Complete Resection of Seminal Vesicles at Radical Prostatectomy Results in Substantial Long-Term Disease-Free Survival: Multi-institutional Study of 6740 Patients

Prostate cancer nomograms and their application in Asian men: a review

Nomograms help to predict outcomes in individual patients rather than whole populations and are an important part of evaluation and treatment decision making. Various nomograms have been developed in malignancies to predict and prognosticate clinical outcomes such as severity of disease, overall survival, and recurrence-free survival. In prostate cancer, nomograms were developed for determining need for biopsy, disease course, need for adjuvant therapy, and outcomes. Most of these predictive nomograms were based on Caucasian populations. Prostate cancer is significantly affected by race, and Asian men have a significantly different racial and genetic susceptibility compared to Caucasians, raising the concern in generalizability of these nomograms. We reviewed the existing literature for nomograms in prostate cancer and their application in Asian men. There are very few studies that have evaluated the applicability and validity of the existing nomograms in these men. Most have found significant differences in the performance in this population. Thus, more studies evaluating the existing nomograms in Asian men or suggesting modifications for this population are required.

Senescent Tumor Cells Are Frequently Present at the Invasion Front: Implications for Improving Disease Control in Patients with Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

INTRODUCTION

Local tumor invasion is a critical factor for the outcome of men with prostate cancer. In particular, seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) has been reported to be associated with a more unfavorable prognosis. A better understanding of the functional state of invading prostate cancer cells is crucial to develop novel therapeutic strategies for patients with locally advanced disease.

METHODS

The prognostic impact of local tumor progression was ascertained in over 1,000 men with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer specimens were stained by double-immunohistochemistry for the proliferation marker Ki-67 and the senescence marker p16INK4A. The migratory properties of senescent prostate cancer cells were analyzed in vitro using a wound healing assay and immunofluorescence microscopy for p16INK4A.

RESULTS

We confirm the notion that patients with SVI have a more unfavorable prognosis than patients with extraprostatic extension alone. Surprisingly, we found that the tumor invasion front frequently harbors p16INK4A-positive and Ki-67-negative, i.e., senescent, tumor cells. While the intraprostatic tumor periphery was a hotspot for both proliferation and expression of p16INK4A, the area of SVI showed less proliferative activity but was at the same time a hotspot of cells with increased nuclear p16INK4A expression. Senescence was associated with an accelerated migration of prostate cancer cells in vitro.

CONCLUSION

This proof-of-concept study shows that invading prostate cancer cells frequently show signs of cellular senescence. This finding may open new avenues for neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment concepts in men with locally advanced prostate cancer.

Weighted Gleason Grade Group (WGGG): A new prostate cancer biopsy reporting system with prognostic potential

INTRODUCTION

Presently, prostate biopsy (PBx) results report the highest Gleason Grade Group (GGG) as a single metric that gauges the overall clinical aggressiveness of cancer and dictates treatment. We hypothesized a PBx showing multiple cores of cancer with more volume cancer per core would represent more aggressive disease. We propose the Weighted Gleason Grade Group (WGGG), a novel scoring system that synthesizes all histopathologic data and cancer volume into a single numeric value representing the entire PBx, allowing for improved prediction of adverse pathology and risk of biochemical recurrence (BCR) following radical prostatectomy (RP).

METHODS

We studied 171 men who underwent RP after standard PBx. The WGGG was calculated by summing each positive core using the formula: GGG + (GGG x %Ca/core). RP pathology was evaluated for extraprostatic extension (EPE), positive surgical margins (PSM), seminal vesicle invasion (SVI), and lymph node involvement (LNI), and patients were followed for BCR. We compared GGG vs. WGGG receiver operating characteristic curves for each outcome, and determined the predictive capability of GGG and WGGG to identify patients with BCR. Categorized WGGG groups were created based on risk of BCR using classification and regression tree analysis. We then sought to externally validate WGGG in a cohort of 389 patients in a separate institutional dataset.

