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Background: Given the prolonged natural history of clinically localized, high-risk prostate cancer, there is a need for the identification of intermediate clinical endpoints (ICEs) to predict long-term overall survival (OS)., Objective: To explore the role of novel potential ICEs based on clinical follow-up to predict long-term survival in patients with high-risk prostate cancer., Design, Setting, and Participants: Overall, 3507 patients treated at 12 tertiary referral centers between 1988 and 2016 were evaluated., Intervention: Radical prostatectomy (RP) with extended pelvic lymph node dissection., Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: The impact of biochemical recurrence (BCR) and clinical recurrence (CR) within 1, 3, 5, and 7yr after surgery on the risk of OS was evaluated in multivariable Cox regression analyses. In patients with BCR, the impact of progression to CR within 6mo and 1, 3, and 5yr on long-term OS was investigated. Discrimination was assessed using Harrell's c index., Results and Limitations: Median follow-up for survivors was 76mo. The 5- and 10-yr OS and cancer-specific survival rates were 94% and 81% versus 98% and 95%, respectively. On a time-varying multivariable analysis, BCR (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.04) and CR (HR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.03-1.07) emerged as predictors of OS (p<0.001). The development of CR within 5yr after surgery was the most informative ICE for predicting OS (c index: 0.74). In patients with BCR, progression to CR within 12mo represented the most informative predictor for the subsequent risk of dying from all causes. Patients who developed BCR within 5yr after RP and progressed to CR within 12mo had a 10-yr OS rate of 47%. These results require prospective validation., Conclusions: When predicting long-term survival in surgically treated high-risk patients, progression to CR within 5yr of RP confers the highest discrimination with respect to other landmark points. In men experiencing BCR, progression to CR within the subsequent 12mo achieved the highest discrimination. Further studies are needed to validate our findings., Patient Summary: We investigated the most informative intermediate clinical endpoints for predicting overall survival (OS). Occurrence of clinical recurrence within 5yr after radical prostatectomy confers the highest discrimination to a model predicting OS., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Introduction: The aim of the study was to identify the appropriate level of Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) in older patients (>70 years) with high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) to achieve survival benefit following radical prostatectomy (RP)., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1008 older patients (>70 years) who underwent RP with pelvic lymph node dissection for high-risk prostate cancer (preoperative prostate-specific antigen >20 ng/mL or clinical stage ≥T2c or Gleason ≥8) from 14 tertiary institutions between 1988 and 2014. The study population was further grouped into CCI < 2 and ≥2 for analysis. Survival rate for each group was estimated with Kaplan-Meier method and competitive risk Fine-Gray regression to estimate the best explanatory multivariable model. Area under the curve (AUC) and Akaike information criterion were used to identify ideal 'Cut off' for CCI., Results: The clinical and cancer characteristics were similar between the two groups. Comparison of the survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier curve between two groups for non-cancer death and survival estimations for 5 and 10 years shows significant worst outcomes for patients with CCI ≥ 2. In multivariate model to decide the appropriate CCI cut-off point, we found CCI 2 has better AUC and p value in log rank test., Conclusion: Older patients with fewer comorbidities harboring high-risk PCa appears to benefit from RP. Sicker patients are more likely to die due to non-prostate cancer-related causes and are less likely to benefit from RP.

Objective: In patients with a long life expectancy with high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PCa), the chance to die from PCa is not negligible and may change significantly according to the time elapsed from surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term survival patterns in young patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) for HRPCa., Materials and Methods: Within a multiinstitutional cohort, 600 young patients (≤59 years) treated with RP between 1987 and 2012 for HRPCa (defined as at least one of the following adverse characteristics: prostate specific antigen>20, cT3 or higher, biopsy Gleason sum 8-10) were identified. Smoothed cumulative incidence plot was performed to assess cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other cause mortality (OCM) rates at 10, 15, and 20 years after RP. The same analyses were performed to assess the 5-year probability of CSM and OCM in patients who survived 5, 10, and 15 years after RP. A multivariable competing risk regression model was fitted to identify predictors of CSM and OCM., Results: The 10-, 15- and 20-year CSM and OCM rates were 11.6% and 5.5% vs. 15.5% and 13.5% vs. 18.4% and 19.3%, respectively. The 5-year probability of CSM and OCM rates among patients who survived at 5, 10, and 15 years after RP, were 6.4% and 2.7% vs. 4.6% and 9.6% vs. 4.2% and 8.2%, respectively. Year of surgery, pathological stage and Gleason score, surgical margin status and lymph node invasion were the major determinants of CSM (all P≤0.03). Conversely, none of the covariates was significantly associated with OCM (all P≥ 0.09)., Conclusions: Very long-term cancer control in young high-risk patients after RP is highly satisfactory. The probability of dying from PCa in young patients is the leading cause of death during the first 10 years of survivorship after RP. Thereafter, mortality not related to PCa became the main cause of death. Consequently, surgery should be consider among young patients with high-risk disease and strict PCa follow-up should enforce during the first 10 years of survivorship after RP., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Several definitions of erectile function (EF) recovery after bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (BNSRP) have been proposed based on the results of the International Index of EF (IIEF)., Aim: We aimed at evaluating overall satisfaction (OS) after BNSRP according to the ability to achieve the pretreatment EF., Methods: We evaluated data of 652 patients treated with BNSRP for clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa). Erectile dysfunction (ED) was classified according to the IIEF-EF domain score. Return to baseline EF was defined as patients who reached the same preoperative ED category during the 3-year follow-up. Cox regression analyses were fitted to predict return to baseline IIEF-EF and to predict OS defined according to the IIEF-OS in the overall population. Logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze OS in men who reached the back to baseline status., Main Outcome Measures: The outcome of the study was to evaluate back to baseline EF status and to correlate it with postoperative OS., Results: Preoperative satisfaction was reported by 218 (33.4%) patients. Postoperative satisfaction was achieved by 103 patients. Overall, 383 patients were able to achieve the preoperative IIEF-EF score. However, only 26.9% reported being satisfied. Age and preoperative IIEF-EF score were significantly associated with baseline IIEF-EF recovery (all P ≤ .02). Patients who were able to return to baseline IIEF-EF were more likely to be satisfied (P < .001). Time elapsed between surgery and achievement of baseline IIEF-EF was significantly associated with OS (P < .001). Among patients who were able to achieve the baseline IIEF-EF score, a preoperative IIEF-EF of 22-25 and 26-30 was significantly associated with postoperative satisfaction (all P < .001)., Conclusion: After BNSRP, reaching the baseline IIEF-EF score is not always sufficient to obtain patient satisfaction. Only patients with a preoperative IIEF-EF ≥22 who reached the baseline score after surgery considered themselves satisfied. This should be taken into account in preoperative patient counseling., (Copyright © 2016 International Society for Sexual Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Clinical lymphadenopathy (cN+) from prostate cancer (PCa) identified on imaging remains a contraindication to radical prostatectomy (RP) according to guidelines. We tested the hypothesis that there would be no difference in survival between patients with and without cN+ on preoperative imaging who underwent RP and pelvic lymph node dissection with detection of pelvic lymph node metastasis (LNM). A total of 302 patients with LNM were retrospectively reviewed (1988-2003) and stratified according to cN status on the basis of preoperative imaging. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to evaluate cN+ as a predictor of survival. Of the 302 patients, 50 (17%) had cN+; the 252 (83%) patients with negative preoperative imaging comprised the cN0 group. During median follow-up of 17.4 yr, 161 deaths were recorded, 70 of which were from PCa. Among the entire LNM cohort, the number of positive lymph nodes (hazard ratio [HR] 1.10; p=0.02) and pathologic Gleason score 8-10 versus ≤6 (HR 2.37; p=0.04) were significant predictors of cancer-specific mortality (CSM). cN+ was not a significant predictor of CSM (p=0.6). Selected patients with cN+ have similar clinical outcomes to those with normal preoperative imaging in the setting of LNM., Patient Summary: Clinical lymph node metastases are not a factor in determining survival after radical prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection in patients with prostate cancer. Thus, the presence of clinical lymph node metastases should not be considered as an absolute contraindication to treatment with curative intent., (Copyright © 2015 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: A recent study reported a detrimental effect of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5-Is) on biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer (PCa). We tested the association between PDE5-I use, PDE5-I therapy scheme, number of PDE5-I pills taken, and BCR in 2579 patients treated with bilateral nerve-sparing RP for PCa between 2004 and 2013 at a single center. Patients were categorized according to PDE5-I use within 2 yr after surgery as on demand, rehabilitation schedule (daily PDE5-I use for at least 3 mo), and no PDE5-I use. Multivariable (MVA) Cox regression models tested the association between PDE5-I and BCR. The same analyses were repeated using the number of PDE5-I pills taken by each patient. Overall, 674 patients (26.1%) received PDE5-Is. At MVA analysis, PDE5-I use, type of administration schedule, and number of PDE5-I pills were not significantly associated with higher risk of BCR (all p ≥ 0.2) after accounting for multiple confounders including time from RP to PDE5-I use. While awaiting further studies, patients should not be denied PDE5-I treatment after RP., Patient Summary: Among patients treated with radical prostatectomy, phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor use was not associated with an increased risk of biochemical recurrence, regardless of the therapeutic regimen used., (Copyright © 2015 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It is well known that the administration of phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors (PDE5-Is) may improve erectile function (EF) recovery after bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (BNSRP). The aim of our study was to identify predictors of the use of a high number of PDE5-Is (one or more per week) after surgery among 184 patients taking proerectile medications on demand. At a mean follow-up of 22.7 months, 116 patients (63%) recovered EF. Overall, EF recovery rates at 1- and 2- year follow-up were 47.3% and 65.4%, respectively. Overall, 43 (23.4%) patients used one or more PDE5-Is per week. Preoperative EF was the only predictor of the use of one or more PDE5-Is per week after BNSRP. This held true even after adjusting our analyses for age at surgery, body mass index and EF at 1 month after surgery. Particularly, patients fully potent before surgery had roughly 2.1-fold higher probability of using one or more pills per week compared with their counterparts with some degree of preoperative erectile dysfunction (ED; odds ratio: 2.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.03-4.37). In conclusion, preoperative EF represents the only determinant of the use of a higher number of PDE5-Is after surgery. Patients with better preoperative EF might represent individuals more motivated to achieve satisfactory sexual function after surgery. These observations should provide physicians with better preoperative patient counseling and management of postoperative ED.

