15-year survival after radical prostatectomy (RP): Which prognostic factors are available for patient counseling?
181 Background: Studies on 15-year Post-RP survival including data on PSA relapse (PSA-Rel) are rare. We established the 15-year post-RP prostate cancer specific mortality (PCSM), to explore the time to PSA-Rel and PCSM thereafter, and to identify clinically available prognostic factors. Methods: In men prostatectomized from 1987-2004 slightly modified D`Amico risk groups were identified (T1: No palpable tumor ;”T2 unilateral”/”T2 bilateral” according to tumor palpability in one or both lobes). PSA –Rel was defined as PSA ≥4 µg/l before 2000, and thereafter as PSA >0.2 µg/l. Delay of RP was defined as RP performance 3-12 months after diagnosis. Competing risk modeling was performed with a significance level of <0.05. Results: After a median observation time of 12 years (range: 0-22), of 309 men (median age:62 years [range:40-74]) 40 have died from prostate cancer ( PCa) and 68 due to other causes (15-year PCSM: 15% [95%CI: 10-19%). No difference of PCSM was found between the low (N: 12) and the intermediate group (N: 121), the “conventional” high risk group ( N: 121) displaying a 24% PCSM rate (95% CI:16-32%) with particularly poor prognosis for men who presented with two high risk factors ( N. 32 ; PCSM: 33% [95% CI:20-46%]). The median time to PSA relapse (N: 152) was 5 years (range: 0-17), the median overall survival time after PSA- Rel being 7 years (range: 0-17). PCSM continued to increase after 10 years. Delay of RP had no impact on PCSM. Conclusions: After a median observation time of 12 years approximately 1 of 7 men with localized PCa, most of them diagnosed before the PSA- era, have died of prostate cancer. The “conventional” high-risk group is prognostically heterogeneous: Men with two high risk criteria have a particularly poor prognosis. PSA-Rel 10 years after RP is no rare event followed by survival times of >10 years. Delay of RP for up to one year had no impact on PCSM.