RESULTS

In the development cohort, area under the curves (AUCs) for the WGGG vs. GGG were significantly higher for predicting EPE (0.784 vs. 0.690, P = 0.002), SVI (AUC 0.823 vs. 0.721, P = .014), LNI (AUC 0.862 vs. 0.823, P = 0.039), and PSM (AUC 0.638 vs. 0.575, P = 0.031. Analysis of the validation cohort showed similar findings for EPE (AUC 0.764 vs. 0.729, P = 0.13), SVI (AUC 0.819 vs. 0.749, P = 0.01), LNI (AUC 0.939 vs. 0.867, P = 0.02), and PSM (AUC 0.624 vs. 0.547, P = 0.04). Patients with WGGG >30 (high-risk group) demonstrated ∼50% failure at 2 years in both cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS

The WGGG, by providing a metric reflecting the entirety of the PBx, is more informative than conventional single GGG alone in identifying adverse pathologic outcomes and risk of BCR following RP. This superior discriminatory capability has been achieved without any consideration of other commonly available clinical disease characteristics.

Stage T3b prostate cancer diagnosed by seminal vesicle biopsy and treated with neoadjuvant hormone therapy, permanent brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy

OBJECTIVES

To report the long-term results of prostate brachytherapy followed by external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in men with a positive seminal vesicle biopsy (+SVB).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In all, 1081 men with localised prostate cancer were treated with permanent brachytherapy, of which 615 had staging SVB and 53 (9.4%) were positive. Higher stage, Gleason score and PSA level were associated with a +SVB (P < 0.001). Patients with +SVB and negative laparoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection, bone and CT scans had 3 months of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) followed by ¹⁰³ Pd implant to the prostate (dose 100 Gy) and proximal SVs, and 2 months later 45 Gy EBRT. ADT was continued for a median of 6 months (total ADT 9 months). The mean (range) follow-up was 9 (5-22) years.

RESULTS

Biochemical freedom from failure (computed by the Phoenix definition), freedom from metastasis, and cause-specific survival (CSS) for patients with a negative SVB (-SVB) vs +SVB at 15 years, was 76.3% vs 60.6% (P = 0.001), 95.4% vs 78.2% (P < 0.001), and 95% vs 70.4% (P < 0.001), respectively. Prostate cancer death occurred in 45 of 590 (7.6%) men with a -SVB vs eight of 25 (32%) with a +SVB (odds ratio 5.7, 95% confidence interval 2.35-13.9, P < 0.001). Cox proportion hazard rates (HRs) demonstrated Gleason score (P < 0.001, HR 1.9), stage (P = 0.010, HR 1.42), RT dose (P = 0.013, HR 0.991), and +SVB (P = 0.001, HR 4.48), as significantly associated with CSS.

CONCLUSIONS

Men with a +SVB have inferior CSS compared to those with a -SVB. However, a strategy that included a SVB in high-risk patients and implantation of the SVs in men undergoing combined therapy still yields favourable long-term results.

Intensified autophagy compromises the efficacy of radiotherapy against prostate cancer

INTRODUCTION

Radiotherapy is an equivalent alternative or complement to radical prostatectomy, with high therapeutic efficacy. High risk patients, however, experience high relapse rates, so that research on radio-sensitization is the most evident route to improve curability of this common disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In the current study we investigated the autophagic activity in a series of patients with localized prostate tumors treated with radical radiotherapy, using the LC3A and the LAMP2a proteins as markers of autophagosome and lysosome cellular content, respectively. The role of autophagy on prostate cancer cell line resistance to radiation was also examined.

RESULTS

Using confocal microscopy on tissue biopsies, we showed that prostate cancer cells have, overall, high levels of LC3A and low levels of LAMP2a compared to normal prostate glands. Tumors with a 'highLC3A/lowLAMP2a' phenotype, suggestive of intensified lysosomal consumption, had a significantly poorer biochemical relapse free survival. The PC3 radioresistant cell line sustained remarkably its autophagic flux ability after radiation, while the DU145 radiosensitive one experiences a prolonged blockage of the autophagic process. This was assessed with aggresome accumulation detection and LC3A/LAMP2a double immunofluorescence, as well as with sequestrosome/p62 protein detection. By silencing the LC3A or LAMP2a expression, both cell lines became more sensitive to escalated doses of radiation.

CONCLUSIONS

High base line autophagy activity and cell ability to sustain functional autophagy define resistance of prostate cancer cells to radiotherapy. This can be reversed by blocking up-regulated components of the autophagy pathway, which may prove of importance in the field of clinical radiotherapy.

