title: Does a delay between diagnosis and radical prostatectomy increase the risk of disease recurrence?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Men diagnosed with clinically localized prostate carcinoma have several treatment options. The investigation of these options may delay the initiation of definitive therapy. In the current study, the authors evaluated whether time from biopsy to radical prostatectomy (RP) was predictive of postoperative biochemical disease recurrence (BCR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 3149 consecutive patients who underwent RP as their initial treatment for prostate carcinoma within a year of diagnosis were identified. The time between diagnosis and RP was entered as a predictor in a multivariate logistic regression model predicting BCR at 3 years, 5 years, 8 years, and 10 years. The year surgery was performed and the nomogram-predicted probability of recurrence, which incorporates stage of disease, Gleason grade, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, were used as covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors found no clear evidence of a significant effect of delay to diagnosis on BCR. For those patients treated within 6 months (96% of the total sample) the odds ratio for each additional month of delay was 1.04, 1.07, 1.08, and 1.02, respectively, for 3-year, 5-year, 8-year, and 10-year BCR-free survival (P>0.2 for all analyses). However, the 95% confidence intervals were wide and included the possibility that even a minor delay in surgery might have a large impact on the probability of BCR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The time between biopsy and surgery does not appear to have a large effect on the risk of disease recurrence. Counseling patients on the importance of avoiding undue delay to surgery must be based on clinical judgment, particularly with respect to modifying advice based on the patient's risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA. vickersa@mskcc.org
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vickers
authors.forename: Fernando J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boorjian
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Scardino
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Eastham
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen