Is mastectomy superior to breast-conserving treatment for young women?

PURPOSE: To examine whether modified radical mastectomy (MRM) improves outcomes compared with breast-conserving treatment (BCT) in young women. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Women aged 20-49 years, diagnosed with early breast cancer between 1989 and 1998, were identified. Management with BCT or MRM was compared for local (L), locoregional (LR), and distant relapse-free survival (DRFS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) by age group (20-39 years, 40-49 years). The analysis was repeated for patients considered "ideal" candidates for BCT: tumor size < or =2 cm, pathologically negative axillary nodes, negative margins, and no reported ductal carcinoma in situ. RESULTS: A total of 1,597 women received BCT, and 801 had MRM. After a median follow-up of 9.0 years, the outcomes (L, LR, BCSS) were worse for the younger age group; however, the outcomes were not statistically different by type of local treatment. For women aged 20-39 years considered "ideal" for BCT, those treated with BCT had slightly lower LRFS compared with those treated with MRM (p = 0.3), but DRFS and BCSS were similar. CONCLUSIONS: A difference in LRFS at 10 years potentially favored MRM among women aged 20-39 years considered "ideal" BCT candidates but was not statistically significant and did not translate into a noticeable difference in DRFS or BCSS. Our data suggest that young age alone is not a contraindication to BCT.

Relationship between delay in radiotherapy and biochemical control in prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a delay in radiotherapy is associated with a poorer biochemical control for prostate cancer. METHODS: The time to treatment (TTT) from diagnosis of prostate cancer to radiotherapy was analyzed with respect to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) control in 1024 hormone-naive patients. The Kaplan-Meier PSA control curves for patients with TTT less than the median were compared with those for patients with TTT greater than the median in 3 predefined risk groups. Statistical significant differences in PSA control were further analyzed using Cox multivariate analysis with pretreatment PSA, Gleason score, T stage, and radiotherapy dose as covariates. RESULTS: The median TTT and median follow-up are 3.7 months and 49 months respectively. Patients with a longer TTT have a statistically significant better PSA control than patients with a shorter TTT if they have intermediate- or high-risk disease. However in multivariate analysis TTT was not found to be significant in predicting PSA control, with pretreatment PSA and Gleason score emerging as highly significant in predicting PSA failure in both intermediate- and high-risk disease. CONCLUSION: In this study in prostate cancer patients in British Columbia, there was no evidence that a longer time interval between diagnosis and radiotherapy was associated with poorer PSA control.

Hemoglobin levels do not predict biochemical outcome for localized prostate cancer treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy and external-beam radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether hemoglobin (Hb) levels affect outcome in men with localized prostate adenocarcinoma (LPA) treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy (NAST) and external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 563 men with LPA treated with NAST (median: 5.3 months) and EBRT who had Hb levels during treatment were retrospectively reviewed. Patient, tumor, and treatment variables, including the following Hb variables, were subjected to univariate and multivariable analyses to identify factors that predict biochemical control (bNED) and overall survival (OS): pre-EBRT Hb, Hb nadir during EBRT, and change in Hb from pre-EBRT to nadir during EBRT. RESULTS: Median PSA follow-up was 4.25 years. Forty-nine percent of men were anemic during EBRT, with a median Hb of 13.4 g/dL, and 68% experienced a decline in Hb from pre-EBRT to during EBRT of median 0.6 g/dL. Five-year Nadir+2 bNED and OS rates were similar for anemic and nonanemic patients during EBRT. High percent-positive biopsies, PSA and Gleason score, and use of AA monotherapy predicted worse bNED. High stage and age predicted worse OS. Hb variables were not predictive of bNED or OS. CONCLUSIONS: Anemia is a common side effect of NAST and is usually mild. Hb levels, however, do not predict biochemical control or survival.

PSA doubling time kinetics during prostate cancer biochemical relapse after external beam radiation therapy.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether prostate-specific antigen PSA doubling time (PSADT) is constant in men with biochemical prostate cancer relapse after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 513 men treated radically with EBRT, with or without androgen ablation (AA), between 1993 and 2000, developed biochemical relapse. The slope of the ln (PSA) vs. time graph is calculated for the first two values after PSA nadir (first slope), the last two recorded PSAs (last slope), and all values excluding the first and final PSA (mid slope). Differences in these slopes were compared statistically with subgroup analysis for AA and secondary intervention. RESULTS: For men treated with EBRT and AA first slope was faster than either mid slope (p = 0.031) or last slope (p < 0.001). Men treated with EBRT alone had no change in PSADT over time unless they subsequently received secondary intervention. This group had a more rapid last slope compared with mid slope (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: PSA initially rises more rapidly after AA cessation, probably because of testosterone recovery. A subgroup of patients, who received secondary intervention after treatment with radiotherapy alone, showed a change in PSADT, to a faster velocity. This greater than constant exponential PSA growth is presumably the catalyst for secondary intervention. Otherwise, PSADT did not change during prostate cancer biochemical relapse.

Evaluation of the Houston biochemical relapse definition in men treated with prolonged neoadjuvant and adjuvant androgen ablation and assessment of follow-up lead-time bias.

PURPOSE: To validate the Houston prostate-specific antigen relapse definition in a mature cohort of men treated with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and adjuvant androgen ablation (AA) and men treated with EBRT monotherapy, and to compare these results with the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) and Vancouver prostate-specific antigen relapse (biochemical no evidence of disease) definitions. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A prospective database of 1490 men treated with EBRT, with or without AA, was examined. The impact on hazard proportions, as well as the predictive ability, of the Houston, ASTRO, and Vancouver definitions was tested. RESULTS: For all patients, the Houston definition was more accurate (79.5%) than the ASTRO (76.7%) or Vancouver (77.2%) definitions in predicting subsequent clinical relapse. The Houston definition was superior to the ASTRO definition in those treated both with and without AA and equivalent to the Vancouver definition in those receiving AA. The Houston definition demonstrated proportional hazards when categorized for the use of AA, unlike the ASTRO and Vancouver definitions. The effect of inadequate follow-up on the projected relapse rates was negligible with the Houston definition. CONCLUSION: The Houston relapse definition is favored after EBRT monotherapy or combined EBRT and AA. Use of the Cox proportional hazard multivariate analysis is appropriate with the Houston definition, but not with the ASTRO or Vancouver definitions if AA and non-AA patients are combined.

PSA failure and the risk of death in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure and cause-specific and overall survival in prostate cancer patients treated with radical radiotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients with and without PSA failure were compared with respect to overall survival and cause-specific survival in a cohort of 1786 patients. The relationship between PSA failure and survival was further investigated among six subgroups defined by three tumor risk groups (high, intermediate, and low risk based on T stage, Gleason score, and presenting PSA) and two age groups (<75 years and >/=75 years). RESULTS: The 5-year overall survival among patients who had PSA failure was 79.5% vs. 87.5% among patients who had not failed (p = 0.0003). The corresponding 5-year cause-specific survival was 84.4% vs. 99.0% (p <0.0001). When the six subgroups are considered separately, PSA failure was associated with a worse cause-specific survival in the groups with intermediate- and high-risk disease. PSA failure was only associated with a worse overall survival in one subgroup: patients younger than 75 with high-risk disease. Deaths from nonprostate causes made the survival curves of patients with and without PSA failure in the other subgroups almost identical. CONCLUSION: PSA failure in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy was associated with a poorer overall survival, which is seen mainly in younger patients with high-risk disease.