[Postoperative radiotherapy of prostate cancer]

Between 10 and 40% of patients who have undergone a radical prostatectomy may have a biologic recurrence. Local or distant failure represents the possible patterns of relapse. Patients at high-risk for local relapse have extraprostatic disease, positive surgical margins or seminal vesicles infiltration or high Gleason score at pathology. Three phase-III randomized clinical trials have shown that, for these patients, adjuvant irradiation reduces the risk of tumoral progression without higher toxicity. Salvage radiotherapy for late relapse allows a disease control in 60-70% of the cases. Several research in order to improve the therapeutic ratio of the radiotherapy after prostatectomy are evaluate in the French Groupe d'Étude des Tumeurs Urogénitales (Gétug) and of the French association of urology (Afu). The Gétug-Afu 17 trial will provide answers to the question of the optimal moment for postoperative radiotherapy for pT3-4 R1 pN0 Nx patients, with the objective of comparing an immediate treatment to a differed early treatment initiated at biological recurrence. The Gétug-Afu 22 questions the place of a short hormonetherapy combined with image-guided, intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in adjuvant situation for a detectable prostate specific antigen (PSA). The implementation of a multicenter quality control within the Gétug-Afu in order to harmonize a modern postoperative radiotherapy will allow the development of a dose escalation IMRT after surgery.

Lactate dehydrogenase 5 isoenzyme overexpression defines resistance of prostate cancer to radiotherapy

Background:

Radiotherapy provides high-cure rates in prostate cancer. Despite its overall slow clinical growth, high proliferation rates documented in a subset of tumours relate to poor radiotherapy outcome. This study examines the role of anaerobic metabolism in prostate cancer growth and resistance to radiotherapy.

Methods:

Biopsy samples from 83 patients with prostate cancer undergoing radical hypofractionated and accelerated radiotherapy were analysed for MIB1 proliferation index and for lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme LDH5, a marker of tumour anaerobic metabolism. Ninety-five surgical samples were in parallel analysed. Correlation with histopathological variables, PSA and radiotherapy outcome was assessed. Dose–response experiments were performed in PC3 and DU145 cancer cell lines.

Results:

High MIB1 index (noted in 25% of cases) was directly related to Gleason score (P<0.0001), T3-stage (P=0.0008) and PSA levels (P=0.03). High LDH5 (noted in 65% of cases) was directly related to MIB1 index (P<0.0001), Gleason score (P=0.02) and T3-stage (P=0.001). High Gleason score, MIB1, LDH5 and PSA levels were significantly related to poor BRFS (P=0.007, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.01, respectively). High Gleason score (P=0.04), LDH5 (P=0.01) and PSA levels (P=0.003) were significantly related to local recurrence. MIB1 and T-stage did not affect local control. Silencing of LDHA gene in both prostate cancer cell lines resulted in significant radiosensitisation.

Conclusions:

LDH5 overexpression is significantly linked to highly proliferating prostate carcinomas and with biochemical failure and local relapse following radiotherapy. Hypoxia and LDHA targeting agents may prove useful to overcome radioresistance in a subgroup of prostate carcinomas with anaerobic metabolic predilection.

Predictive and prognostic models in radical prostatectomy candidates: a critical analysis of the literature

CONTEXT

Numerous predictive and prognostic tools have recently been developed for risk stratification of prostate cancer (PCa) patients who are candidates for or have been treated with radical prostatectomy (RP).

OBJECTIVE

To critically review the currently available predictive and prognostic tools for RP patients and to describe the criteria that should be applied in selecting the most accurate and appropriate tool for a given clinical scenario.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A review of the literature was performed using the Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Relevant reports published between 1996 and January 2010 identified using the keywords prostate cancer, radical prostatectomy, predictive tools, predictive models, and nomograms were critically reviewed and summarised.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

We identified 16 predictive and 22 prognostic validated tools that address a variety of end points related to RP. The majority of tools are prediction models, while a few consist of risk-stratification schemes. Regardless of their format, the tools can be distinguished as preoperative or postoperative. Preoperative tools focus on either predicting pathologic tumour characteristics or assessing the probability of biochemical recurrence (BCR) after RP. Postoperative tools focus on cancer control outcomes (BCR, metastatic progression, PCa-specific mortality [PCSM], overall mortality). Finally, a novel category of tools focuses on functional outcomes. Prediction tools have shown better performance in outcome prediction than the opinions of expert clinicians. The use of these tools in clinical decision-making provides more accurate and highly reproducible estimates of the outcome of interest. Efforts are still needed to improve the available tools' accuracy and to provide more evidence to further justify their routine use in clinical practice. In addition, prediction tools should be externally validated in independent cohorts before they are applied to different patient populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Predictive and prognostic tools represent valuable aids that are meant to consistently and accurately provide most evidence-based estimates of the end points of interest. More accurate, flexible, and easily accessible tools are needed to simplify the practical task of prediction.

