Radiation Therapy as Adjuvant Treatment After Radical Prostatectomy: Patient Tolerance and Preliminary Results

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Abstract
For the last 7 years we administered therapeutic doses of radiation therapy as adjuvant treatment after radical prostatectomy in 45 patients at high risk for recurrence, that is patients with pathological stage C (seminal vesicle invasion) or stage D1a (microscopic involvement of the resected pelvic lymph nodes) disease. All of the patients have been followed for at least 2 years. Short-term and long-term complications were minimal; only 2 patients had significant sequelae that were managed satisfactorily. There has been no local recurrence after mean followups of 62 and 48 months for patients with stages C and D1a disease, respectively. The actuarial 5-year survival rate free of disease was 79 percent for patients with stage C and 72 percent with stage D1a cancer.