PSA recurrence following radical prostatectomy is comparable for all age groups in the UK

Increasing numbers of men are being diagnosed with prostate cancer and undergo operative curative treatment. It has been suggested that outcome after radical prostatectomy (RP) may vary for different age groups. Objective: To investigate whether PSA recurrence-free survival after RP is related to age at operation for a cohort of English men. Methods: A t otal of 854 patients notes from four Urology units were audited for preoperative staging parameters and follow-up data obtained. The relationship of PSA, age, biopsy Gleason grade, clinical stage, era and institution on PSA recurrence-free survival was competitively assessed with a multivariate model. Results: Only preoperative PSA (P<0.0001) and biopsy Gleason grade (P<0.0001) were found to be strongly associated with PSA recurrence-free survival on multivariate analysis. PSA recurrence-free survival probabilities at 5y for patients aged 45 -55y, 55.1 -60y, 60.1 -65y, 65.1 -70y and 70.1 -75y were 0.59 (CI 0.47 -0.71), 0.74 (CI 0.64 -0.784), 0.56 (CI 0.44 -0.68), 0.61 (CI 0.53 -0.69) and 0.60 (CI 0.46 -0.74), respectively. No significant difference of PSA recurrence-free survival between any of the age groups was found (Log-rank, P =0.8567). Conclusion: No significant difference of pathological variables or biochemical recurrence across the age groups was found. The widely held belief of poorer outcome in younger men selected for RP does not seem to be borne out by this study.