Predictive models before and after radical prostatectomy

CONTEXT

In the last 10 years, several user-friendly predictive tools have been developed to help clinicians in decision-making process before and after radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVE

To review the most known and used predictive models in pre-operative and post-operative setting.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A structured, comprehensive literature review was performed using data retrieved from recent review articles, original articles, and abstracts. Used keywords were predictive models, nomograms, look-up tables, classification and regression-tree analysis, artificial neural networks, and radical prostatectomy.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

A great amount of predictive models has been provided in oncology setting: nomograms, look-up tables, classification and regression-tree analysis, propensity scores, risk-group stratification models, and artificial neural networks. Pre-surgery predictive tools offer the opportunity of getting the most evidence-based and individualized selection of available treatment alternatives. Post-operative predictive models usually provide higher accuracy relative to the pre-surgery models.

CONCLUSIONS

Decisions and treatment should be tailored to each individual patient and to the specific characteristics of patients. A number of available predictive models represent a tool to provide accurate prediction of cancer natural history and to improve patients' care.

Radical prostatectomy: does surgical technique influence margin control?

The goal of radical prostatectomy (RP) is complete removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles with negative surgical margins. Regardless of approach, the occurrence of positive surgical margins (PSMs) remains a risk associated with RP. In addition, PSMs can adversely affect biochemical and cause-specific survival. With the advent of PSA screening and introduction of new RP approaches, surgical technique has become increasingly debated in relationship to margin positivity. The issue, however, is controversial, as underlying clinical and pathologic characteristics of prostate cancer also influence margin control. This article evaluates the impact of surgical technique on margin control during RP. In addition, we evaluate the influence that stage migration, the individual surgeon, new technologic adjuncts, and specimen handling have had on margin control.

Fusion of the seminal vesicles discovered at the time of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy

The reported incidence of seminal vesicle anomalies is low, and it usually occurs in association with other genitourinary anomalies, thus frequently diagnosed by a cluster of fertility, pain or obstructive symptoms. We present a case of a clinically silent seminal vesicle fusion encountered during a robotic assisted radical prostatectomy. Awareness of potential congenital anomalies is crucial for surgeons, to prevent surgical complications or adverse outcomes as a result of the altered anatomy.

Critical review of prostate cancer predictive tools

Prostate cancer is a very complex disease, and the decision-making process requires the clinician to balance clinical benefits, life expectancy, comorbidities and potential treatment-related side effects. Accurate prediction of clinical outcomes may help in the difficult process of making decisions related to prostate cancer. In this review, we discuss attributes of predictive tools and systematically review those available for prostate cancer. Types of tools include probability formulas, look-up and propensity scoring tables, risk-class stratification prediction tools, classification and regression tree analysis, nomograms and artificial neural networks. Criteria to evaluate tools include discrimination, calibration, generalizability, level of complexity, decision analysis and ability to account for competing risks and conditional probabilities. The available predictive tools and their features, with a focus on nomograms, are described. While some tools are well-calibrated, few have been externally validated or directly compared with other tools. In addition, the clinical consequences of applying predictive tools need thorough assessment. Nevertheless, predictive tools can facilitate medical decision-making by showing patients tailored predictions of their outcomes with various alternatives. Additionally, accurate tools may improve clinical trial design.

Impact of the target volume (prostate alone vs. prostate with seminal vesicles) and fraction dose (1.8 Gy vs. 2.0 Gy) on quality of life changes after external-beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer

PURPOSE

To evaluate the impact of the clinical target volume (CTV) and fraction dose on quality of life (QoL) after external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A group of 283 patients has been surveyed prospectively before, at the last day, at a median time of 2 months and 15 months after EBRT (70.2-72 Gy) using a validated questionnaire (Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite). EBRT of prostate alone (P, n = 70) versus prostate with seminal vesicles (PS, n = 213) was compared. Differences of fraction doses (1.8 Gy, n = 80, vs. 2.0 Gy, n = 69) have been evaluated in the patient group receiving a total dose of 72 Gy.

RESULTS

Significantly higher bladder and rectum volumes were found at all dose levels for the patients with PS versus P within the CTV (p < 0.001). Similar volumes resulted in the groups with different fraction doses. Paradoxically, bowel function scores decreased significantly less 2 and 15 months after EBRT of PS versus P. 2 months after EBRT, patients with a fraction dose of 2.0 Gy versus 1.8 Gy reported pain with urination (> or = once a day in 12% vs. 3%; p = 0.04) and painful bowel movements (> or = rarely in 46% vs. 29%; p = 0.05) more frequently. No long-term differences were found.

