PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of a 3 T pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting a local recurrence in post-prostatectomy prostate cancer patients prior to receiving adjuvant or salvage intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
METHODS: Ninety prostate cancer patients status post-prostatectomy with rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) had a 3 T pelvic MRI prior to IMRT. The following variables were analyzed for predicting positive findings on MRI: initial presenting and initial post-op PSA, PSA at the time of imaging, PSA velocity, surgical margins, Gleason score, pathological stage, pre-RT digital rectal examination, and type of surgical prostatectomy.
RESULTS: The only significant variable predictive of a positive MRI was positive margins. Specifically, 15 of 46 (33 %) patients with positive margins had a positive MRI, while 5 of 44 (11 %) patients with negative margins had a positive MRI. In the MRI positive group, the location of the positive findings on MRI corresponded with the pathology report in 9 of 12 (75 %) cases.
CONCLUSION: Post-prostatectomy patients with pathologic positive margins are three times more likely to have positive findings on a 3 T MRI.
Written by:
Verma V, Chen L, Michalski JM, Hu Y, Zhang W, Robinson K, Verma S, Eschen L, Fergus S, Mullen D, Strope S, Grubb R 3rd, Gay HA. Are you the author?
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
Reference: World J Urol. 2014 Mar 20. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s00345-014-1269-6
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24647879
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