¹Department of Urology, UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange, California, USA

Correspondence: TE Ahlering, 101 The City Drive South, Rt. 81, Bldg 26, Orange, CA 92868, USA. E-mail: tahlerin@uci.edu

Received 8 August 2004; Revised 7 December 2004; Accepted 20 December 2004; Published online 15 February 2005.

Abstract

Detectable prostate-specific antigen levels (PSA) following radical prostatectomy (RP) are believed to represent treatment failure. In this retrospective review, we characterize long-term PSA outcomes following RP (n=204) in a nonreferral hospital performed between 1984 and 1994. With an average follow-up of 10 y, 90 (44%) patients developed a PSA recurrence: 15 (17%) died of prostate cancer despite hormonal intervention, 39 (43%) responded to hormonal therapy with stable remission and 36 (40%) were observed without intervention. Following RP many patients may have a detectable PSA that does not require treatment. PSA doubling time (<12 months) was the best predictor of disease progression.