Knowing the negative prognostic factors for successful treatment when you have a   a biochemical recurrence (PSA only) of your prostate cancer is important. These factors can help you make your treatment decisions because they assist you in evaluating your possible clinical outcome.

In a single institutional review of  negative prognostic outcomes of salvage radiotherapy in men who had a radical prostatectomy as their primary treatment between September 1995 and December 2011 researcher were able to define the negative prognostic factors.

In their research cohort of 149 men who had three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy or intensity-modulated radiotherapy to treat their recurrence with a median follow up of 82 months (range 20-153 months) they found that 5-year salvage radiotherapy failure-free probability was 53. 6%.

When breaking down the prognostic factors they found that the negative prognostic factors were:

  • Having pre-salvage radiotherapy treatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) greater than or equal to 1. ng/mL
  • Having been diagnosed with a pathological grade greater than or equal to T3a
  • Having been diagnosed with a Gleason score equal to or greater than and 7
  • Having a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) doubling time less than 12 months.

If you have any of these negative prognostic factors you should discuss with your doctor adding some type of additional treatment like hormone therapy to your your radiotherapy.

International journal of Urology:2015 Oct 26 [Epub ahead of print]; Wan Song, Hwang Gyun Jeon, Hyun Hwan Sung, Byong Chang Jeong, Seong Il Seo, Seong Soo Jeon, Han Yong Choi, Hyun Moo Lee

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26502086