Evaluation of the residual prostate cancer rate on cystoprostatectomy specimen in patients treated with radiotherapy for prostate cancer

Purpose To evaluate the residual cancer rate after cystoprostatectomy (CPT) in patients with a history of radiation therapy for prostate cancer and the postoperative complication rates. Material and methods We conducted a retrospective study involving 21 patients who had a CPT over 7 years and who had a history of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. To compare results, two additional groups were created: a group of patients without a history of radiotherapy in whom a CPT was performed, and a group without a history of radiotherapy and in whom was accidentally discovered a prostate cancer after CPT on histology specimens. Results The median age at the time of radiotherapy was 69 years. The median age at the time of cystoprostatectomy was 78 years. The median PSA at the time of the intervention was 0.6 ng/ml in the group with a history of radiotherapy. The residual cancer rate was 24%. No patients had criteria for biological recurrence. There were no additional surgical complications in the radiotherapy group (p = 0.2). The rate of cutaneous ureterostomy was higher (p = 0.0006) due to increased surgical difficulties (p = 0.0009). Conclusion The residual cancer rate was 24% after radiotherapy for prostate cancer. PSA alone does not appear to be sufficient to detect the persistence of residual prostate cancer after radiotherapy. There were no more surgical complications after prostate radiotherapy.