• O Kenneth Macdonald, R Jeffrey Lee, Greg Snow, Christopher M Lee, Jonathan D Tward, Anthony W Middleton, George W Middleton, and William T Sause.
• Department of Radiation Oncology, LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah 84143, USA. kenny.macdonald@hci.utah.edu
• Urology. 2007 Feb 1; 69 (2): 295-9.

ObjectivesTo analyze the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) outcome after low-dose adjuvant RT at a single institution, because the role and optimal dose of external beam radiotherapy (RT) after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer remain controversial.MethodsWe retrospectively identified 65 men who had received low-dose adjuvant RT (median 50 Gy) for microscopically positive margins with an undetectable postoperative PSA from 1990 to 2004. Biochemical failure-free survival was the primary endpoint. Biochemical failure was defined as two consecutive PSA increases to greater than 0.2 ng/mL.ResultsAt a median follow-up of 5 years, 2 men had developed distant metastasis, 2 had local recurrence, and 2 had died (neither attributable to prostate cancer). Biochemical failure had occurred in 7 men (11%). The 5 and 8-year rate of biochemical failure-free survival was 87%. A greater Gleason score (P = 0.04) and seminal vesicle invasion (P = 0.04) predicted significantly for increased biochemical failure on univariate analysis. No single factor was significant on multivariate analysis. Men with a Gleason score of 7 or less had a 5-year biochemical failure-free survival rate of more than 90%. In contrast, those with a Gleason score of 8 or more had a 50% risk of biochemical failure at 5 years. Acute bowel or bladder toxicity (all grade 2 or less) developed in 25%. Two men developed chronic urethral stricture requiring dilation, and 34 (51%) developed surgery-related toxicity that persisted throughout and after RT.ConclusionsLow-dose RT is well tolerated and can potentially provide PSA control in men with Gleason score 7 or less disease with positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy.

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