Background and Purpose: The aim of this study was to perform a head-to-head comparison of the Roach formula vs. two other newly developed prediction tools for lymph node invasion (LNI) in prostate cancer, namely the Nguyen and the Yu formulas., Material and Methods: We included 3115 patients treated with radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND), between 2000 and 2010 at a single center. The predictive accuracy of the three formulas was assessed and compared using the area-under-curve (AUC) and calibration methods. Moreover, decision curve analysis compared the net-benefit of the three formulas in a head-to-head fashion., Results: Overall, 10.8% of patients had LNI. The LNI-predicted risk was >15% in 25.5%, 3.4%, and 10.2% of patients according to the Roach, Nguyen and Yu formula, respectively. The AUC was 80.5%, 80.5% and 79%, respectively (all p>0.05). However, the Roach formula demonstrated more favorable calibration and generated the highest net-benefit relative to the other examined formulas in decision curve analysis., Conclusions: All formulas demonstrated high and comparable discrimination accuracy in predicting LNI, when externally validated on ePLND treated patients. However, the Roach formula showed the most favorable characteristics. Therefore, its use should be preferred over the two other tools., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: To test the hypothesis that patients with pT2 and positive surgical margins (SM) have a similar biochemical-recurrence (BCR) risk to patients with pT3a, and negative SM. Moreover, we examined the effect of incorporating positive SM as a higher stage on the discrimination accuracy of the current TNM staging system., Materials and Methods: We evaluated 1,503 prostate cancer patients treated with radical prostatectomy, between 1998 and 2010. Only individuals with pT2N0 or pT3aN0, without neoadjuvant and/or adjuvant therapy, were included. Cox regression analyses tested the relationship between SM status (negative [R0] vs. positive [R1]) and BCR rate, after stratification according to T stage. Predictive accuracy of the current T stage and of a novel T stage, which consider positive SM as a higher stage, was quantified with Harrell's concordance index., Results: Positive SM rate was 20.3%. The 5-year BCR rates were 96%, 82%, 78%, and 62% for patients with, respectively, pT2R0, pT2R1, pT3aR0, and pT3a1 (all P ≤ 0.03). In multivariable analyses, the BCR rate was 3.6-, 2.5-, and 6.0-fold higher (all P < 0.001) in patients with, respectively, pT2R1, pT3aR0, and pT3aR1 stage relative to patients with pT2R0 stage. The maximum univariable (14.1%) and multivariable (6.9%) discrimination accuracy gains were observed, when tumor stage was stratified into pT2R0 vs. pT2R1/pT3R0 vs. pT3R1., Conclusions: The presence of positive SM at radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen substantially increases the BCR risk. Patients with pT2R1 have similar BCR risk to patients with pT3aR0. Considering these patients as 1 category substantially improves the discrimination accuracy of the current TNM staging system., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Discharge patterns, including prolonged length of stay (LOS) and adverse discharge disposition (ADD), are important clinical indicators of quality of care. We examined the effect of several indicators on discharge patterns after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Methods: Within the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we focused on RPs performed between 2001 and 2007. Multivariable logistic regression analyses predicting the likelihood of prolonged LOS and ADD were performed., Results: Overall, 89,883 eligible RPs were identified, yielding a weighted national estimate of 442,400 eligible RPs. The rates of prolonged LOS decreased from 28.9 in the early period (2001-2003) to 14.4% in the late period (2006-2007) (P < 0.001). Similarly, the rates of ADD decreased from 7.4 in the early period to 5.0% in the late period (P < 0.001). In multivariable analyses adjusted for clustering, both annual hospital caseload (AHC) and insurance status were independent predictors of prolonged LOS and ADD. For example, RP performed at low AHC hospitals were more frequently associated with prolonged LOS than intermediate (OR = 0.45, P < 0.001) and high (OR = 0.21, P < 0.001) AHC hospitals. Similarly, RP performed at low AHC hospitals were more frequently associated with ADD than intermediate (OR = 0.54, P < 0.001) and high (OR = 0.63, P < 0.001) AHC hospitals., Conclusions: An improving temporal trend in discharge patterns was recorded in patients undergoing RP, with significant reductions in the rates of prolonged LOS and ADD. Nonetheless, important disparities were recorded when discharge patterns were stratified according to insurance status and AHC. Specifically, shorter LOS and lower rates of ADD should be expected in patients with private insurance and/or treated at high AHC institutions., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate the trend in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and open retropubic radical prostatectomy (RRP) use over time and to compare preoperative and pathological characteristics of patients treated with RARP or RRP at a single centre., Patients and Methods: Between 2006 and 2010, 2511 consecutive patients treated with RP, with or without pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND), for prostate cancer (PCa) at a single tertiary care centre were analysed. Baseline patient characteristics and PCa risk distribution were compared according to treatment type (RRP vs RARP) in the overall population, as well as in three surgeons' initial 50 RARP and three surgeons' initial 50 RRP cases (n = 300). We used a chi-squared trend test to evaluate the differences in treatment type administration over time according to PCa characteristics. Logistic regression analyses focused on the prediction of PLND and adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) use., Results: Overall, 1873 (74.6%) and 638 (25.4%) patients underwent RRP and RARP, respectively. Men treated with RARP were younger (mean age: 62 vs 65 years), less obese (mean BMI: 24.8 vs 26.4 kg/m(2) ), healthier (Charlson comorbidity index = 0: 68.7 vs 53.3%) and more likely to harbour clinical low-risk PCa (51 vs 30%) than their RRP counterparts (all P < 0.001). Similar findings were observed in sub-analyses focusing on six surgeons' 50 initial patients (all P ≤ 0.02). A significant increase in the rate of patients with low-risk PCa treated with RARP vs RRP was reported over time (5 vs 95% and 66 vs 34% in 2006 and 2010, respectively). Conversely, 76% of patients with high risk PCa were still treated with RRP in 2010. Patients treated with RARP were less likely to receive PLND at RP and adjuvant RT (all P ≤ 0.01), even after adjusting for clinical and PCa characteristics., Conclusions: The introduction of a robotic training programme at a high volume centre led to significant patient selection in terms of clinical and PCa characteristics. When both RRP and RARP facilities are available within the same centre, patients with the most favourable clinical and cancer profile are selected to undergo RARP. Use of RARP negatively influenced the rates and the extent of PLND as well as the use of adjuvant RT after surgery. Thus, baseline patient selection, surgical and treatment biases make any comparisons of RARP with RRP problematic., (© 2012 The Authors. BJU International © 2012 BJU International.)

Background: We set to assess the impact of stage migration in prostate cancer (PCa) on the evolution of the pN1 rate and tumor characteristics in pN1 patients over the last two decades., Patients and Methods: We evaluated 5274 PCa patients treated with radical prostatectomy and anatomically extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) between 1990 and 2010. Year-per-year trends of clinical and pathological characteristics were examined. Logistic regression analyses addressed predictors of pN1., Results: The median number of lymph nodes (LNs) removed was 16.0. Overall, the pN1 rate was 13.8% and it decreased from 26.1% to 15.6% between 1990 and 2010 (P < 0.001). For the same period, the pN1 rate changed from 0% to 3% in the low-risk PCa, from 20% to 7% in the intermediate-risk PCa, and from 33% to 44% in the high-risk PCa (P ≤ 0.01). In pN1 patients, pre-operative cancer characteristics and the median number of positive LNs (three in 1990 versus two in 2010) did not significantly change overtime (all P ≥ 0.1). Year of surgery was not an independent predictor of pN1 (all P ≥ 0.06)., Conclusion: Based on ePLND outcomes, contemporary patients with intermediate- and high-risk PCa's still harbor a significant LNI risk. In consequence, stage migration does not justify omitting or limiting the extent of PLND in these individuals.

