Despite the key importance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters, risk classification systems for biochemical recurrence (BCR) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with radical prostatectomy (RP) are still based on clinical variables alone.
We aimed at developing and validating a novel classification integrating clinical and radiological parameters.
A retrospective multicenter cohort study was conducted between 2014 and 2020 across seven academic international referral centers. A total of 2565 patients treated with RP for PCa were identified.
Early BCR was defined as two prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values of ≥0.2 ng/ml within 3 yr after RP. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regressions tested time and predictors of BCR. Development and validation cohorts were generated from the overall patient sample. A model predicting early BCR based on Cox-derived coefficients represented the basis for a nomogram that was validated externally. Predictors consisted of PSA, biopsy grade group, MRI stage, and the maximum diameter of lesion at MRI. Novel risk categories were then identified. The Harrel's concordance index (c-index) compared the accuracy of our risk stratification with the European Association of Urology (EAU), Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (CAPRA), and International Staging Collaboration for Cancer of the Prostate (STAR-CAP) risk groups in predicting early BCR.
Overall, 200 (8%), 1834 (71%), and 531 (21%) had low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease according to the EAU risk groups. The 3-yr overall BCR-free survival rate was 84%. No differences were observed in the 3-yr BCR-free survival between EAU low- and intermediate-risk groups (88% vs 87%; p = 0.1). The novel nomogram depicted optimal discrimination at external validation (c-index 78%). Four new risk categories were identified based on the predictors included in the Cox-based nomogram. This new risk classification had higher accuracy in predicting early BCR (c-index 70%) than the EAU, CAPRA, and STAR-CAP risk classifications (c-index 64%, 63%, and 67%, respectively).
We developed and externally validated four novel categories based on clinical and radiological parameters to predict early BCR. This novel classification exhibited higher accuracy than the available tools.
Our novel and straightforward risk classification outperformed currently available preoperative risk tools and should, therefore, assist physicians in preoperative counseling of men candidate to radical treatment for prostate cancer.
European urology. 2021 Aug 13 [Epub ahead of print]
Elio Mazzone, Giorgio Gandaglia, Guillame Ploussard, Giancarlo Marra, Massimo Valerio, Riccardo Campi, Andrea Mari, Andrea Minervini, Sergio Serni, Marco Moschini, Alessandro Marquis, Jean Baptiste Beauval, Roderick van den Bergh, Razvan-George Rahota, Timo Soeterik, Mathieu Roumiguiè, Luca Afferi, Junlong Zhuang, Hongqian Tuo, Agostino Mattei, Paolo Gontero, Vito Cucchiara, Armando Stabile, Nicola Fossati, Francesco Montorsi, Alberto Briganti
Division of Oncology/Unit of Urology, URI, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: ., Division of Oncology/Unit of Urology, URI, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy., La Croix du Sud Hospital, Quint Fonsegrives, France; Institut Universitaire du Cancer-Toulouse, Oncopole, Toulouse, France., Department of Urology, Città della Salute e della Scienza, University of Turin, Turin, Italy., Urology Department, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland., Unit of Urological Robotic Surgery and Renal Transplantation, University of Florence, Careggi Hospital, Florence, Italy; Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy., Klinik Für Urologie, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Lucerne, Switzerland., Department of Urology and Renal Transplantation, Toulouse University Hospital, Toulouse, France., Department of Urology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands., Department of Urology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Urology, St. Antonius Hospital, Santeon-group, The Netherlands., Department of Urology, Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Institute of Urology, Nanjing University, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.