Radiotherapy vs. hormonal therapy for the management of locally recurrent prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy.

Forty patients out of 273 who had undergone radical surgery for adenocarcinoma of the prostate at Duke University Medical Center between 1970 and 1983 developed palpable, biopsy-proven local recurrence without evidence of distant metastases. Of these 40 patients, 16 were treated with irradiation alone (Group I) and 16 patients were treated with hormonal therapy only (Group II). The remaining eight patients received either no therapy (4 patients) or both radiotherapy and hormonal therapy (4 patients) and are not further analyzed. Local control, as determined by palpation, was achieved in 14/16 patients in Group I versus only 7/16 patients in Group II (p less than 0.05). Subsequently, six patients in each group have relapsed, all with distant metastases. Thus, 8/16 patients in Group I remain alive without disease versus only 1/16 patients in Group II (p less than 0.05). There was no difference in survival between Groups I and II. No patient in either group has died free of disease. In Group I, 4/16 patients have died with cancer. Six of 16 in Group II have died with cancer. Severe complications occurred more frequently following irradiation compared to hormonal therapy. Irradiation appears to be superior to hormonal therapy in achieving local control and prolonging disease-free survival. Neither therapy conveys an advantage over the other in terms of survival. Thus, even if local control is achieved, distant failure may be an inevitable consequence of locally recurrent prostate cancer. Therefore, prevention of local recurrence after radical prostatectomy is of paramount importance. These findings support the use of adjuvant post-operative irradiation in patients at high risk for local recurrence.