Unlabelled: WHAT'S KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT? AND WHAT DOES THE STUDY ADD?: Urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction are the most bothersome sequelae affecting health-related quality of life in patients treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. While it has been widely reported that a nerve-sparing approach significantly improves postoperative erectile function, the impact of neurovascular bundle preservation on urinary continence recovery is still a matter of controversy. Our study clearly demonstrates that patients treated with nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy have higher chances of recovering full continence after surgery. The results indicate that, when technically and oncologically feasible, an attempt at a nerve-sparing approach should be planned in order to increase the probability of achieving full continence after radical prostatectomy., Objective: To demonstrate that nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy (NSRP) is associated with higher rates of urinary continence (UC) recovery compared with non-nerve-sparing procedures in patients with surgically treated organ-confined prostate cancer., Patients and Methods: The study included 1249 patients treated with radical prostatectomy between 2003 and 2010. Patients were divided into three preoperative risk groups: low (PSA < 10 ng/mL, cT1, biopsy Gleason sum ≤ 6), high (cT3 or biopsy Gleason 8-10 or PSA > 20 ng/mL) and intermediate (all the remaining). Postoperative UC recovery was defined as the absence of any protection device. The association between nerve-sparing status and UC recovery was assessed in univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses after accounting for age at surgery, Charlson Comorbidity Index and preoperative risk group., Results: At a mean follow-up of 42.2 months (range 1-78), 993 patients (79.5%) recovered UC. Overall, UC recovery rate at 1 and 2 years was 76% and 79%, respectively. On univariable Cox regression analysis, age at surgery, preoperative risk group, medical comorbidities and nerve-sparing status were significantly associated with UC recovery (all P ≤ 0.001). On multivariable analysis, age, risk group and nerve-sparing status were also independently associated with UC recovery (all P < 0.003). Patients treated with bilateral NSRP had a 1.8-fold higher chance of full UC recovery., Conclusions: Patients treated with bilateral NSRP have significantly higher chances of recovering full continence. Therefore, when oncologically and technically feasible, a nerve-sparing procedure should be attempted., (© 2012 The Authors. BJU International © 2012 BJU International.)

Unlabelled: WHAT'S KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT? AND WHAT DOES THE STUDY ADD?: Urinary incontinence is one of the most important morbidities after radical prostatectomy that has detrimental effect on the postoperative quality of life. The present study provides an accurate and dynamic multivariable risk stratification tool that predicts the postoperative urinary incontinence risk after radical prostatectomy based on patient-related as well as surgeon-related variables., Objective: To develop a multivariable risk classification tool to estimate postoperative urinary incontinence (UI) risk as UI represents one of the most disabling surgical sequelae after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Patients and Methods: We evaluated 1311 patients treated with nerve-sparing RP between 2006 and 2010 at our institution. Regression tree analysis was used to stratify patients according to their postoperative UI risk. Kaplan-Meier curve estimates were used to assess the UI rate in the novel UI-risk groups. The discrimination of the novel tool was measured with the area under the curve method., Results: At 3, 6 and 12 months, the UI rates were 44%, 26% and 12%, respectively. Regression tree analysis stratified patients into high risk (International Index of Erectile Function - Erectile Function domain [IIEF-EF] = 1-10), intermediate risk (IIEF-EF > 10 and age ≥ 65 years), low risk (IIEF-EF > 10, age < 65 years and body mass index [BMI] ≥ 25 kg/m(2) ) and very low risk (IIEF-EF > 10, age < 65 years and BMI < 25 kg/m(2) ) groups. The 3-month UI rates in these groups were 37%, 43%, 45% and 48%, respectively. The 6-month UI rates were 19%, 23%, 29% and 34%, respectively. The 12-month UI rates were 7%, 13%, 14% and 15%, respectively (log-rank P < 0.001). The area under the curve was 71%, 70% and 68% at 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively., Conclusions: We developed the first risk classification tool that predicts patients at high risk of UI after RP. These consisted mainly of individuals who were impotent before RP, elderly and/or overweight. This tool can be used for patient counselling., (© 2013 BJU International.)

Purpose: The use of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy has increased rapidly despite the absence of randomized, controlled trials showing the superiority of this approach. While recent studies suggest an advantage for perioperative complication rates, they fail to account for the volume-outcome relationship. We compared perioperative outcomes after robot-assisted and open radical prostatectomy, while considering the impact of this established relationship., Materials and Methods: Using the NIS (Nationwide Inpatient Sample), we abstracted data on patients treated with radical prostatectomy in 2009. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to compare the rates of blood transfusion, intraoperative and postoperative complications, prolonged length of stay, increased hospital charges and mortality between robot-assisted and open radical prostatectomy overall and across volume quartiles., Results: An estimated 77,616 men underwent radical prostatectomy, including a robot-assisted and an open procedure in 63.9% and 36.1%, respectively. Low volume centers averaged 26.2 robot-assisted and 5.2 open cases, while very high volume centers averaged 578.8 robot-assisted and 150.2 open cases. Overall, patients treated with the robot-assisted procedure experienced a lower rate of adverse outcomes than those treated with the open procedure for all measured categories. Across equivalent volume quartiles robot-assisted radical prostatectomy outcomes were generally favorable. However, the open procedure at high volume centers resulted in a lower postoperative complication rate (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46-0.75), elevated hospital charges (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.64-0.87) and a comparable blood transfusion rate (OR 1.38, 95% CI 0.93-2.02) relative to the robot-assisted procedure at low volume centers., Conclusions: Regionalization has occurred to a greater extent for robot-assisted than for open radical prostatectomy with an associated benefit in overall outcomes. Nonetheless, low volume institutions experienced inferior outcomes relative to the highest volume centers irrespective of approach. These findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for hospital volume when examining the benefit of a surgical technique., (Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Survival after surgical treatment using competing-risk analysis has been previously examined in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). However, the combined effect of age and comorbidities has not been assessed in patients with high-risk PCa who might have heterogeneous rates of competing mortality despite the presence of aggressive disease., Objective: To examine the risk of 10-yr cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality (OCM) according to clinical and pathologic characteristics of patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) for high-risk PCa., Design, Setting, and Participants: Within a multi-institutional cohort, 3828 men treated with RP for high-risk PCa (defined as the presence of at least one of these risk factors: prostate-specific antigen >20 ng/ml, biopsy Gleason score 8-10, clinical stage ≥ T3) were identified., Intervention: All patients underwent RP and pelvic lymph node dissection., Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: Competing-risk Poisson regression analyses were performed to simultaneously assess the 10-yr CSM and OCM rates after RP. The same analyses were also conducted after stratification of patients according to age at surgery, comorbidity status assessed by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and number of risk factors (one vs two or more)., Results and Limitations: Overall, 229 patients (5.9%) died from PCa; 549 (14.3%) died from other causes. The 10-yr CSM and OCM rates ranged from 5.1% to 12.8% and from 4.3% to 37.4%, respectively. Age and CCI were the major determinants of OCM; their impact on CSM was minimal. OCM was the leading cause of death in all patient groups except in young men (≤ 59 yr) with no comorbidities, regardless of the number of risk factors (10-yr CSM and OCM 6.9-12.8% and 5.5-6.3%, respectively). The main limitation was the lack of patients managed conservatively., Conclusions: Even in the context of high-risk PCa, long-term CSM after RP is modest and represents the leading cause of death only in young, healthy patients. Conversely, older and sicker patients with multiple risk factors are at the highest risk of dying from OCM while sharing very low CSM rates., (Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Patients with a single microfocus of prostate cancer at initial biopsy represent the ideal candidates for active surveillance. We investigate whether the number of cores taken affects the concordance rate between microfocus of prostate cancer and the confirmation of a pathologically insignificant prostate cancer at radical prostatectomy., Materials and Methods: Data were analyzed from 233 patients with a single microfocus of prostate cancer at initial transrectal prostate biopsy (a single focus of Gleason 6 involving 5% or less of the core) subsequently treated with radical prostatectomy. The chi-square test, cubic spline analyses and logistic regression analyses were used to depict the relationship between the number of cores taken and the probability of confirming the presence of an indolent disease (pathologically confirmed insignificant prostate cancer defined as radical prostatectomy Gleason score 6 or less, tumor volume 0.5 ml or less and organ confined disease)., Results: Overall 65 patients (27.9%) showed pathologically confirmed insignificant prostate cancer at radical prostatectomy. The rate of pathologically confirmed insignificant prostate cancer was 3.8%, 29.6% and 39.4% in patients who underwent biopsy of 12 or fewer cores, 13 to 18 cores and 19 or more cores, respectively (p <0.001). After adjusting for the available confounders, age (p = 0.04), number of cores taken (p <0.001) and prostate specific antigen density (p <0.02) were independent predictors of pathologically confirmed insignificant prostate cancer., Conclusions: Of patients diagnosed with a single microfocus of prostate cancer the number of biopsy cores taken was a major independent predictor of having pathologically confirmed insignificant prostate cancer at radical prostatectomy. Therefore, when active surveillance is considered as a possible alternative in patients with microfocus of prostate cancer, the number of cores taken should be taken into account in decision making., (Copyright © 2013 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Many patients diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (PCa) are presented with several treatment modalities, which may require time to understand these options before making an informed decision regarding treatment., Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of radical prostatectomy (RP) delay on postoperative functional outcomes and mortality in a North American population-based cohort., Methods: Overall, 17,153 men treated with RP for non-metastatic clinical stage T1-2, low-grade PCa between years 1995 and 2005 within the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare-linked database were abstracted., Main Outcome Measures: The effect of treatment delay (from PCa diagnosis to RP of >3 months) on pathological upstaging at surgery (≥pT3) and postoperative functional outcomes (urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction) was examined using logistic regression analyses. The 10-year PCa mortality rates were computed using cumulative incidence rates., Results: Overall, 2,576 (15%) patients underwent RP > 3 months after diagnosis. A treatment delay of >3 months was associated with a 24% and 33% higher rate of erectile dysfunction diagnosis and procedure, respectively (both P ≤ 0.001). Treatment delay was also associated with 6% higher rate of urinary incontinence procedure (P = 0.01). Furthermore, a dose-response effect was detected with respect to increasing durations of RP delay (≤3 vs. 3-5 vs. 5-9 vs. ≥9 months) the rates of erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence diagnoses/procedures. Treatment delay was not associated with pathological upstaging and PCa mortality., Conclusions: Customarily, the timing of RP following biopsy is dictated by tumor aggressiveness. In general, patients with more unfavorable characteristics are operated sooner. This may obliterate the potential detriments of delayed RP. The treatment delay between biopsy and RP may result in more extensive periprostatic tissue resection and may adversely affect postoperative continence and erectile function., (© 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.)