CONCLUSION

The risk of adverse QoL changes after EBRT for prostate cancer cannot be derived from the dose-volume histogram alone. Seminal vesicles can be included in the CTV up to a moderate total dose without adverse effects on QoL. Apart from a longer recovery period, higher fraction doses were not associated with higher toxicity.

Is seminal vesiculectomy necessary in all patients with biopsy Gleason score 6?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Radiotherapists are excluding the seminal vesicles (SVs) from their target volume in cases of low-risk prostate cancer. However, these glands are routinely removed in every radical prostatectomy. Dissection of the SVs can damage the pelvic plexus, compromise trigonal, bladder neck, and cavernosal innervation, and contribute to delayed gain of continence and erectile function. In this study we evaluated the oncological benefit of routine removal of the SVs in currently operated patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 1003 patients (mean age, 59.7 years) with prostate cancer underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy between February 2003 and July 2007.

RESULTS

Seminal vesicle invasion (SVI) was found in 46 of the operated patients (4.6%). Biopsy Gleason score (BGS), preoperative serum PSA, clinical tumor stage, percent of positive cores, and maximal percentage of cancer in a core had all a significant impact on the risk of SVI. Only 4/634 patients (0.6%) with BGS < or =6 suffered from SVI, as opposed to 42/369 (11.4%) with higher Gleason scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Seminal vesiculectomy does not benefit more than 99% of the patients with BGS < or =6. Considering the potential neural and vascular damage associated with seminal vesiculectomy, we suggest that routine removal of these glands during radical prostatectomy in these cases is not necessary.

Evaluating the relationships between rectal normal tissue complication probability and the portion of seminal vesicles included in the clinical target volume in intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer

PURPOSE

To compare dose-volume consequences of the inclusion of various portions of the seminal vesicles (SVs) in the clinical target volume (CTV) in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for patients with prostate cancer.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

For 10 patients with prostate cancer, three matched IMRT plans were generated, including 1 cm, 2 cm, or the entire SVs (SV1, SV2, or SVtotal, respectively) in the CTV. Prescription dose (79.2 Gy) and IMRT planning were according to the high-dose arm of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0126 protocol. We compared plans for percentage of rectal volume receiving minimum doses of 60-80 Gy and for rectal normal tissue complication probability (NTCP[R]).

RESULTS

There was a detectable increase in rectal dose in SV2 and SVtotal compared with SV1. The magnitude of difference between plans was modest in the high-dose range. In 2 patients, there was underdosing of the planning target volume (PTV) because of constraints on rectal dose in the SVtotal plans. All other plans were compliant with RTOG 0126 protocol requirements. Mean NTCP increased from 14% to 17% and 18% for SV1, SV2, and SV total, respectively. The NTCP correlated with the size of PTV-rectum volume overlap (Pearson's r = 0.86; p < 0.0001), but not with SV volume.

CONCLUSIONS

Doubling (1 to 2 cm) or comprehensively increasing (1 cm to full SVs) SV volume included in the CTV for patients with prostate IMRT is achievable in the majority of cases without exceeding RTOG dose-volume limits or underdosing the PTV and results in only a moderate increase in NTCP.

Is it necessary to remove the seminal vesicles completely at radical prostatectomy? decision curve analysis of European Society of Urologic Oncology criteria

PURPOSE

A publication on behalf of the European Society of Urological Oncology questioned the need for removing the seminal vesicles during radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate specific antigen less than 10 ng/ml except when biopsy Gleason score is greater than 6 or there are greater than 50% positive biopsy cores. We applied the European Society of Urological Oncology algorithm to an independent data set to determine its predictive value.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data on 1,406 men who underwent radical prostatectomy and seminal vesicle removal between 1998 and 2004 were analyzed. Patients with and without seminal vesicle invasion were classified as positive or negative according to the European Society of Urological Oncology algorithm.

RESULTS

Of 90 cases with seminal vesicle invasion 81 (6.4%) were positive for 90% sensitivity, while 656 of 1,316 without seminal vesicle invasion were negative for 50% specificity. The negative predictive value was 98.6%. In decision analytic terms if the loss in health when seminal vesicles are invaded and not completely removed is considered at least 75 times greater than when removing them unnecessarily, the algorithm proposed by the European Society of Urological Oncology should not be used.

