title: Clinical significance of surgical margin status in patients subjected to radical prostatectomy.
abstract: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical value of positive surgical margins (PSM) in patients subjected to radical prostatectomy (RP). The data of men who were subjected to RP from the 1st of January, 2001 to the 30th of May, 2010 were analyzed. Specimens with PSM were again evaluated to confirm the presence of positive margins. PSM were found in 64 (25%) out of 255 analyzed patients. Out of all clinical features, only biopsy Gleason score and clinical stage of the disease were found to be predictive of PSM. Biochemical recurrence (BR) was found in 42 (16.5%) men, among them 17 (26.6%) had PSM and 25 (13.1%) had negative margins. The risk of BR in those with "focal" PSM (<3 mm) did not differ from the risk of BR observed in patients without PSM. In contrast, the likelihood of BR was significantly greater in cases of PSM in which maximum longitude exceeded 3 mm. Reevaluation of the PSM specimens revealed equivocal margins status in six cases. PSM are not inevitably associated with BR. The risk of failure is influenced by their length. Reevaluation of the prostate specimen may lead to surgical margins status modification.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical Education Center, Department of Urology, European Health Center Otwock, Poland.
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dobruch
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical Education Center, Department of Urology, European Health Center Otwock, Poland.
authors.forename: Lukasz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nyk
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical Education Center, Department of Urology, European Health Center Otwock, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skrzypczyk
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical Education Center, Department of Urology, European Health Center Otwock, Poland ; Department of Urology Institute of Oncology, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chłosta
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Central Railway Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dzik
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Medical Education Center, Department of Urology, European Health Center Otwock, Poland.
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borówka
keywords: positive surgical margins; prostate; prostate cancer; radical prostatectomy