Early Salvage Radiation After RP Improves Outcomes in Relapsed Prostate Cancer

Prompt initiation of salvage radiation therapy when PSA is less than 0.5 ng/mL leads to better clinical outcomes among patients with relapsed prostate cancer, according to study findings. Source: Getty Images

The following article features coverage from the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium 2022. Click here to read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor’s conference coverage.

Initiating salvage radiation therapy (RT) early after biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy may prolong the time to metastasis, investigators reported at the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium 2022.

Among 408 patients with prostate cancer who received salvage RT, 187 (45.8%) received early salvage RT at PSA levels of 0.2 to 0.5 ng/mL.

Early-salvage RT was significantly associated with 48% and 42% reduced risks for biochemical recurrence and metastasis, respectively, compared with expectant management, Emerson Lee, a medical student at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, reported on behalf of his team. Median radiation dose was 68.4 Gy and did not differ significantly between groups.

Nodal involvement was significantly associated with 2.2-fold worse metastasis-free survival, Lee reported. Seminal vesicle invasion was significantly associated with a 1.8-fold increased risk for biochemical failure. The time from prostatectomy to salvage RT did not affect these outcomes.

Of the cohort, 133 (32.6%) patients received neoadjuvant or concurrent androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

“Independent of pathologic features and use of ADT, the initiation of salvage radiation therapy early after biochemical relapse (PSA ≤ 0.5 ng/ml) following prostatectomy is associated with increased metastasis-free as well as biochemical relapse-free survival,” Lee and colleagues concluded in their study abstract.

Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

Read more of Cancer Therapy Advisor’s coverage of ASCO GU 2022 by visiting the conference page.

Reference

Lee E, Singh T, Han M, et al. Early initiation of salvage radiotherapy is associated with improved metastasis-free survival in patients with relapsed prostate cancer following prostatectomy. Presented at ASCO GU 2022; February 17-19, 2022. Abstract 262.

This article originally appeared on Renal and Urology News