Background: The risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) in healthy elderly men may depend on extent of treatment. The authors of this report compared the use of brachytherapy alone with combined brachytherapy, external-beam radiation to the prostate and seminal vesicles, and androgen-suppression therapy (CMT) in this population.
Methods: The study cohort comprised 764 men aged ≥65years with high-risk prostate cancer (T3 or T4N0M0, prostate-specific antigen >20ng/mL, and/or Gleason score 8-10) who received either brachytherapy alone (n=206) or CMT (n=558) at the Chicago Prostate Cancer Center or at a 21st Century Oncology facility. Men either had no history of myocardial infarction (MI) or had a history of MI treated with a stent or surgical intervention. Fine and Gray regression analysis was used to identify the factors associated with PCSM.
Results: The median patient age was 73years (interquartile range, 70-77years). After a median follow-up of 4.9years, 25 men died of prostate cancer. After adjusting for age and prostate cancer prognostic factors, the risk of PCSM was significantly less (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.68; P=.004) for men who received CMT than for men who received brachytherapy alone. Other factors that were associated significantly with an increased risk of PCSM included a Gleason score of 8 to 10 (P=.017).
Conclusions: Elderly men who had high-risk prostate cancer without cardiovascular disease or with surgically corrected cardiovascular disease had a lower risk of PCSM when they received CMT than when they received brachytherapy alone. These results support aggressive locoregional treatment in healthy elderly men with high-risk prostate cancer.