Radical prostatectomy compared with other treatment options

Radical prostatectomy.

Definitive radiation therapy.

Observation (watchful waiting or active surveillance/active monitoring).

In a randomized clinical trial performed in Sweden in the pre-PSA screening era, 695 men with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy versus watchful waiting. Only about 5% of the men in the trial had been diagnosed by PSA screening. Therefore, the men had more extensive local disease than is typically the case in men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States.[33-35]

In a randomized clinical trial performed in Sweden in the pre-PSA screening era, 695 men with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy versus watchful waiting. Only about 5% of the men in the trial had been diagnosed by PSA screening. Therefore, the men had more extensive local disease than is typically the case in men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States.[33-35]

The cumulative overall mortality at 18 years was 56.1% in the radical prostatectomy arm and 68.9% in the watchful waiting study arm (absolute difference, 12.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.1–20.3 percentage points; relative risk [RR]death, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59–0.86).[35][Level of evidence A1]

In a randomized clinical trial performed in Sweden in the pre-PSA screening era, 695 men with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy versus watchful waiting. Only about 5% of the men in the trial had been diagnosed by PSA screening. Therefore, the men had more extensive local disease than is typically the case in men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States.[33-35]

The cumulative incidence of prostate cancer deaths at 18 years was 17.7% versus 28.7% (absolute difference, 11.0%; 95% CI, 4.5–17.5 percentage points; RRdeath from prostate cancer, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.41–0.77).[35]

In a randomized clinical trial performed in Sweden in the pre-PSA screening era, 695 men with prostate cancer were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy versus watchful waiting. Only about 5% of the men in the trial had been diagnosed by PSA screening. Therefore, the men had more extensive local disease than is typically the case in men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States.[33-35]

In a post-hoc–subset analysis, the improvement in overall and prostate cancer-specific mortality associated with radical prostatectomy was restricted to men younger than 65 years.

The Prostate Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT-1 or VA-CSP-407) is a randomized trial conducted in the PSA screening era that directly compared radical prostatectomy with watchful waiting. From November 1994 through January 2002, 731 men aged 75 years or younger with localized prostate cancer (stage T1–2, NX, M0, with a blood PSA <50 ng/mL) and a life expectancy of at least 10 years were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting.[5,36,37][Level of evidence A1]

The Prostate Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT-1 or VA-CSP-407) is a randomized trial conducted in the PSA screening era that directly compared radical prostatectomy with watchful waiting. From November 1994 through January 2002, 731 men aged 75 years or younger with localized prostate cancer (stage T1–2, NX, M0, with a blood PSA <50 ng/mL) and a life expectancy of at least 10 years were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting.[5,36,37][Level of evidence A1]

About 50% of the men had nonpalpable, screen-detected disease.

The Prostate Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT-1 or VA-CSP-407) is a randomized trial conducted in the PSA screening era that directly compared radical prostatectomy with watchful waiting. From November 1994 through January 2002, 731 men aged 75 years or younger with localized prostate cancer (stage T1–2, NX, M0, with a blood PSA <50 ng/mL) and a life expectancy of at least 10 years were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting.[5,36,37][Level of evidence A1]

After a median follow-up of 12.7 years (range up to about 19.5 years), the all-cause mortality was 61.3% in the prostatectomy arm versus 66.8% in the watchful-waiting study arm, with an absolute difference of 5.5 percentage points (95% CI, -1.5–12.4) that was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR], 0.84; 95% CI, 0.70–1.01). Prostate cancer-specific mortality was 7.4% versus 11.4%, and it also was not statistically significant (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.3–1.02).

The Prostate Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT-1 or VA-CSP-407) is a randomized trial conducted in the PSA screening era that directly compared radical prostatectomy with watchful waiting. From November 1994 through January 2002, 731 men aged 75 years or younger with localized prostate cancer (stage T1–2, NX, M0, with a blood PSA <50 ng/mL) and a life expectancy of at least 10 years were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting.[5,36,37][Level of evidence A1]

Although treatment for disease progression was given more frequently in the observation arm of the study, most of the treatment was for asymptomatic, local, or biochemical (PSA) progression.