Background: The authors explored the effect of Leapfrog volume thresholds (LVTs) on 5 short-term radical prostatectomy (RP) outcomes., Methods: Within the Health Care Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the authors focused on RPs performed within the 7 most contemporary years (2001-2007). They tested rates of in-hospital mortality, intraoperative complications, postoperative complications, and blood transfusions as well as the mean length of stay (LOS), stratified according to the number of LVTs that were met. Multivariable regression analyses were adjusted further for potential confounders., Results: Overall, 36.2%, 17.3%, 14.9%, 15.7%, 12.9%, and 3% of RPs were performed at institutions that reached 0 LVT, 1 LVT, 2 LVTs, 3 LVTs, 4 LVTs, and 5 LVTs, respectively. Relative to patients who underwent RP at institutions that reached 0 LVTs, patients who underwent RP at institutions that reached 5 LVTs had fewer comorbidities, were younger, were more likely to hold private insurance, and were more likely to undergo concomitant pelvic lymphadenectomy (all P < .001). In multivariable analyses adjusted for hospital volume (HV), age, race, year of surgery, Charlson Comorbidity Index, hospital region and location, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and insurance status, LVT status was related inversely to LOS and the likelihood of receiving blood transfusions (both P < .001)., Conclusions: The current results indicated that LVTs can provide a highly accurate prediction of the probability of 2 important, detrimental, short-term outcomes after RP, even after accounting for HV. The benefit at institutions that meet LVTs may exceed that at other institutions when short-term RP outcomes are considered. This observation should be taken into consideration when treatment decisions are made, especially because most RPs were performed at institutions that did not meet any LVTs., (Copyright © 2012 American Cancer Society.)

Background: Previous randomised trials demonstrated that adjuvant radiation therapy (aRT) improves cancer control in patients with pT3 prostate cancer (PCa). However, there is currently no evidence supporting early salvage radiation therapy (eSRT) as equivalent to aRT in improving freedom from biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Objective: To evaluate BCR-free survival for aRT versus observation followed by eSRT in cases of relapse in patients undergoing RP for pT3pN0, R0-R1 PCa., Design, Setting, and Participants: Using a European multi-institutional cohort, 890 men with pT3pN0, R0-R1 PCa were identified., Intervention: All patients underwent RP. Subsequently, patients were stratified into two groups: aRT versus initial observation followed by eSRT in cases of relapse. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Propensity-matched analysis was employed, and patients were stratified into two groups: aRT versus observation and eventual eSRT, defined as RT given at a postoperative serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ≤ 0.5 ng/ml at least 6 mo after RP. BCR, defined as PSA >0.20 ng/ml and rising after administration of RT, was compared between aRT and initial observation followed by eSRT in cases of relapse using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression methods., Results and Limitations: Overall, 390 (43.8%) and 500 (56.2%) patients were treated with aRT and initial observation, respectively. Within the latter group, 225 (45.0%) patients experienced BCR and underwent eSRT. In the postpropensity-matched cohort, the 2- and 5-yr BCR-free survival rates were 91.4% and 78.4% in aRT versus 92.8% and 81.8% in patients who underwent initial observation and eSRT in cases of relapse, respectively (p=0.9). No differences in the 2- and 5-yr BCR-free survival rates were found, even when patients were stratified according to pT3 substage and surgical margin status (all p ≥ 0.4). These findings were also confirmed in multivariable analyses (p=0.6). Similar results were achieved when the cut-off to define eSRT was set at 0.3 ng/ml (all p ≥ 0.5)., Conclusions: The current study suggests that timely administration of eSRT is comparable to aRT in improving BCR-free survival in the majority of pT3pN0 PCa patients. Therefore, eSRT may not compromise cancer control but significantly reduces overtreatment associated with aRT., (Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Several risk factors increase VTE after RP: advanced age, comorbidities such as cardiopulmonary disease, rheumatologic diseases, prior history of VTE, more advanced prostate cancer, and simultaneous pelvic lymph node dissection. To date, the effect of annual surgical caseload (ASC), an established determinant of various RP outcomes, has not been tested. A previous study showed in adjusted analyses that patients operated for colorectal cancer by very high ASC surgeons were 60% less likely to suffer a VTE than those operated by low ASC surgeons. Moreover, some authors hypothesized that laparoscopy may contribute to a higher risk of VTE, due to peritoneal insufflation, reverse Trendelenburg position and prolonged operative time. The VTE rates reported in the current population-based study closely reflect those reported in institutional series. Moreover, we validated the practice-makes-perfect concept, since ASC was linked to VTE. We could not detect statistically significantly differences between minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) patients and others. Our results indicate that lower rates of VTE should be expected in patients treated by high ASC surgeons. Our findings suggest that VTE-specific processes of care need to be improved, with the intent of reaching the level recorded in patients treated by high ASC surgeons. Finally, MIRP seems to be no risk factor for VTE., Objective: To examine the effect of annual surgical caseload (ASC) on the likelihood of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Patients and Methods: Between 1999 and 2008, 36 699 RPs were performed in the state of Florida. Logistic regression models predicting the likelihood of VTE were fitted. Covariates included year of surgery, age, race, baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), lymph node dissection, ASC and surgical approach., Results: The overall VTE rate was 0.3%. It was higher in patients operated within the low (0.4%) and intermediate (0.3%) ASC tertile than in those operated within the high-ASC tertile (0.1%, P < 0.001). Mortality rate was 6.0% in patients with VTE vs 0.1% in others (P < 0.001). Median length of stay and median total hospital charges were 9 vs 3 days (P < 0.001) and $51 571 vs $24 943 (P < 0.001) in patients with VTE vs others, respectively. In multivariable analyses predicting VTE, patients operated on by low-ASC surgeons were at higher risk of VTE than those operated on by high-ASC surgeons (odds ratio [OR] = 3.78, P < 0.001). Additionally, black patients were more likely to experience a VTE (OR = 1.80, P = 0.023). Patients with CCI ≥ 1 were also more likely to experience a VTE than others (OR = 1.65, P = 0.016). Conversely, patients who had undergone minimally invasive radical prostatectomy were not more likely to experience a VTE than those who had undergone open RP (OR = 1.97, P = 0.086)., Conclusions: RP by high-ASC surgeons exerts a protective effect on the likelihood of VTE. Additionally, VTE is associated with higher mortality, prolonged length of stay and increased hospital charges., (© 2012 THE AUTHORS. BJU INTERNATIONAL © 2012 BJU INTERNATIONAL.)

Introduction: Extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) might be associated with damages to the pelvic plexus, potentially affecting erectile function (EF) recovery after radical prostatectomy (RP). However, the impact of the extent of pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) on EF has never been addressed., Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of ePLND on potency recovery in patients who underwent bilateral nerve-sparing RP (BNSRP)., Methods: The study included 396 patients with prostate cancer treated with BNSRP by two high-volume surgeons. Patients were retrospectively divided into two groups based on PLND status: no PLND (N=161; 40.9%) and ePLND (N=235; 59.1%) at the time of BNSRP. All patients had preoperative functional and oncological data. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models tested the association between ePLND and EF recovery after surgery, after accounting for confounders., Main Outcome Measure: The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was used to evaluate EF after BNSRP. Postoperative EF recovery was defined as an IIEF-EF domain score ≥ 22., Results: At a mean follow up of 33.2 months after surgery (median 30), 183 patients (46.2%) recovered EF. Overall, postoperative EF recovery rate at 2 years was 48.4%. No significant differences were recorded when patients were stratified according to the extent of PLND (EF recovery rates at 2-year: 46.6% vs. 49.7% for patients who did not undergo PLND vs. those treated with ePLND; P=0.33). These results were confirmed at multivariable analyses, where only age at surgery and preoperative IIEF-EF (all P ≤ 0.03), but not ePLND (P=0.8), represented independent predictors of EF recovery., Conclusions: The extent of PLND is not associated with potency after BNSRP. Conversely, other factors such as age at surgery and preoperative EF represent the major predictors of postoperative potency recovery. Therefore, when indicated, ePLND can be safely performed without compromising EF outcomes., (© 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.)

