Is prostate-specific antigen surveillance necessary in men with benign prostate pathology following radical cystoprostatectomy for bladder cancer?
BACKGROUND
Radical cystoprostatectomy (RCP) remains the gold standard for the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. There are limited data regarding the clinical impact and detection of PSA following complete prostatectomy or the need to monitor serum PSA in patients with benign prostate pathology at time of RCP. The purpose of our study was to analyze the postoperative PSA characteristics of men without prostate cancer who underwent a RCP for bladder cancer.


METHODS
The demographic, clinical and pathologic data were reviewed on 138 men who underwent RCP for bladder cancer from 1994 to 2008. Patients with known or incidentally discovered prostate cancer on final pathology were excluded from this study, and postoperative serum PSA values were reviewed in the remaining men.


RESULTS
The median age of the study population was 64 years (range 40-84). At a mean follow-up of 40.7 months, 137 (99.3%) of patients had an undetectable serum PSA. The one (0.7%) case in which serum PSA was not undetectable underwent an apex-sparing prostatectomy at the time of cystectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum PSA should remain undetectable for men with benign prostate pathology undergoing complete prostatectomy at the time of RCP. Elevated serum PSA following complete RCP in men with bladder cancer and pathologically confirmed benign prostate findings is rare. If the serum PSA is undetectable 3 months after RCP with benign prostate pathology, there is no need for continued PSA monitoring. These data support the notion that potential nonprostatic sources of PSA are clinically insignificant following complete removal of the prostate.
James Buchanan Brady Urologic Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Md., USA.
Trinity J
TJ
Bivalacqua
Stacy
S
Loeb
Phillip M
PM
Pierorazio
Mark P
MP
Schoenberg
Alan W
AW
Partin
Thomas J
TJ
Guzzo
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015142:Baltimore; D015653:Cystectomy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011467:Prostate / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood*; D011468:Prostatectomy; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen