Predicting biochemical recurrence following salvage radiotherapy: Applying lessons learned from primary radiotherapy

摘要

Prostate cancer has been singled out as a litmus test for US health care reform with a lack of consensus regarding optimal treatment strategies [1]. Up to 21-37% of men experience biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy [2], Radiotherapy after prostatectomy improves prostate cancer-specific survival [3] and significantly decreases overall mortality when used in the adjuvant [4] or salvage setting in selected men with high-risk disease [5]. In the current issue, Briganti et al. provide a novel tool to predict BCR following early salvage radiotherapy (eSRT) after radical prostatectomy (RP) [6]. Prior studies have assessed risk factors for BCR following post-RP adjuvant RT and identified men most likely to benefit from early radiotherapy [4,7].