Purpose: The 2011 NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) guidelines for prostate cancer recommend pelvic lymph node dissection at radical prostatectomy in all individuals with a nomogram predicted lymph node invasion probability of 2% or greater. We examined the ability of these guidelines to correctly predict lymph node invasion in patients treated with extended pelvic lymph node dissection., Materials and Methods: We examined 3,064 consecutive patients treated with radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node dissection between 2000 and 2010. We formally validated the NCCN guideline nomogram using discrimination, calibration and decision curve analysis as benchmarks. Moreover the performance characteristics of the 2% nomogram cutoff as well as other cutoff values (range 1% to 10%) were tested., Results: Overall 10.0% of patients had lymph node invasion. The discrimination accuracy of the NCCN guideline nomogram was 79.8%, with a maximum underestimation of the lymph node invasion risk of 41.2%. On decision curve analysis the NCCN nomogram fared better than not performing pelvic lymph node dissection in all patients. However, in the prediction range between 0% and 9% the nomogram did not fare better than performing pelvic lymph node dissection in all patients. The use of the 2% cutoff would allow the avoidance of 49.3% of pelvic lymph node dissections, at the cost of missing 20.3% of patients with lymph node invasion., Conclusions: The NCCN nomogram tends to significantly underestimate the real lymph node invasion rate. Moreover the use of the currently recommended cutoff of 2% to trigger pelvic lymph node dissection might not be appropriate., (Copyright © 2012 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The 2011 European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines for prostate cancer recommend a pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) at radical prostatectomy (RP) in all individuals with a nomogram predicted lymph node invasion (LNI) risk of >7%., Methods: To test the performing characteristics for several thresholds (1-14%) and to examine the overall accuracy and calibration plot of the EAU nomogram at our institution. The study population consisted of 3081 patients treated with RP and PLND limited to the obturator fossa and the external iliac vein between 2008 and 2010 at a single European institution from Germany. More extensive PLNDs were performed at the surgeon's discretion., Results: Overall, 260 patients (9.2%) had LNI. The 7% threshold would have avoided 30% of PLNDs, at the cost of missing 8% of patients with LNI. The use of 8% and 9% threshold would have allowed the avoidance of respectively 39% and 48% of PLNDs, at the cost of missing respectively 12% and 14% of patients with LNI. The accuracy of the LNI nomogram was 78%, and the unadjusted departure from ideal calibration was 5.3%., Conclusions: We confirmed adequate accuracy and calibration of the LNI nomogram. The 7% cut-off may be overly conservative. Better trade-offs between avoided PLNDs and missed LNI cases may be achieved with a limit of 8 or even 9%., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The benefit of active treatment for prostate cancer is a subject of continuous debate. We assessed the relationship between treatment type (radical prostatectomy vs observation) and cancer specific mortality in a large, population based cohort., Materials and Methods: We examined the records of 44,694 patients treated with radical prostatectomy or observation between 1992 and 2005 in the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results)-Medicare linked database. Patients were matched by propensity score. Competing risks analysis was done to test the effect of treatment type on cancer specific mortality after accounting for other cause mortality. The number needed to treat was calculated. All analysis was stratified by prostate cancer risk group, baseline Charlson comorbidity index and patient age., Results: For patients treated with radical prostatectomy vs observation the 10-year cancer specific mortality rate was 5.2% vs 12.8% for high risk prostate cancer, 1.4% vs 3.8% for low-intermediate risk prostate cancer, 2.4% vs 5.8% for a Charlson comorbidity index of 0, 2.3% vs 6.4% for a comorbidity index of 1, 2.5% vs 5.4% for a comorbidity index of 2 or greater, 2.0% vs 4.6% at ages 65 to 69, 2.6% vs 5.6% at ages 70 to 74 and 2.7% vs 8.1% at ages 75 to 80 years (each p <0.001). The corresponding number need to treat was 13, 42, 29, 24, 34, 38, 33 and 19, respectively. On multivariable analysis radical prostatectomy was an independent predictor of more favorable cancer specific mortality in all categories (each p <0.001)., Conclusions: Patients with high risk prostate cancer benefit the most from radical prostatectomy. The lowest benefit was observed in patients with low-intermediate risk prostate cancer. An intermediate benefit was observed when patients were classified by Charlson comorbidity index and age category., (Copyright © 2012 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: In prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP), the rate of urinary continence (UC) and erectile function (EF) recovery may change significantly depending on the time interval between surgery and patient assessment. This effect, known as conditional survival, has not yet been assessed., Objective: Evaluate the conditional rates of UC and EF recovery after nerve-sparing RP (NSRP)., Design, Setting, and Participants: We included 1135 PCa patients treated between January 2000 and June 2011 at a single referral center., Intervention: All patients underwent NSRP., Outcome Measurements and Statistical Analysis: The Kaplan-Meier method assessed the time to recovery of UC (defined as an International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire score<6) and of EF (defined as an International Index of Erectile Function-Erectile Function score≥22). Cumulative survival estimates were used to generate conditional recovery rates assessed at a 6-mo interval. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to predict functional outcomes recovery after accounting for confounders., Results and Limitations: UC recovery rates were 89.5%, 94.7%, and 97.0% at 6-, 24-, and 36-mo follow-up, respectively. Corresponding EF recovery rates were 53.6%, 65.0%, and 67.5%, respectively. In patients who were still incontinent at 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 mo after surgery, UC recovery rates in the following 6-mo period significantly decreased as the time from surgery increased: 74.9%, 58.2%, 41.4%, 14.9%, 24.8%, 24.6%, and 13.3%, respectively. Similarly, in patients still impotent at the same time points, the 6-mo rate of sexual potency recovery was 36.9%, 26.8%, 17.8%, 8.2%, 3.1%, 4.0%, and 0%, respectively. Multivariable analyses confirmed these results. The study is limited by its retrospective design., Conclusions: In incontinent and/or impotent patients, the period elapsed from surgery represents an important predictor of the recovery of subsequent functional outcomes. The highest increments in UC and EF recovery were observed during the first year after surgery; they were virtually null after 36 mo., (Copyright © 2012 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To examine the effect of annual surgical caseload (ASC) on contemporary in-hospital pneumonia (IHP) rates and three other in-hospital outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Methods: Between 1999 and 2008, 34,490 open RPs were performed in the state of Florida. First, logistic regression models predicting the rate of IHP were fitted. Second, other logistic regression models examined the association between IHP and three other outcomes: in-hospital mortality, hospital charges within the highest quartile, and length of stay (LOS) within the highest quartile. Covariates included ASC, age, race, baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), interval between admission and surgery, as well as blood transfusion., Results: The overall IHP rate was 0.5%. It was higher in patients operated within the low (0.7%) and intermediate (0.5%) ASC tertile versus high ASC tertile (0.2%, P < 0.001). Mortality rate was 4.3% in IHP patients versus 0.1% in others (P < 0.001). Median total hospital charges and median LOS were $55,350 versus $28,171 and 7 versus 3 days in IHP patients versus others, respectively (both P < 0.001). In multivariable analyses predicting IHP, the likelihood was 3.2-fold in patients operated by low ASC surgeons versus high ASC surgeons (P < 0.001). Second, in multivariable analyses, IHP patients were predisposed to 41-fold higher in-hospital mortality, were tenfold more likely to have total hospital charges >$37,333, and were 20-fold more likely to have a LOS >3 days (all P < 0.001)., Conclusions: RP by high ASC surgeons exerts a protective effect on IHP rates. Additionally, IHP is associated with higher in-hospital mortality, prolonged LOS, and higher hospital charges.

