THURSDAY, March 27 (HealthDay News) -- In men with prostate cancer, the diameter of extracapsular extension by MRI before radiation treatment is an important predictor of developing metastases, according to study findings published in the April issue of Radiology.
David A. McKenna, and colleagues from the University of California San Francisco, retrospectively examined outcomes in 80 men with prostate cancer who had undergone endorectal MRI prior to external-beam radiation therapy.
After a mean follow-up of 43 months, the researchers found that four patients developed metastases. The mean diameter of extracapsular extension was the sole predictor of metastases (relative hazard ratio 2.06), with three of five patients with an extension greater than 5 mm at imaging developing metastases 24 to 63 months after treatment.
"The presence and degree of extracapsular extension at MRI prior to external-beam radiation therapy are important predictors of post-treatment metastatic recurrence," McKenna and colleagues conclude.
Abstract
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