AUA 2019: Predictive Factors of Postoperative Quality of Life, Erectile Function and Continence After Robot-assisted Radical Prostatectomy
The authors performed a retrospective review of the Be-RALP database, evaluating 9,235 patients treated between 2009-2016. Patients were divided into two separate risk groups, low/intermediate (cT1-2b and PSA < 20 and Gleason score < 8), and high risk (>cT2b or PSA >=20 or Gleason score 8-10). Subsequently, 2,071 high-risk patients were matched with 2,071 low/intermediate-risk patients and outcomes were evaluated with standardized questionnaires EORTC C30, PR25, ICIQ, IIEF-5. Multivariate linear regression was performed.
After 24-months of follow-up, authors found that risk category did not correlate with QOL or functional outcomes. Not surprisingly, higher volume hospitals had better QOL and erectile function results after RALP, and increasing age was associated with lower erectile function and increased urinary symptoms. They also found that erectile and urinary function was poorer in men operated in the earlier years of the study.
Interestingly, the authors found that postoperative radiation/hormonal therapy was not associated with functional and QOL outcomes. The validity of these findings is unclear. It is important to note that a relatively high proportion of the low/intermediate risk patients underwent postoperative radiation/hormone therapy (26%).
The authors are performing follow-up studies to validate these preliminary results.
Presented by: Devlies Wout, School of Medicine, KU Leuven, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Written by: Selma Masic, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), Fox Chase Cancer Center, @selmasic at the American Urological Association's 2019 Annual Meeting (AUA 2019), May 3 – 6, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois