External beam radiotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate: a clinical followup.

Post-irradiation biopsies were done on 68 patients who had received curative external beam radiation therapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. These patients were evaluated to determine subsequent rates of disease progression and patients survival. Mean followup was 5 years. Results revealed that 1) residual tumor present 12 months after therapy does not disappear, 2) advance in tumor grade occurred in 19 of 39 patients (49 per cent) with positive biopsies after therapy, 3) patients who had positive biopsies after therapy had a greater chance for disease progression (11 of 39 cases or 28 per cent) than patients with negative biopsies (4 of 29 cases or 14 per cent) and 4) hormonal therapy started when a positive biopsy was obtained appears to delay onset of disese progression.