Background: Computed tomography (CT) is a commonly used noninvasive procedure for prostate cancer (PCa) staging. All previous studies addressing the ability of CT scan to predict lymph node invasion (LNI) were based on historical patients treated with limited pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND)., Objective: Assess the value of CT in predicting LNI in contemporary PCa patients treated with extended PLND (ePLND)., Design, Setting, and Participants: We evaluated 1541 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy and ePLND between 2003 and 2010 at a single center. All patients were preoperatively staged using abdominopelvic CT scan. All lymph nodes with a short axis diameter ≥ 10 mm were considered suspicious for metastatic involvement., Intervention: All patients underwent preoperative CT scan, radical retropubic prostatectomy, and ePLND, regardless of PCa features at diagnosis., Measurements: The performance characteristics of CT scan were tested in the overall patient population, as well as according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) classification and according to the risk of LNI derived from a nomogram developed on an ePLND series. Logistic regression models tested the relationship between CT scan findings and LNI. Discrimination accuracy was quantified with the area under the curve., Results and Limitations: Overall, a CT scan that suggested LNI was found in 73 patients (4.7%). Of them, only 24 patients (32.8%) had histologically proven LNI at ePLND. Overall, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CT scan were 13%, 96.0%, and 54.6%, respectively. In patients with low-, intermediate-, or high-risk PCa according to NCCN classification, sensitivity was 8.3%, 96.3%, and 52.3%, respectively; specificity was 3.6%, 97.3%, and 50.5%, respectively; and accuracy was 17.9%, 94.3%, and 56.1%, respectively. Similarly, in patients with a nomogram-derived LNI risk ≥ 50%, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were only 23.9%, 94.7%, and 59.3%, respectively. At multivariable analyses, inclusion of CT scan findings did not improve the accuracy of LNI prediction (81.4% compared with 81.3%; p=0.8). Lack of a central scan review represents the main limitation of our study., Conclusions: In contemporary patients with PCa, the accuracy of CT scan as a preoperative nodal-staging procedure is poor, even in patients with high LNI risk. Therefore, the need for and the extent of PLND should not be based on the results obtained by CT scan., (Copyright © 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical characteristics of the potentially ideal candidates for focal therapy, that is, patients with unilateral, small volume (namely, pT2a) prostate cancer (PCa) at radical prostatectomy (RP)., Materials and Methods: We evaluated 2,503 consecutive pT2 PCa patients treated with RP between 2002 and 2009 at a single center. Within this population, the clinical characteristics of patients with pT2a and pT2b/c disease were compared. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to assess clinical predictors of pT2a at RP., Results: Overall, 349 patients (14%) had pT2a PCa, while the remaining patients had either pT2b (n = 334; 15.5%) or pT2c disease (n = 1,820 patients; 84.5%). Patients with pT2a PCa had a significantly lower mean PSA value, lower mean percentage of positive biopsy cores and lower biopsy Gleason score distribution (all P ≤ 0.03). However, at multivariable analyses, only percentage of positive cores maintained an independent predictor status (P = 0.01). Even when considering only patients sharing all the most favorable PCa characteristics (namely, clinical stage T1, PSA ≤ 4, Gleason score ≤6 and percentage of positive cores ≤25%), the rate of pT2a disease was only 24%., Conclusions: The rate of small volume, unilateral PCa even among patients with extremely favourable PCa characteristics was remarkably low (roughly 25%). This suggests that: (1) Three quarters of the best candidates for focal therapy would ultimately show adverse pathological features; (2) At present, accurate identification of the ideal candidate for focal therapy is not possible with current clinical-pathologic parameters., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Unlabelled: Study Type - RCT (randomized trial) Level of Evidence 2b. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? In a previous randomized controlled trial, barbed polyglyconate suture for vesico-urethral anastomosis was associated with more frequent cystogram leaks, longer mean catheterization times and greater suture costs per case. In the current randomized controlled trial, we show that barbed polyglyconate suture is associated with decreased anastomosis time, decreased need to readjust suture tension, cost reduction, and equal continence and early/late urinary complication rates., Objective: To examine the effectiveness of barbed polyglyconate suture (V-Loc 180; Covidien, Mansfield, MA, USA) compared with standard monofilament for posterior reconstruction (PR) and vesico-urethral anastomosis (VUA) during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP)., Patients and Methods: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted in 70 consecutive RARP cases by a single surgeon (K.C.Z.). Standard VUA was performed using three 4-0 poliglecaprone 25 (Monocryl; Ethicon Endosurgery, Cincinnati, OH, USA) sutures secured with absorbable suture clips (LapraTy, Ethicon; one single 6-inch [15.2 cm] for PR and two attached 6-inch [15.2 cm] for VUA). Barbed suture VUA was performed using two 3-0 6-inch (15.2 cm) barbed polyglyconate sutures. Time to complete the suture set-up by the nursing team, anastomosis time and need to adjust suture tension were recorded. Suture-related complications, validated-questionnaire continence and cost were also examined., Results:   Compared with a conventional reconstruction technique, there was a significant reduction in mean nurse set-up time (31 vs. 294 s; P < 0.01) and reconstruction time (13.1 vs. 20.8 min; P < 0.01) for the barbed suture technique. Need to readjust suture tension or to place additional suture clips for watertight closure was greater in the standard monofilament group than in the barbed suture group (6% vs. 24%; P= 0.03). •  A cost reduction was recorded at our institution (48.05 vs. 70.25 $CAN) with the barbed suture technique. •  With a mean follow-up of 6.2 months, no delayed anastomotic leak or bladder neck contracture was observed in either group. •  Pad-free continence outcomes for the monofilament suture vs the barbed suture groups at 1 (64 vs. 69%, P= 0.6), 3 (76 vs. 81%, P= 0.5) and 6 months (88 vs. 92%, P= 0.7) were similar., Conclusions: •  Compared with standard monofilament suture, the unidirectional barbed polyglyconate suture appears to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective PR and VUA during RARP. •  Use of the interlocked barbed polyglyconate suture technique prevents slippage, precluding the need for assistance, knot-tying and constant reassessment of anastomosis integrity., (© 2012 THE AUTHORS. BJU INTERNATIONAL © 2012 BJU INTERNATIONAL.)

Unlabelled: Study Type--Therapy (case series). Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the subject? And what does the study add? Adverse outcomes after radical prostatectomy are more often recorded in the elderly. In the USA, elderly patients undergoing radical prostatectomy are treated at institutions where suboptimal outcomes are recorded., Objective: • To assess the rate of adverse outcomes after open radical prostatectomy (ORP) in the elderly and to examine the effect of annual hospital caseload (AHC) and academic institutional status on adverse outcomes in these of patients., Patients and Methods: • Within the Health Care Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we focused on ORPs performed between 1998 and 2007. Subsequently, we restricted to patients aged ≥75 years. • In both datasets, we examined transfusion rates, intra-operative and postoperative complication rates, and in-hospital mortality rates. • Stratification was performed according to AHC tertiles and academic status. • Multivariable logistic regression analyses were fitted., Results: • Of 115,554 ORP patients, 2109 (1.8%) were aged ≥75 years. • In multivariable analyses performed in the entire cohort, elderly age increased homologous blood transfusion rates (P < 0.001), intra-operative (P= 0.001) and postoperative (P < 0.001) complication rates, and the mortality rate (P= 0.007). • Most elderly were treated at low or intermediate AHC (68.5%) and non-academic centres (56.2%). • Within the elderly cohort, intra-operative (2.9%) and postoperative (22.2%) complications tended to be highest at low AHC institutions compared to institutions of intermediate (2.7% and 17.4%) and high AHC (1.7% and 14.5%). Similarly, intra-operative (2.7% vs 2.1%) and postoperative complications (19.1% vs 13.9%) tended to be higher at non-academic than academic centres. • In multivariable analyses performed in the elderly subgroup, low AHC predicted higher intra-operative complications and higher homologous transfusions, whereas non-academic status predicted higher postoperative complications., Conclusions: • Adverse outcomes are more often recorded in the elderly. • Most elderly are treated at institutions where suboptimal outcomes are recorded., (© 2011 THE AUTHORS. BJU INTERNATIONAL © 2011 BJU INTERNATIONAL.)

Background: Race represents an established barrier to health care access in the United States and elsewhere. We examined whether race affects the utilization rate of minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) in a population-based sample of individuals from the United States., Methods: Within the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), we focused on patients in whom MIRP and open radical prostatectomy (ORP) were performed between 2001 and 2007. We assessed the proportions and temporal trends in race distributions between MIRP and ORP. Multivariable logistic regression analyses further adjusted for age, year of surgery, baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index, annual hospital caseload tertiles, hospital region, insurance status, and median zip code income., Results: Of 65,148 radical prostatectomies, 3581 (5.5%) were MIRPs. African Americans accounted for 11.4% of patients versus 78.8% for Caucasians versus 9.9% for others. Between 2001 and 2007, the annual proportions of Caucasian patients treated with MIRP were 2.2%, 0.9%, 2.6%, 7.2%, 4.7%, 9.3%, and 11.6%, respectively (chi-square trend p<0.001). For the same years in African American patients, the proportions were 0.8, 0.3, 1.4, 4.4, 3.5, 9.0 and 8.4% (chi-square trend P < .001). In multivariable analyses relative to Caucasian patients, African American patients were 14% less likely to undergo MIRP (P = .01). After period stratification between years 2001-2005 versus 2006-2007, African Americans were 22% less likely to undergo a MIRP in the early period (P = .007) versus 11% less likely to have a MIRP in the contemporary period (P = .1)., Conclusions: The racial discrepancies in MIRP utilization rates are gradually improving., (Copyright © 2011 American Cancer Society.)

