title: Low pre-radiotherapy prostate-specific antigen level is a significant predictor of treatment success for postoperative radiotherapy in patients with prostate cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The optimal role of postoperative radiotherapy for patients with prostate cancer remains undefined.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 70 patients (median age: 66 years), who had received radical radiotherapy (RT) between the years 1996 and 2004 after radical prostatectomy (RP), were analyzed. Fifteen patients had received immediate adjuvant RT, while the other 55 patients had received salvage therapy. Hormonal therapy had been performed in 28 patients before RT and continued in two of them concurrently with RT. A median dose of 60 Gy was delivered to the prostate bed. Pelvic node irradiation was performed in all patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After a median follow-up period of 23 months, 21 patients had experienced biochemical failure. Actuarial 3- and 5-year biochemical relapse-free survival estimates were 67.4%. No patient had local failure, although distant metastases with biochemical failure were found in five patients. On univariate analysis, the following were significant for biochemical failures: seminar vesicle involvement, serum PSA level >1 ng/ml before RT, pathological pelvic node involvement, RT indication (adjuvant vs. salvage) and Gleason score. However, only the serum PSA level before RT was significant on multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Postoperative RT with a pre-RT PSA level <0.1 ng/ml seemed to be effective in patients with prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, National Kyushu Cancer Center, Notame 3-1-1, Minami-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, 811-1395, Japan. tsasaki@nk-cc.go.jp
authors.forename: Tomonari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Katsumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shioyama
authors.forename: Saiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohga
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toba
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urashima
authors.forename: Tadamasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshitake
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terashima
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naito
authors.forename: Hideya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noma
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.forename: Akito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiratsuka
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Kiyohiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanada
authors.forename: Madoka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016879:Salvage Therapy
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen