MONDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Recommendations for post-prostatectomy radiation therapy (PPRT) have not increased despite the recent presentation of studies reporting its association with improved biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS), according to research published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.
Karen E. Hoffman, M.D., of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues evaluated the use of PPRT, after two recent trials found that it improves bDFS. They reviewed records of 21,917 men who underwent prostatectomy for N0M0 cancer with adverse pathological features (based on pT category) between 2000 and 2007.
The researchers found that recommendations for PPRT and use of PPRT did not increase after presentation of the two recent trials. PPRT was more likely to be recommended for younger men and for men presenting with adverse features, such as more advanced pT category, higher Gleason score, margin involvement, and higher prostate-specific antigen at diagnosis. Regarding the pT category, the study showed that men with pT3a or pT3b disease were more likely to receive PPRT than those with pT2 disease.
"Recommendations for post-prostatectomy radiation did not increase after the initial reports from the randomized trials, perhaps because these studies initially reported improved bDFS but not overall survival," the authors write.
One author disclosed financial relationships with Calypso.
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