Robotic Surgery Offers Durable Prostate Cancer Control

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) confers effect 10-year control of localized prostate cancer (PCa), researchers reported online ahead of print in European Urology. Mireya Diaz, MD, of the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and colleagues studied 483 men with localized PCa who underwent RARP from 2001 to 2003. Of these, 108 experienced biochemical recurrence (BCR) at a median follow-up of 121 months. The actuarial BCR-free, metastasis-free, and cancer-specific survival rates at 10 years were 73.1%, 97.5%, and 98.8%, respectively. On multivariable analysis, D'Amico risk groups or pathologic Gleason grade, stage, and surgical margins were the strongest predictors of BCR depending on whether preoperative and postoperative variables were considered, according to the investigators. The value of detectable PSA levels along with disease severity independently predicted receipt of salvage therapy, the researchers noted.

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