Prevalence and prognosis of low-volume, oligorecurrent, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer amenable to lesion ablative therapy

ObjectivesTo describe the anatomical patterns of prostate cancer (PCa) recurrence after primary therapy and to investigate if patients with low-volume disease have a better prognosis as compared with their counterparts. Materials and MethodsPatients eligible for an 18-F choline positron-emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Eligible patients had asymptomatic biochemical recurrence after primary PCa treatment and testosterone levels >50ng/mL. The number of lesions was counted per scan. Patients with isolated local recurrence (LR) or with 3 metastases (with or without LR) were considered to have low-volume disease and patients with >3 metastases to have high-volume disease. Descriptive statistics were used to report recurrences. Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the influence of prognostic variables on the time to developing castration-resistant PCa (CRPC). ResultsIn 208 patients, 625 sites of recurrence were detected inthe lymph nodes (N1/M1a: 30%), the bone (18%), theprostate (bed; 11%), viscera (4%), or a combination of any of the previous (37%). In total, 153 patients (74%) hadlow-volume recurrence and 55 patients (26%) hadhigh-volume recurrence. The 3-year CRPC-free survivalrate for the whole cohort was 79% (95% confidence interval 43-55), 88% for low-volume recurrences and 50% for high-volume recurrences (P<0.001). Longer PSA doubling time at time of recurrence and low-volumedisease were associated with a longer time to CRPC. ConclusionsThree out of four patients with PCa with a 18-F choline PET-CT-detected recurrence have low-volume disease, potentially amenable to local therapy. Patients with low-volume disease have a better prognosis as compared with their counterparts. Lymph node recurrence was the most dominant failure pattern.