The Prostate Intervention Versus Observation Trial (PIVOT-1 or VA-CSP-407) is a randomized trial conducted in the PSA screening era that directly compared radical prostatectomy with watchful waiting. From November 1994 through January 2002, 731 men aged 75 years or younger with localized prostate cancer (stage T1–2, NX, M0, with a blood PSA <50 ng/mL) and a life expectancy of at least 10 years were randomly assigned to radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting.[5,36,37][Level of evidence A1]

As expected, urinary incontinence and erectile/sexual dysfunction was more common in the prostatectomy group during at least 10 years of follow-up. Absolute differences in patient-reported use of absorbent urinary pads was greater in the surgery group by more than 30 percentage points at all time points for at least 10 years. Disease- or treatment-related limitations in activities of daily living were worse with surgery than with observation through 2 years, but then were similar in both study arms.

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19]

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19]

With a median follow-up of 10 years, there were 17 deaths from prostate cancer, with no statistically significant differences among the three study arms (P = .48). The 10-year prostate cancer–specific survival rates were 98.8% in the active monitoring arm, 99.0% in the radical prostatectomy arm, and 99.6% in the radiation therapy arm.[19][Level of evidence A1]

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19]

Likewise, all-cause mortality was nearly identical in all three study arms: 10.9 deaths in the active monitoring arm, 10.1 in the radical prostatectomy arm, and 10.3 in the radiation therapy arm per 1,000 person-years (P = .87).[19][Level of evidence A1]

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19]

There were statistically significant differences in progression to metastatic disease among the treatment arms (33 of 545 men in the active monitoring arm; 13 of 553 men in the radical prostatectomy arm; 16 of 545 men in the radiation therapy arm) that began to emerge after 4 years, but these differences had not translated into any difference in mortality after 10 years of follow-up. Over the course of 10 years, 52% of the patients required active intervention.

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19]

As expected, there were substantial differences in patient-reported outcomes among the three management approaches.[38][Level of evidence A3] A substudy of patient-reported outcomes up to 6 years after randomization included the following results:

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19] › As expected, there were substantial differences in patient-reported outcomes among the three management approaches.[38][Level of evidence A3] A substudy of patient-reported outcomes up to 6 years after randomization included the following results:

Men in the radical prostatectomy study arm had substantial rates of urinary incontinence (e.g., using one or more absorbent pads qd was reported by 46% at 6 months and by 17% at year 6) with very little incontinence in the other two study arms.

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19] › As expected, there were substantial differences in patient-reported outcomes among the three management approaches.[38][Level of evidence A3] A substudy of patient-reported outcomes up to 6 years after randomization included the following results:

Sexual function was also worse in the radical prostatectomy group (e.g., at 6 months, 12% of men reported erections firm enough for intercourse versus 22% in the radiation therapy arm and 52% in the active monitoring arm).

In the ProtecT trial (NCT02044172 and ISRCTN20141297), 82,429 men were screened with PSA testing, and 2,664 were diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer. Among those diagnosed, 1,643 men (median age 62 years, range 50–69 years) consented to a randomly assigned comparison of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy (nerve-sparing when possible), or external-beam 3-dimensional (3D) conformal radiation therapy (74 Gy in 37 fractions). The primary end point was prostate cancer–specific mortality.[19] › As expected, there were substantial differences in patient-reported outcomes among the three management approaches.[38][Level of evidence A3] A substudy of patient-reported outcomes up to 6 years after randomization included the following results:

Bowel function, however, was worse in the radiation therapy arm (e.g., about 5% reported bloody stools at least half the time at 2 years and beyond vs. none in the radical prostatectomy and active-monitoring study arms).