ASCO GU 2017: The importance of surgical margins for biochemical recurrence in high-risk prostate cancer patients.

Orlando, Florida USA (UroToday.com) There has been increased interest in re-examining the importance of positive surgical margin in extirpative prostate surgery. As demonstrated by Stephenson et al, BCR is not affected by positive margin rate when analyzed across prostate cancer patients of all risks. However, in the high risk subpopulation, positive margins seemed to play a more important role.

This study from Paris, France looked retrospectively at 199 patients undergoing minimally invasive prostate surgery with high risk prostate cancer. They found that while positive margin did not correlate with increased BCR, pathological stage ≥T3 did.

The short followup of 23 months in this cohort makes it impossible to definitively conclude that BCR is not affected by positive margin rate. Another factor not considered in the analysis was the adjuvant use of ADT, which can certainly affect the study outcome.

First Author: Victor Srougi

at the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium - February 16 - 18, 2017 – Orlando, Florida USA

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