title: Prognostic factors in prostate cancer patients treated by radical external beam radiotherapy.
abstract: The aim of this paper was to analyze, retrospectively, in prostate cancer patients treated in our Centre with external beam radiotherapy, the prognostic factors and their impact on the outcome in terms of cancer-specific survival (CSS), biochemical disease-free survival (BDFS) and clinical disease-free survival (CDFS).
  
  
  
  From October 1999 and March 2012, 1080 patients were treated with radiotherapy at our Institution: 87% of them were classified as ≤cT2, 83% had a Gleason Score (GS) ≤7, their mean of iPSA was 18 ng/mL, and the rate of clinical positive nodes was 1%. The mean follow-up was 81 months.
  
  
  
  The statistically significant prognostic factors for all groups of patients at both, univariate and multivariate analysis, were the GS and the iPSA. In intermediate- and high- or very-high-risk patients at multivariate analysis other prognostic factors for CSS were positive nodes on computed tomography (CT) scan and rectal preparation during the treatment; for BDFS, the prognostic factors were patient risk classification, positive lymph nodes on CT scan and rectal/bladder preparation; for CDFS, the prognostic factors were the number of positive core on biopsy (P=0.003), positive lymph nodes on CT scan, and radiotherapy (RT) dose. In high/very-high risk patient group at multivariate analysis other prognostic factors for CSS were clinical/radiological stage and RT dose, for BDFS they were adjuvant hormone therapy, clinical/radiological stage, and RT dose >77.7 Gy, and for CDFS they were clinical/radiological stage and RT dose >77.7 Gy.
  
  
  
  The results of this study confirm the prognostic factors described in the recent literature, with the addition of rectal/bladder preparation, generally known for its effect on toxicity but not yet on outcome.
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy - elisabetta.garibaldi@ircc.it.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garibaldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gabriele
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maggio
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delmastro
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garibaldi
authors.affiliation: Radiology Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bresciani
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stasi
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Unit, Candiolo Cancer Institute - FPO, IRCCS, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gabriele
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D062005:Biopsy, Large-Core Needle; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D006801:Humans; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000097:blood; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: C549870:KLK3 protein, human; D007610:Kallikreins; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen