BJUI Compass (May 2023)

Clinical outcomes of anterior prostate cancers treated with robotic assisted radical prostatectomy

  • Reyan Saghir,
  • Beth Russell,
  • Francesca Kum,
  • Raef Darwish,
  • Jude Deane,
  • Christopher Allen,
  • Hira Rizwi,
  • Noman Saghir,
  • Nikhil Mayor,
  • Paul Cathcart,
  • Prokar Dasgupta,
  • Rick Popert,
  • Christian Brown,
  • Ben Challacombe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/bco2.202
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 3
pp. 352 – 360

Abstract

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Abstract Introduction A prospective cohort study comparing peri‐ and postoperative outcomes for patients with predominantly anterior prostate cancer (APC) identified preoperatively against non‐anterior prostate cancer (NAPC) treated via robotic‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Patients and Methods Of the 757 RARP's completed between January 2016 and April 2018, two comparative cohorts for anterior and an equivalent group of non‐anterior prostate tumours each consisting of 152 patients were compared against each other. Data were collected on the following variables: patient age; operating consultant; preoperative PSA, ISUP grade, degree of nerve sparing; tumour staging; presence and location of positive surgical margins; PSA density, postoperative ISUP grade; treatment paradigm and postoperative PSA, erectile function, and continence outcomes with 2‐year follow‐up. Results APCs were found to have significantly lower ISUP grading postoperatively; increased diagnosis via active surveillance over new diagnosis; more frequently undertaken bilateral nerve‐sparing and long‐term poorer continence outcomes at 18 and 24 months postoperatively (p 0.05). Conclusion The lower ISUP grading could indicate APC as overall being less aggressive than NAPC, whereas the poorer long‐term continence outcomes require further investigating. The non‐significant differences amongst tumour staging, PSA density, preoperative PSA levels and PSM rates suggest that APC may not be as significant as predicted in diagnostic evaluation. Overall, this study provides useful information on the growing literature of anterior prostate cancer. Being the largest comparative cohort study to date on APC post‐RARP, these results indicate the true characteristics of anterior tumours and their functional outcomes to help improve education, patient expectations and management.

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