PSMs Predict PCa Recurrence in Some Men

Positive surgical margins (PSMs) are a risk factor for biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer (PCa) in patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy for intermediate-risk disease, researchers reported online in BJU International.

Niall Corcoran, MD, of the Leslie and Gordon Diamond Health Care Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, and colleagues studied 1,514 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy for PCa. Of these, 276 (18.2%), 761 (50.3%), and 477 (31.5%) had low-, intermediate-, and high-risk disease, respectively. Investigators identified PSMs in 370 men (24.4%). The PSM rate rose from 11% in men with low-risk disease to 43% in those with high-risk disease.

After a median follow-up of 22.2 months, 165 (7%) experienced biochemical recurrence. Multivariate analysis revealed that PSMs were a significant predictor of biochemical recurrence only men with intermediate-risk disease.