Management of patients with a very high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level (≥98.0 ng/mL) but clinically localized (N0M0) prostate cancer is challenging. This study sought to determine practice patterns and outcomes among these patients.
A total of 748,825 patients with prostate cancer from 2004 through 2012 were identified using the National Cancer Database. These patients were subdivided by PSA level (0-9.9, 10.0-19.9, 20.0-39.9, 40.0-59.9, 60.0-79.9, 80.0-97.9, and ≥98.0 ng/mL), nodal status (N0 vs N1), and distant metastases (M0 vs M1). Rates of locoregional treatment and 5-year overall survival (OS) in each group were determined. Survival was compared using Cox regression after adjusting for multiple patient-specific factors.
The rate of locoregional treatment for patients with N0M0 disease and PSA level ≥98.0 ng/mL was significantly lower than for those with N1M0 disease (52.6% vs 60.4%; P<.001) or N0M0 disease and PSA level <98.0 ng/mL (52.6% vs 86.6%; P<.001). The 5-year OS rate was similar for patients with N1M0 disease and those with N0M0 disease and a very high PSA level (63.2% vs 59.1%; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.91; P=.063). The survival benefit associated with locoregional treatment was higher among those with N0M0 disease and a very high PSA level than among those with N1M0 disease (aHR, 0.28 vs 0.44; P<.001).
Patients with clinical N0M0 disease and a very high PSA level (≥98.0 ng/mL) have outcomes similar to those with N1 disease but receive locoregional treatment at a lower rate. Future work is needed to investigate the utility of locoregional treatment in this population.
Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN. 2019 Aug 01 [Epub]
Vinayak Muralidhar, Paul L Nguyen, Brandon A Mahal, David D Yang, Kent W Mouw, Brent S Rose, Clair J Beard, Jason A Efstathiou, Neil E Martin, Martin T King, Peter F Orio
aHarvard Radiation Oncology Program, Harvard Medical School, and., bDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts., cDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California; and., dDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.