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Objectives: To evaluate retrospectively the surgical, symptomatic and oncological outcomes of pelvic exenteration surgery (PES) in men with significant intrapelvic complications of locally advanced castration-sensitive (CSPC) and castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)., Patients and Methods: A total of 103 patients with locally advanced progressive and symptomatic CSPC or CRPC underwent PES (radical cystoprostatectomy, n = 71 [68.9%]; radical prostatectomy with continent vesicostomy, n = 9 [8.7%]; total exenteration, n = 23 [22.3%]). All patients underwent local staging via magnetic resonance imaging, cystoscopy and rectoscopy. Systemic staging was carried out with chest, abdominal and pelvic computed tomography scans and bone scans. Peri-operative complications were assessed according to Clavien-Dindo classification. Symptom-free and overall survival were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Statistical tests were two-tailed with a P value <0.05 taken to indicate statistical significance., Results: After a median (range) follow-up of 36.5 (3-123) months, the symptom-free survival rate at 1 and 3 years was 89.2% (n = 89) and 64.1% (n = 66), respectively. The median symptom-free survival was 27.9 months. A total of 78.6% of the patients were symptom-free during their remaining lifetime. The overall survival rate at 1 and 3 years was 92.2% and 43.7%, respectively, and the median overall survival was 33.6 months. Clavien-Dindo grades 2, 3 and 4 complications developed in 31 (30.6%), 12 (11.6%) and eight patients (8.1%), respectively., Conclusion: Pelvic exenteration surgery is technically feasible in well-selected patients, resulting in symptom relief in >90% of patients, covering 80% of their remaining lifetime., (© 2020 The Authors BJU International © 2020 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Androgen deprivation represents the standard treatment for prostate cancer with osseous metastases. We explored the role of cytoreductive radical prostatectomy in prostate cancer with low volume skeletal metastases in terms of a feasibility study., Materials and Methods: A total of 23 patients with biopsy proven prostate cancer, minimal osseous metastases (3 or fewer hot spots on bone scan), absence of visceral or extensive lymph node metastases and prostate specific antigen decrease to less than 1.0 ng/ml after neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy were included in the feasibility study (group 1). A total of 38 men with metastatic prostate cancer who were treated with androgen deprivation therapy without local therapy served as the control group (group 2). Surgery related complications, time to castration resistance, and symptom-free, cancer specific and overall survival were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis., Results: Mean patient age was 61 (range 42 to 69) and 64 (range 47 to 83) years in groups 1 and 2, respectively, with similar patient characteristics in terms of initial prostate specific antigen, biopsy Gleason score, clinical stage and extent of metastatic disease. Median followup was 34.5 months (range 7 to 75) and 47 months (range 28 to 96) in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Median time to castration resistant prostate cancer was 40 months (range 9 to 65) and 29 months (range 16 to 59) in groups 1 and 2, respectively (p=0.04). Patients in group 1 experienced significantly better clinical progression-free survival (38.6 vs 26.5 months, p=0.032) and cancer specific survival rates (95.6% vs 84.2%, p=0.043), whereas overall survival was similar. Of the men in groups 1 and 2, 20% and 29%, respectively, underwent palliative surgical procedures for locally progressing prostate cancer., Conclusions: Cytoreductive radical prostatectomy is feasible in well selected men with metastatic prostate cancer who respond well to neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy. These men have a long life expectancy, and cytoreductive radical prostatectomy reduces the risk of locally recurrent prostate cancer and local complications. Cytoreductive radical prostatectomy might be a treatment option in the multimodality management of prostate cancer with minimal osseous metastases., (Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) represents the standard treatment for patients with prostate cancer (PCA) and osseous metastases. We explored the role of cytoreductive radical prostatectomy in PCA with low volume skeletal metastases in terms of a feasibility study., Material and Methods: A total of 23 patients with biopsy proven PCA, minimal osseous metastases (≤3 hot spots on bone scan), absence of visceral or extensive lymph node metastases and a decrease in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to <1.0 ng/ml after neoadjuvant ADT were included in the feasibility study (group A). The control group (group B) consisted of 38 men with metastatic PCA who were treated by ADT alone. Surgery-related complications, time to castration resistance, symptom-free, cancer-specific and overall survival were analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses., Results: The mean age was 61 years (range 42-69 years) and 64 years (47-83) in groups A and B, respectively, with similar patient characteristics in terms of initial PSA level, biopsy Gleason score, clinical stage and extent of metastatic disease. The median follow-up was 34.5 months (7-75 months) and 47 months (28-96 