Background: Prior to the introduction and dissemination of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), population-based studies comparing open radical prostatectomy (ORP) and minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) found no clinically significant difference in perioperative complication rates., Objective: Assess the rate of RARP utilization and reexamine the difference in perioperative complication rates between RARP and ORP in light of RARP's supplanting laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) as the most common MIRP technique., Design, Setting, and Participants: As of October 2008, a robot-assisted modifier was introduced to denote robot-assisted procedures. Relying on the Nationwide Inpatient Sample between October 2008 and December 2009, patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) were identified. The robot-assisted modifier (17.4x) was used to identify RARP (n=11 889). Patients with the minimally invasive modifier code (54.21) without the robot-assisted modifier were classified as having undergone LRP and were removed from further analyses. The remainder were classified as ORP patients (n=7389)., Intervention: All patients underwent RARP or ORP., Measurements: We compared the rates of blood transfusions, intraoperative and postoperative complications, prolonged length of stay (pLOS), and in-hospital mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analyses of propensity score-matched populations, fitted with general estimation equations for clustering among hospitals, further adjusted for confounding factors., Results and Limitations: Of 19 462 RPs, 61.1% were RARPs, 38.0% were ORPs, and 0.9% were LRPs. In multivariable analyses of propensity score-matched populations, patients undergoing RARP were less likely to receive a blood transfusion (odds ratio [OR]: 0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.40), to experience an intraoperative complication (OR: 0.47; 95% CI, 0.31-0.71) or a postoperative complication (OR: 0.86; 95% CI, 0.77-0.96), and to experience a pLOS (OR: 0.28; 95% CI, 0.26-0.30). Limitations of this study include lack of adjustment for tumor characteristics, surgeon volume, learning curve effect, and longitudinal follow-up., Conclusions: RARP has supplanted ORP as the most common surgical approach for RP. Moreover, we demonstrate superior adjusted perioperative outcomes after RARP in virtually all examined outcomes., (Copyright © 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the effect of annual prostatectomy volume (APV) on contemporary intraoperative rectal laceration (RL) rates after radical prostatectomy., Methods: From 1999 to 2008, 36 699 radical prostatectomy procedures were performed in Florida. First, logistic regression models predicting the RL rate were fitted. Second, other logistic regression models were used to examine the association between RL and 2 other secondary outcomes: prolonged length of stay (>3 days) and increased hospital charges (>$37 621). The covariates included APV quintiles, surgical approach (minimally invasive vs open radical prostatectomy), lymph node dissection status, age, year of surgery, race, and baseline Charlson comorbidity index., Results: The overall RL rate was 0.7%. The RL rate was 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.9%, and 1.0% for the very high, high, intermediate, low, and very low APV quintiles, respectively (P < .001). In multivariate analyses predicting RL, patients treated by intermediate (odds ratio 2.39, P = .003), low (odds ratio 2.95, P < .001), and very low (odds ratio 3.26, P < .001) APV surgeons had a greater likelihood of experiencing an RL relative to patients treated by very high APV surgeons. Second, in the multivariate analyses, patients with a RL were 9.1-fold more likely to have a prolonged length of stay (P < .001) and were 3.4-fold more likely to have increased total hospital charges (P < .001)., Conclusion: A greater APV exerts a protective effect on RL rates. Additionally, RL increases the length of stay and hospital charges., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Several studies have shown that erectile function (EF) recovery in patients undergoing bilateral nerve sparing radical prostatectomy (BNSRP) improves significantly when phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) are administered following surgery., Aim: The aim of this article was to identify patients who may recover EF after retropubic BNSRP (BNSRRP) without PDE5., Methods: We included 293 patients treated with BNSRRP at a single center. Postoperative EF recovery was defined as an EF domain score of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) ≥22. No patient received any treatment for postoperative erectile dysfunction (ED). Kaplan-Meier curves assessed time to EF recovery according to patient age, preoperative EF, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models tested the association between predictors and EF recovery. Finally, the rate of EF recovery of untreated patients after BNSRP was compared with a subset of patients with similar preoperative characteristics but receiving PDE5., Main Outcome Measure: The main outcome measure of this article was the IIEF-EF domain score., Results: Overall, 105/293 (35.8%) reached an IIEF-EF ≥22 after a mean follow-up of 26.8 months. At multivariable analyses, age, preoperative IIEF-EF, and CCI achieved independent predictor status (all P≤0.04). Patients <55 years had a 72.4% EF recovery rate compared with 30% of patients >70 years (P<0.001). Similarly, preoperatively fully potent patients (IIEF-EF ≥26) had a 56.6% chance of recovering EF after surgery compared with 18% of patients with severe ED before surgery (P<0.001). The rate of EF recovery in untreated patients <55 years and with a pre-op IIEF-EF ≥22 was higher but did not differ significantly from comparable patients receiving PDE5 (P=0.11)., Conclusions: Overall, the rate of EF postoperative recovery in patients left untreated after surgery is modest (35.8%). Although younger patients with a good preoperative EF may experience good EF recovery rates even without any treatment, use of PDE5 after surgery further improved their functional outcomes. Therefore, a therapy for ED should be offered to all patients treated with BNSRP., (© 2012 International Society for Sexual Medicine.)

Objective: To examine the homologous blood transfusion (HBT), autologous blood transfusion (ABT) and intraoperative blood conservation technique (IOBCT) rates and trends at open (ORP) and minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP)., Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was queried. Multivariable logistic regression models focused on all three transfusion types. Covariables consisted of procedure specific annual hospital caseload (AHC), year of surgery, age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and region., Results: Overall, 119,966 patients underwent radical prostatectomy between 1998 and 2007. The HBT, ABT, and IOBCT rates were 6.2%, 6.0%, and 1.2%, respectively. HBT rates ranged from 5.1-5.1% between 1998 and 2007 (P=.49) vs 9.4-2.7% (P<.001) for ABT vs 1.9-0.9% (P=.003) for IOBCT in the same time period, respectively. In multivariable analyses, ORP patients treated at intermediate (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, P=.003) and low (OR 2.73, P<.001) AHC institutions were more likely to receive an HBT than ORP patients treated at high AHC institutions. Conversely, MIRP patients treated at high (OR 0.46, P=.040), intermediate (OR 0.27, P=.001), and low (OR 0.59, P=.015) AHC institutions were less likely to receive an HBT than ORP patients treated at high AHC institutions., Conclusion: Our results indicate that the overall transfusion rate at radical prostatectomy decreased within the last decade because of a substantial decline in ABT use. Moreover, MIRP protects from HBT, even when performed at low AHC Centers., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Radical prostatectomy outcomes may be better at academic institutions than at nonacademic centers. We examined the effect of academic status on 5 short-term radical prostatectomy outcomes., Materials and Methods: In the Health Care Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample we focused on radical prostatectomy performed within the 7 most contemporary years (2001 to 2007). We tested the rates of homologous blood transfusions and extended length of stay, as well as intraoperative and postoperative complications stratified according to institutional academic status. Multivariable logistic regression analyses further adjusted for confounding variables., Results: Overall 89,965 radical prostatectomies were identified, yielding a weighted national estimate of 442,811. Of those procedures 58.2% were recorded at academic institutions. Patients at academic institutions had a lower Charlson comorbidity index and more frequently had private insurance (p <0.001). Radical prostatectomy at academic institutions was associated with fewer blood transfusions (5.4% vs 7.4%), fewer postoperative complications (10.1% vs 12.9%) and lower rates of hospital stay above the median (18.0% vs 28.2%). On multivariable analyses institutional academic status exerted a protective effect on postoperative complication rates (OR 0.93, p = 0.02) and on rates of hospital stay in excess of the median (OR 0.91, p <0.001). Similarly radical prostatectomy performed at hospitals with a high annual caseload were less frequently associated with intraoperative (OR 0.8, p = 0.01) and postoperative (OR 0.63, p <0.001) complications, length of stay beyond the median (OR 0.19, p <0.001) and homologous blood transfusions (OR 0.35, p <0.001)., Conclusions: Even after adjusting for annual hospital caseload, radical prostatectomy performed at academic institutions is associated with better outcomes than radical prostatectomy performed at nonacademic institutions. This relationship illustrates averages and does not imply that academic institutions invariably offer better care., (Copyright © 2011 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Existing population-based reports on complication rates after minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) did not address temporal trends., Objective: To examine contemporary temporal trends in perioperative MIRP outcomes., Design, Setting, and Participants: Between 2001 and 2007, 4387 patients undergoing MIRP were identified using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample., Measurements: To examine the rates and trends of intraoperative and postoperative complications, transfusion rates, length of stay in excess of the median, and in-hospital mortality. We tested the effect of the late (2006-2007) versus the early (2001-2005) study period on all outcomes using multivariable logistic regression models controlled for clustering among hospitals., Results and Limitations: Intraoperative and postoperative complications decreased from 7.0% to 0.8% (p < 0.001) and from 28.5% to 8.7% (p < 0.001), respectively. Transfusion rates decreased from 3.5% to 2.1% (p = 0.3). Hospital length of stay >2 d decreased from 56% to 15% (p < 0.001). In multivariable analyses, intraoperative (odds ratio [OR]: 0.41; p = 0.002) and postoperative (OR: 0.65; p = 0.007) complications were less frequent in the late versus the early study period. Late study period patients were less likely to stay >2 d than early study period patients (OR: 0.34; p > 0.001). Limitations of these findings include the lack of adjustment for several patient variables including disease characteristics, surgeon variables including surgeon caseload, and the restriction to in-hospital events., Conclusions: Our analyses demonstrate that in-hospital complication rates and length of stay after MIRP decreased over time. This implies that temporal differences specific to complication rates after MIRP must be considered when comparisons are made with other radical prostatectomy techniques., (Copyright © 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous prospective randomised trials have shown a positive impact of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. However, none of these trials included patients with lymph node invasion (LNI)., Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of combination adjuvant hormonal therapy (HT) and RT on the survival of patients with prostate cancer and histologically documented lymph node metastases (pN+)., Design, Setting, and Participants: Data on 703 consecutive patients with LNI treated with radical prostatectomy, pelvic lymph node dissection, and adjuvant treatments between September 1986 and November 2002 at two large academic institutions were reviewed., Measurements: For study purposes, patients treated with adjuvant HT plus RT and patients treated with adjuvant HT alone were matched for age at surgery, pathologic T stage and Gleason score, number of nodes removed, surgical margin status, and length of follow-up. Differences in cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and life table analyses., Results and Limitations: Following the matching process, 117 pT2-4 pN1 patients of 171 (68.4%) treated with adjuvant HT plus RT (group 1) were compared with 247 pT2-4 pN1 patients of 532 (46.4%) receiving adjuvant HT alone (group 2). After matching, the two groups of patients were comparable in terms of pre- and postoperative characteristics (all p ≥ 0.07). Mean follow-up was 100.8 mo (median: 95.1 mo; range: 3.5-229.3 mo). Overall, prostate CSS and OS rates at 5, 8, and 10 yr were 90%, 82%, and 75%, and 85%, 70%, and 60%, respectively. Patients treated with adjuvant RT plus HT had significantly higher CSS and OS rates compared with patients treated with HT alone at 5, 8, and 10 yr after surgery (95%, 91%, and 86% vs 88%, 78%, and 70%, and 90%, 84%, and 74% vs 82%, 65%, and 55%, respectively; p = 0.004 and p<0.001, respectively). Similarly, higher survival rates associated with the combination of HT plus RT were found when patients were stratified according to the extent of nodal invasion (namely, two or fewer vs more than two positive nodes; all p ≤ 0.006). Lack of standardised HT and RT protocols represents the main limitations of our retrospective study., Conclusions: Adjuvant RT plus HT significantly improved CSS and OS of pT2-4 pN1 patients, regardless of the extent of nodal invasion. These results reinforce the need for a multimodal approach in the treatment of node-positive prostate cancer., (Copyright © 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Different cut-offs of the erectile function (EF) domain of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) have been used as definition of postoperative EF recovery., Aim: To test the correlation between patient satisfaction and IIEF-EF domain score cut-offs., Main Outcome Measure: The IIEF was used to evaluate EF and satisfaction before and after bilateral nerve sparing radical prostatectomy (BNSRP)., Methods: The study included 165 consecutive patients treated with retropubic BNSRP at a single institution. All patients had normal preoperative EF (IIEF-EF ≥ 26) and reached an IIEF-EF ≥ 17 following surgery. Complete data included EF, intercourse (IS), and overall satisfaction (OS) assessed by the corresponding domains of the IIEF administered prior and after surgery. Patients were divided into three groups according to the highest IIEF-EF score reached postoperatively, namely 17-21 (group 1), 22-25 (group 2), and ≥ 26 (group 3). One-way analysis of variance was used to compare IIEF-OS and IIEF-IS domain scores at the time the EF end point was reached. The same analyses were repeated separately in those patients with a complete EF recovery after surgery (group 3)., Results: Mean preoperative IIEF-OS and IIEF-IS domain score was 8.4, 8.8, 8.7 and 11.6, 11.8, 11.9 in group 1, 2, 3, respectively (all P ≥ 0.3). After a mean follow-up of 26.7 months, mean postoperative IIEF-OS and IIEF-IS domain scores assessed at the time of EF recovery were comparable for patients reaching an IIEF-EF of 22-25 and for patients scoring postoperatively ≥ 26 (8.1, 8.1, and 10.6, 11.4; all P ≥ 0.3). However, mean IIEF-OS and IIEF-IS domain scores of these patients were significantly higher as compared to patients reaching an IIEF-EF domain score < 22 (6.3 and 8.4, respectively; all P ≤ 0.006). Similar results were achieved considering only those patients (group 3) who had complete EF recovery after surgery., Conclusions: We demonstrated that in preoperatively fully potent patients treated with BNSRP a lower satisfaction is expected when an IIEF-EF cut-off of 17 is used. Conversely, no difference was found using a cut-off of 22 or 26. Therefore, our results support that a cut-off of IIEF-EF ≥ 22 might represent a reliable score for defining EF recovery after BNSRP., (© 2011 International Society for Sexual Medicine.)

