Gleason stratifications prognostic for survival in men receiving definitive external beam radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer - Abstract

PURPOSE: Histologic grade analyses for prostate cancer (PCa) have traditionally included Gleason scores (GS) of ≤ 6, 7, and 8-10. Stratified biochemical progression-free survival has increasingly been reported within these groups on analyses of primary-secondary patterns (PSPs) (e.g., 3+4 vs. 4+3) and overall GS (e.g., 8 vs. 9 vs. 10) but with limited data regarding stratified survival outcomes. In this analysis, outcomes for biopsy-assigned GS 6 to 10 were comprehensively evaluated to identify stratifications prognostic for survival in patients undergoing external beam radiation therapy (EBRT).

METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was examined for T1-4 N0 M0, GS 6 to 10 PCa managed with EBRT alone from 2004 to 2006. GS and PSP variations were analyzed for PCa-specific survival (PCSS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS: Overall, 26,885 patients were evaluated. Preliminary PSP analyses identified stratifications for 3+4 vs. 4+3 = 7 and 4+4 = 8 vs. GS 8 with pattern 5 (P5) (i.e., 3+5 and 5+3) as significant; however, no differences were observed for 4+5 vs. 5+4 = 9. The primary analysis included stratifications for GS 6, 3+4, 4+3, 4+4, 8 w/P5, 9, and 10, where the 7.5-year PCSS rates were 99%, 97%, 95%, 91%, 86%, 81%, and 78% and 7.5-year OS rates were 83%, 76%, 72%, 67%, 66%, 58%, and 54%, respectively. PCSS differences for sequential score increases were all significant on univariate analyses (all P< 0.05). In sequential multivariate analyses of PCSS accounting for age, prostate-specific antigen, T stage, year, marital status, race, and tumor registry, the identified GS stratifications remained significant (all P< 0.05), with the exception of GS 8 w/P5 vs. 9 (P = 0.11). In overall multivariate analyses, the identified GS stratifications represented the strongest prognostic factor for survival. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that presence of any P5 was an independent prognostic factor for survival.

CONCLUSION: In the largest reported survival analysis of Gleason stratifications, biopsy-assigned GS 6, 3+4, 4+3, 4+4, 8 w/P5, 9, and 10 represented sequential prognostic factors for survival in patients managed with definitive EBRT.

Written by:
Rusthoven CG, Waxweiler TV, DeWitt PE, Flaig TW, Raben D, Kavanagh BD.   Are you the author?
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado-Denver, Aurora, CO; Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Colorado-Denver, Aurora, CO; Department of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado-Denver, Aurora, CO.

Reference: Urol Oncol. 2014 Aug 20. pii: S1078-1439(14)00266-X.
doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2014.07.010


PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25151595

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