months) in groups A and B, respectively. Median time to castration resistance was 40 months (9-65 months) and 29 months (16-59 months) in groups A and B, respectively (p=0.04). Patients in group A experienced significantly better clinical symptom-free (38.6 versus 26.5 months, p=0.032) and cancer-specific survival rates (95.6% versus 84.2%, p=0.043) whereas the overall survival was similar. In group A none of the men underwent palliative surgical procedures for locally progressing PCA compared to 29% in group B., Conclusions: Cytoreductive radical prostatectomy is feasible in well-selected men with metastatic PCA who responded well to neoadjuvant ADT. These men have a long life expectancy and the risk of locally recurrent PCA and local complications are reduced. Cytoreductive radical prostatectomy might be a treatment option in the multimodal management of PCA with minimal osseous metastases.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogues or antagonists represents the treatment of choice in men with metastatic prostate cancer (PCA). Depending on the serum concentration of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) nadir, the survival might vary between 11 and 78 months. In castration-resistant PCA (CRPC), all new medical treatment options can induce complete and partial remissions in metastatic foci, but they have no profound effect on the prostate itself, as has been shown recently. About one-third of all patients without local treatment of the primary will develop significant complications of the lower and upper urinary tract due to local progression of the PCA. In men with CRPC and lower urinary tract symptoms, palliative transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) can be performed with a 60-70% success rate. Infiltration of the pelvic floor, the bladder neck and trigone, and the external urethral sphincter can make palliative radical surgery necessary. Bladder neck closure with continent vesicostomy, radical cystoprostatectomy with an incontinent urinary diversion, and anterior and posterior exenteration are individual therapeutic options in men with a good performance status and a considerable life expectancy. Symptomatic involvement of the upper urinary tract can be managed by the placement of endoluminal stents or a percutaneous nephrostomy in men with poor performance. In men with a good response to ADT and a good performance status, reconstructive ureteral surgery might be considered and the options of ureteral reimplantation, ureter ileal replacement, and a subcutaneous pyelovesical bypass have to be discussed. The indication to perform one of the above-mentioned surgical approaches needs to be discussed in a multidisciplinary tumor board., (© 2015 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.)

The therapeutic role of cytoreductive surgery for urogenital malignancies is controversially discussed in the literature. The current article critically reflects the potential impact of cytoreductive surgery in patients with renal cell cancer and prostate cancer with locoregional lymph node or systemic metastases based on a review of the literature and personal experience.Even in the era of molecular targeted therapies in metastatic renal cell cancer, cytoreductive radical nephrectomy seems to exert survival benefit when compared to systemic therapy alone if (1) patients demonstrate a good ECOG performance status, (2) exhibit good or intermediate prognosis according to the Heng criteria, (3) cerebral metastases have been excluded, and (4) >90% of the total cancer volume can be eliminated. Preliminary clinical studies suggest that neoadjuvant systemic treatment might be associated with a significantly reduced 1-year mortality rate.For prostate cancer cytoreductive radical prostatectomy is one of the guideline-recommended treatment options for men with intrapelvic lymph node metastases resulting in survival benefit when compared to androgen deprivation as monotherapy. Cytoreductive radical prostatectomy should be performed (1) in the presence of limited intrapelvic lymph node metastasis without bulky disease, (2) if complete resectability of the primary cancer and its metastasis can be achieved by extended radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymphadenectomy, (3) if the patient is included in a multimodality approach, and (4) if the life expectancy is > 10 years.The role of cytoreductive radical prostatectomy in men with osseous metastases remains unclear due to the lack of large clinical trials. Despite the presence of the first promising studies, it is not justified to perform cytoreductive radical prostatectomy outside clinical trials. Preliminary results from small studies indicate that patients with minimal metastatic burden, PSA decrease < 1.0 ng/ml following neoadjuvant ADT for 6 months and complete resectability of the tumor exhibit the best prognosis to benefit from this new surgical approach.