title: Urethral stricture following high dose rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the incidence, timing, nature and outcome of urethral strictures following high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for prostate carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 474 patients with clinically localised prostate cancer treated with HDRB were analysed. Ninety percent received HDRB as a boost to external beam radiotherapy (HDRBB) and the remainder as monotherapy (HDRBM). Urethral strictures were graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At a median follow-up of 41 months, 38 patients (8%) were diagnosed with a urethral stricture (6-year actuarial risk 12%). Stricture location was bulbo-membranous (BM) urethra in 92.1%. The overall actuarial rate of grade 2 or more BM urethral stricture was estimated at 10.8% (95% CI 7.0-14.9%), with a median time to diagnosis of 22 months (range 10-68 months). All strictures were initially managed with either dilatation (n=15) or optical urethrotomy (n=20). Second line therapy was required in 17 cases (49%), third line in three cases (9%) and 1 patient open urethroplasty (grade 3 toxicity). Predictive factors on multivariate analysis were prior trans-urethral resection of prostate (hazard ratio (HR) 2.81, 95% CI 1.15-6.85, p=0.023); hypertension (HR 2.83, 95% CI 1.37-5.85, p=0.005); and dose per fraction used in HDR (HR for 1 Gy increase per fraction 1.33, 95% CI 1.08-1.64, p=0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BM urethral strictures are the most common late grade 2 or more urinary toxicity following HDR brachytherapy for prostate cancer. Most are manageable with minimally invasive procedures. Both clinical and dosimetric factors appear to influence the risk of stricture formation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Radiation Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Scott G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Keen Hun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Farshad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Foroudi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cleeve
authors.forename: Gillian M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Duchesne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D014525:Urethral Stricture / Q000209:etiology*