. Nodal metastases were found in 38 patients, 19 in the needle biopsy group, and 19 in the TURP group. Disease-related, disease-free and metastasis-free survivals were calculated for all stages and within each tumor stage and histological grade for both groups. Correlation of pretreatment factors with clinical outcome was evaluated by multivariate analysis. Overall, disease-related survival was significantly higher (P = 0.05) in patients undergoing needle biopsy than in those who had TURP (58% vs. 38% at 10 years). This difference was more significant in the subset of patients with well differentiated tumors (P < 0.01). However, no difference could be observed between the two groups in histological grade 2 and 3 tumors or by stage comparison.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)