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the surgical, oncological and short-term functional outcomes in patients undergoing salvage robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (SRARP) for the treatment of radiation-resistant prostate cancer., Patients and Methods: The records of 3,500 men who underwent RARP from February 2006 to July 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. All peri- and postoperative data were recorded prospectively in our database. A total of 13 patients (0.37%) who had undergone SRARP for the treatment of radiation-resistant prostate cancer were identified., Results: The primary treatment was external beam radiotherapy in 7 patients (53.8%) and brachytherapy in 6 patients (46.2%). The interval from radiotherapy to biochemical recurrence (BCR) varied from 12 to 108 months (median 48.9). Neurovascular bundle preservation was performed in 3 patients (23.1%). No intraoperative or major complications were encountered. Minor complications were encountered in 4 patients (30.7%). At 12 months, 7 patients were continent (53.8%), 3 exhibited mild incontinence (23.1%) and 3 (23.1%) were incontinent. Regarding potency, none of the patients were potent at 6 months, but 3 patients (23.1%) were potent at 1 year. Regarding BCR, 3 of the patients (23.1%) never reached a prostate-specific antigen nadir of zero, and during the follow-up period only 3 patients (23.1%) exhibited BCR. No disease-specific mortality was evident during follow-up., Conclusions: Although early in its development, it appears that SRARP is technically feasible and offers satisfactory surgical, oncological and short-term functional outcomes., (Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The vast majority of men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer have clinically localized disease. Besides active surveillance in low risk cancers and open radical prostatectomy as the traditional gold standard more and more patients demand a effective tumor control through a minimally invasive approach. After the introduction of laparoscopy for the treatment of prostate cancer especially the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy gained in importance. In recent years the accuracy for cancer localisation within the prostate was considerably improved, which enables the increasing use of focal therapy techniques. In addition to the robot-assisted and conventional laparoscopic radical prostatectomy the current and future importance of cryotherapy, HIFU and vascular targeted photodynamic therapy for localized prostate cancer will be analyzed in the following review article.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the perioperative oncological and functional outcomes after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RALP) in older men., Patients and Methods: The records of n = 2,000 men who underwent RALP from February 2006 to April 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 45 patients ≥ 75 years were indentified. Subsequently this subgroup was compared to the overall patient cohort with regard to perioperative results, pathological tumor stage, functional outcomes after 12 months and the prostate cancer-specific mortality and biochemical recurrence free survival., Results: The following results reflect the comparison of the cohort of patients who were ≥75 years of age versus the overall cohort of patients. A statistical difference of the parameters analyzed was observed only for minor complications 15.5 % versus 11.4 % (p<0.05), neurovascular bundle (NVB) preservation 51.1 % versus 65.7 % (p<0.05) and potency after 12 months 39.6 % versus 66.2 % (p<0.001). Major complications were noted in 2.2 % versus 1.3 % of cases. A Gleason score <7 was noted in 37.4 % versus 42.8 %, a Gleason score 7 in 51.1 % versus 47.7 % and a Gleason score >7 in 11.6 % versus 9.5 %. Tumor stages pT2 and pT3 were noted in 68.8 % versus 73.5 % and in 31.2 % versus 25.2 %, respectively. The positive surgical margin status was encountered in 11.1 % versus 8.9 % of cases, respectively. At 12 months 86.9 % versus 92.8 % of patients were continent and 39.6 % versus 66.2 % were potent, respectively. After a median follow-up of 17.2 months the prostate cancer-specific mortality in the subgroup of elderly patients was 0 % and the biochemical recurrence-free survival was 95.5%., Conclusions: The RALP approach in patients ≥75 years of age is a safe surgical procedure with a limited complication rate, excellent oncologic and continence outcomes as well as acceptable erectile function. Nevertheless, RALP should be limited to a selected cohort of patients with a good health status and an individual life expectancy of more than 10 years. For the assessment of the final oncological benefits of RALP in this patient population a longer follow-up is necessary.

For pT3 prostate cancer with positive resection margins, the importance of postoperative radiation therapy is confirmed by a high level of evidence. However, for the pT2,R1 situation prospective, randomized studies concerning this question are lacking. Despite better local tumor control in the pT2 stage the PSA recurrence rate lies between 25% and 40% and positive margins are an independent factor for recurrence. Retrospective studies suggest a positive effect of adjuvant or salvage radiation for the oncological outcome in the pT2,R1 situation. On the other hand the side effects profile, with a potentially negative influence of postoperative continence and various delayed toxicities, is not insignificant despite modern radiation techniques and in the era of ultrasensitive PSA analysis should be considered in the risk-benefit assessment. As long as the optimal initiation of postoperative radiation therapy is unclear, the assessment of indications for adjuvant or salvage radiation for organ-limited prostate cancer with positive resection margins should be made after an individual patient consultation and under consideration of the recurrence risk factors, such as the Gleason grade and the localization and extent of the resection margins.

