Introduction

Data on the oncologic outcomes of high-risk prostate cancer (HRPCa) patients at 20 years after radical prostatectomy (RP) are lacking. The aim of our investigation was to evaluate the long-term patterns of biochemical (BCR), clinical recurrence (CR), cancer specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality (OCM) in a multi-institutional database of surgically-treated HRPCa patients.

Methods

We evaluated 2280 patients with HRPCa treated with RP and pelvic lymph node dissection at 3 tertiary care centers between 1986 and 2015. High-risk prostate cancer was defined according to D'Amico criteria. We estimated BCR and CR rates using the Kaplan-Meier method. The CSM and OCM rates were obtained using competing risk analyses. BCR, CR, and CSM were assessed after 20 years from surgery. Cox regression analyses assessed predictors of long-term oncological outcomes.

Results

Median follow-up was 210 months. Median age was 66 years. The 20-year overall BCR-free survival and CR-free survival rates were 36.7% and 76.3%. Overall, 1050 experienced BCR. The latest BCR was registered at 237 months after RP. Out of 1230 patients who experienced BCR, 394 (37.5%) developed CF, while 656 (62.5%) were CF-free at last follow-up. The latest CF was registered at 244 months from RP. Overall, 394 and 172 patients experienced OCM and CSM. The competing risk 20 years CSM and OCM rates were 12.4 and 30.8%. Overall, 74 patients (3.5%) had a follow up ≥20 years. Of those, 7 (9.2%) and 1 (1.3%) experienced CSM and OCM. The 25-year competing-risks OCM and CSM-free survival rates were 77.9 and 98.5%. Age at RP (HR=0.97), pathological Gleason score 6 (HR=3.73), time to BCR (HR=1.01) and number of nodes removed (HR=1.06) were predictors of being free from overall mortality at 20-year follow up (all p≤0.04). Among patients with a follow-up ≥20 years (n=74), 39 (51.3%) experienced BCR at a median follow-up of 214 months. No patient developed BCR after 20 years from RP. Moreover, 12 (33.3%) developed CF within 20 years (median follow-up 231 months), while only 1 (1.5%) developed CF after 20 years from RP.

Conclusions

Among HRPCa patients, CSM may still occur even after 20 years from RP. Therefore, long monitoring and follow-up should be prolonged even after this time point. Moreover, time to BCR was a strong predictor of reaching a long follow-up after surgery and should be considered as a main criterion to further stratify patients according to their risk of CF and mortality over time.

Funding

none