CONCLUSIONS

Whether to use the European Society of Urological Oncology algorithm depends not only on its accuracy, but also on the relative clinical consequences of false-positive and false-negative results. Our threshold of 75 is an intermediate value that is difficult to interpret, given uncertainties about the benefit of seminal vesicle sparing and harm associated with untreated seminal vesicle invasion. We recommend more formal decision analysis to determine the clinical value of the European Society of Urological Oncology algorithm.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy: an athermal anterior approach to the seminal vesicle dissection

The seminal vesicles, particularly the lateral aspect and tips, are among the closest structures to the cavernous nerves and pelvic plexus. Given this proximity it is essential that the seminal vesicle dissection be performed in an athermal and atraumatic fashion during robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP). Traditionally the seminal vesicle dissection during RALP is performed by dividing the vas deferens and following it proximally to locate the tip of the seminal vesicle. Here we describe a modification to the traditional anterior approach to seminal vesicle dissection. Our modification allows the dissection to be performed athermally and efficiently with use of minimal traction. The dissection proceeds medially between the two terminal vas deferens to identify the medial surface of one of the seminal vesicles. This medial surface is avascular and can be developed easily along the length of the vesicle using blunt dissection. Once its tip is identified it is elevated with the fourth arm medially between the two vas deferens. The ipsilateral vas can then be clipped and divided below the level of the elevated seminal vesicle. The vascular supply to the seminal vesicle is then simply identified entering the lateral aspect of its tip. A hemolock clip is placed directly beneath the tip of the seminal vesicle to control its vasculature. The remainder of the dissection can be performed with sharp dissection. Using this technique the seminal vesicle can be excised entirely with minimal traction and no thermal energy. By elevating the tip medially away from the location of the pelvic plexus and cavernous nerves, inadvertent damage to these neural structures is avoided when placing the hemolock clips.

Inventory of prostate cancer predictive tools

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

We created an inventory of current predictive tools available for prostate cancer. This review may serve as an initial step toward a comprehensive reference guide for physicians to locate published nomograms that apply to the clinical decision in question. Using MEDLINE a literature search was performed on prostate cancer predictive tools from January 1966 to November 2007. We describe the patient populations to which they apply and the outcomes predicted, and record their individual characteristics.

RECENT FINDINGS

The literature search generated 111 published prediction tools that may be applied to patients in various clinical stages of disease. Of the 111 prediction tools, only 69 had undergone validation. We present an inventory of models with input variables, prediction form, number of patients used to develop the prediction tools, the outcome being predicted, prediction tool-specific features, predictive accuracy, and whether validation was performed.

SUMMARY

Decision rules, such as nomograms, provide evidence-based and at the same time individualized predictions of the outcome of interest. Such predictions have been repeatedly shown to be more accurate than those of clinicians, regardless of their level of expertise. Accurate risk estimates are also required for clinical trial design, to ensure homogeneous high-risk patient groups for whom new cancer therapeutics will be investigated.

[Target volume for adjuvant radiotherapy after prostatectomy]

Although radical prostatectomy is an effective treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer, it fails in up to 20 to 40% of the cases. Local failure represents one of the possible patterns of relapse and is announced by detectable serum PSA levels. Patients at high risk for local relapse have extraprostatic disease, positive surgical margins or seminal vesicles infiltration at pathology. Three recently published phase III randomized clinical trials have clearly shown that, for these patients, immediate adjuvant irradiation reduces the risk of progression. For patients undergoing postoperative irradiation the standardisation of the target volume definition and delineation is required because no general consensus exists on "prostate bed" definition. The Genito-Urinary Working Party of the Radiation Oncology Group of the European Organization for the Research and treatment of cancer (ROG-EORTC) has developed a set of Guidelines to assist radiotherapists in the contouring of target volumes for postoperative irradiation: a consensus has been reached on a set of recommendations that are proposed to the radiation oncologist community. Emphasis has been put on the optimal cooperation between the surgeon, the pathologist and the radiotherapist in the frame of a multidisciplinary approach. Data on the presence and on the localization of extraprostaic extension and on positive surgical margins must be used. Placement of metallic clips in the tumor bed is of great help in localizing fixed anatomical sites as the anastomosis. The goal of such a document is to reduce inter-observer variability in target delineation in the framework of future clinical trials.