Introduction: No multivariable model is currently available for the prediction of erectile function (EF) recovery after bilateral nerve sparing radical prostatectomy (BNSRP)., Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a novel preoperative risk stratification aimed at assessing the probability of EF recovery after BNSRP., Main Outcome Measure: The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) was used to evaluate EF after BNSRP., Methods: This study included 435 patients treated with retropubic BNSRP between 2004 and 2008 at a single Institution. Preoperative data, including age, IIEF, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and body mass index (BMI) were available for all patients. Moreover, all patients were assessed postoperatively every 3 months and were asked to complete the IIEF during each visit. Cox regression models tested the association between preoperative predictors (age at surgery, preoperative IIEF-EF domain score, CCI, BMI) and EF recovery. Independent predictors of EF recovery were then used to stratify patients into three groups according to the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) after surgery: low (age or= 26, CCI or= 70 years or IIEF-EF or= 2; n = 136). Kaplan-Meier curves assessed the time to EF recovery (defined as IIEF-EF score >or= 22). Predictive accuracy of our proposed classification was quantified using the AUC method., Results: Of 435 patients, 242 (55.6%) received phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5-I) either on demand or every day for a period of 3-6 months. Overall, EF recovery rate was 58% at 3-year follow-up. Patients treated with PDE5-I had significantly higher 3-year EF recovery rate as compared with patients left untreated after surgery (73 vs. 37%; P < 0.001). Except for BMI (P = 0.7), all preoperative covariates showed a significant association with EF recovery (all P

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a commonly used procedure in the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer. For this report, the authors critically analyzed the factors associated with recovery of erectile function after surgery. A systematic review of the literature using the Medline and CancerLit databases was conducted. Keywords for the literature search included prostate cancer, radical prostatectomy, erectile dysfunction, impotence, treatment, and prophylaxis. Accurate patient selection (based on patient age, preoperative erectile function, and comorbidity profile) and adequate surgical technique (ie, the preservation of neurovascular bundles) were the major determinants of postoperative erectile function. Moreover, better results were achieved when an appropriate pharmacologic treatment using either oral or local approaches was given. Therefore, the authors concluded that, if patients are stratified correctly according to preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors, then a satisfactory functional recovery may be expected after surgery. For these reasons, an ideal multivariate model predicting the restoration of erectile function after surgery should include patient, surgeon, and postsurgical treatment variables. The authors also concluded that the stratification of patients with regard to their risk of developing erectile dysfunction after surgery was feasible based on several parameters, which should be taken into account for correct patient treatment and counseling. To address this objective, accurate tools for predicting the likelihood of complete functional recovery after surgery are needed. Cancer 2009;115(13 suppl):3150-9. (c) 2009 American Cancer Society.

Background: Recent large, prospective, randomised studies have demonstrated that adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) is a safe and effective procedure for preventing disease recurrence in locally advanced prostate cancer (PCa) patients. However, no study has ever tested the role of adjuvant RT in node-positive patients after radical prostatectomy (RP)., Objective: We hypothesised that adjuvant RT with early hormone therapy (HT) might improve long-term outcomes of patients with PCa and nodal metastases treated with RP and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND)., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective study included 250 consecutive patients with pathologic lymph node invasion. We assessed factors predicting long-term biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in node-positive PCa patients treated with RP, ePLND, and adjuvant treatments between 1988 and 2002 in a tertiary academic centre., Intervention: All patients received adjuvant treatments according to the treating physician after detailed patient information: 129 patients (51.6%) were treated with a combination of RT and HT, while 121 patients (48.4%) received adjuvant HT alone., Measurements: BCR-free survival and CSS in patients with node-positive PCa., Results and Limitations: Mean follow-up was 95.9 mo (median: 91.2). BCR-free survival and CSS rates at 5, 8, and 10 yr were 72%, 61%, 53% and 89%, 83%, 80%, respectively. In multivariable Cox regression models, adjuvant RT and the number of positive nodes were independent predictors of BCR-free survival (p=0.002 and p=0.003, respectively) as well as of CSS (p=0.009 and p=0.01, respectively). Moreover, there was significant gain in predictive accuracy when adjuvant RT was included in multivariable models predicting BCR-free survival and CSS (gain: 3.3% and 3%, respectively; all p<0.001)., Conclusions: Our data showed excellent long-term outcome for node-positive PCa patients treated with radical surgery plus adjuvant treatments. This study is the first to report a significant protective role for adjuvant RT in BCR-free survival and CSS of node-positive patients.

Background: Currently, the 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system of prostate cancer does not include any stratification of patients according to the number of positive nodes. However, node positive (N+) patients share heterogeneous outcomes according to the extent of lymph node invasion (LNI)., Objective: To test whether the accuracy of cancer specific survival (CSS) predictions may be improved if node positive patients are stratified according to the number of positive nodes., Design, Setting, and Participants: The study cohort included 703 N+ M0 patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND) between September 1988 and January 2003 at two large Academic Institutions. Number of positive nodes was dichotomized according to the most informative cut-off predicting CSS. Kaplan-Meier curves assessed cancer specific survival rates. Predictive accuracy of the current N stage and of the new N classification in predicting CSS was quantified with Harrell's concordance index after adjusting for pathological (T) stage and internally validated with 200 boostraps resamples. Differences in predictive accuracy were compared with the Mantel-Haentzel test., Results and Limitations: Mean follow-up was 113.7 months (median: 112.5, range 3.5-243). The mean number of nodes removed was 13.9 (range: 2-52). The mean number of positive nodes was 2.3 (range: 1-31). The most informative cut-off of positive nodes in predicting CSS was 2. Of all, 532 (75.7%) patients had 2 or less positive nodes, while 171 (24.3%) had more than 2 positive nodes. Patients with 2 or less positive nodes had significantly better CSS outcome at 15 year follow-up compared to patients with more than 2 positive nodes (84% vs 62%; p<0.001). After adjusting for pathological stage, multivariable predictive accuracy of the new N staging (2 positive nodes) was 65.0% vs 60.1% when the number of positive nodes was not considered (4.9% gain; p<0.001)., Conclusions: We demonstrated that patients with up to 2 positive nodes experienced excellent CSS, which was significantly higher compared to patients with more than 2 positive nodes. Moreover, a significant improvement in CSS prediction was reached when the number of positive nodes was considered. Thus, our results reinforce the need for a stratification of node positive patients according to the number of positive nodes and may warrant consideration in the next revision of the pathologic TNM classification.