Background: The objective of this study was to assess the surgical and the oncological outcomes in patients with a preoperative prostate specific antigen (PSA) value >20 ng/ml, undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for prostate cancer., Patients and Methods: The records of 2000 men who underwent RARP from February 2006 to April 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 147 (7.3%) patients with a preoperative PSA value >20 ng/ml were identified. A comparison was performed between the overall patient cohort and the patients with PSA >20 ng/ml. The analyzed parameters included: minor and major postoperative complications, postoperative Gleason score, pathological stage, positive margins and lymph node status, as well as biochemical progression and disease-specific mortality during the follow-up period., Results: The following results reflect the comparison of the overall cohort of patients vs. the cohort of patients who had a preoperative PSA >20 ng/ml. A statistical difference of the analyzed parameters was observed for median PSA value 10.3 ng/ml vs. 34.8 ng/ml (p<0.05), for bilateral neurovascular bundle preservation 65.7% vs. 19.7% (p<0.001), for a Gleason score <7, 42.8% vs. 12.9% (p<0.05) and for a Gleason score >7 in 9.5% vs. 19.7% (p<0.05). Organ-confined disease was noted in 73.5% vs. 31.9% (p<0.05) and extraprostatic extension in 25.2% vs. 86.1% (p<0.05). The percentage of cancer found in the prostate specimen was 16.1% vs. 38.1% (p<0.05) and a positive surgical margin (PSM) status was encountered in 8.9% vs. 33.3% (p<0.05) of patients. Positive lymph nodes were encountered in 3.2% vs. 17.1% of patients (p<0.05). After a median follow-up of 19.6 months (range 3-56 months), 118 patients (80.2%) were free of biochemical progression and no disease-specific mortality was evident., Conclusion: Although RARP in patients with preoperative PSA >20 ng/ml is a safe surgical procedure with limited complications, the risk of positive lymph nodes, as well as the PSM status are found to be significantly higher. Patients should be informed of these probable outcomes, as well as for a possible need for adjuvant treatment before undergoing the procedure.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the surgical, oncologic, and short-term functional outcomes of patients with a history of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP)., Patients and Methods: The records of 2000 men who underwent RALP from February 2006 to April 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 80 men had undergone TURP before RALP. A match-paired analysis was performed using our database to identify 80 additional men without a history of TURP with equivalent clinicopathologic characteristics to serve as a control group (non-TURP group). The parameters compared included patient preoperative clinicopathologic characteristics, intraopeoperative characteristics, postoperative oncologic characteristics, minor and major postoperative complications, continence, and potency., Results: The mean time between TURP and RALP was 3.6 months (3-6 months). Regarding preoperative characteristics, a statistical difference was only observed regarding preoperative patient potency in the TURP vs non-TURP group. Regarding intraopeoperative characteristics, a statistical difference was observed regarding the need for bladder neck reconstruction and skin-to-skin operative time. Regarding postoperative pathologic characteristics, the positive surgical margin rate was not significant when the two groups were compared. The continence and potency rates in 12 months were similar (87.5%/91.25%) and (70.3%/86.5%) for both patient cohorts., Conclusion: Although the procedure is technically more demanding, exhibits a prolonged operative time and time interval before continence and potency returns, it can be safely performed without compromising functional results as well as the radical nature of cancer surgery.

Background: Many patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer suffer from local disease progression, mostly consisting of subvesical obstruction, gross haematuria and rectal invasion with obstructive ileus. We analysed the benefit of palliative radical surgery in this patient cohort., Material and Method: Between 2004 and 2010, 20 patients underwent radical surgery; 12 patients underwent radical cystoprostatectomy, 3 patients required additional rectal resection and 4 patients were treated by radical prostatectomy. One patient with a poor prognosis received an ureterocutaneostomy and a colostomy. In all other patients an ileal conduit was chosen for urinary diversion., Results: The reduction of symptoms could be achieved in 16 of 20 (80%) patients. The median symptom-free survival was 15.3 (6-25) months, and median survival was 20.3 (9-28) months., Conclusion: With radical tumour surgery an effective local symptom control can be achieved. This individual therapeutic concept should be discussed in highly selected patients.