Merrick et al. have reported long-term follow-up data on 42 consecutively treated younger men, all ≤ 50 years of age, who received permanent seed implantation between 1997 and 2004 as primary treatment for localized prostate cancer. None of the patients underwent seminal vesicle biopsy or pathologic lymph node staging.
The outcomes of their patients are described in the following results:
- The mean and median follow-up periods werewas 5.6 and 5.1 years, respectively.
- Cause-specific survival, biochemical progression-fwee survival, and overall survival for the entire cohort were 100, 97.7, and 100 percent, respectively.
- Only 1/42 patients has failed biochemically.
- The median time to International Prostate Symptom Score resolution was 3 months.
- No patient required a post-implant transurethral resection of the prostate or developed urinary incontinence.
- Two patients developed bulbomembtranous urethral strictures.
- The overall potency preservation rate was 75.6 percent (International Index of Erectile Function-6 >13 without mechanical or pharmacologic support).
- Bowel habits were reported to be the same or better than prior to treatment in 92.5 percent of patients.
- No severe rectal complications requiring therapeutic intervention occurred.
Merrick et al. suggest that, despite favorable long-term prostate brachytherapy outcomes, there remains a bias to recommend radical prostatectomy for young patients. They suggest that their data clearly indicate that men of ≤ 50 years of age have favorable biochemical and functional outcomes following brachytherapy. They propose that, depending on risk group assignment, brachytherapy with or without supplemental therapies should be considered a viable option for all healthy men regardless of age.
Filed under: Management, Treatment Tagged: | brachytherapy younger men
Search for new and
ongoing trials on the
CTAG PCa web site
