No abstract

We report the overall rate, locations and predictive factors of positive surgical margins (PSMs) in 271 patients with high-risk prostate cancer. Between April 2008 and October 2011, we prospectively collected data from patients classified as D’Amico high-risk who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. Overall rate and location of PSMs were reported. Stepwise logistic regression models were fitted to assess predictive factors of PSM. The overall rate of PSMs was 25.1% (68 of 271 patients). Of these PSM, 38.2% (26 of 68) were posterolateral (PL), 26.5% (18 of 68) multifocal, 16.2% (11 of 68) in the apex, 14.7% (10 of 68) in the bladder neck, and 4.4% (3/68) in other locations. The PSM rate of patients with pathological stage pT2 was 8.6% (12 of 140), 26.6% (17 of 64) of pT3a, 53.3% (32/60) of pT3b, and 100% (7 of 7) of pT4. In a logistic regression model including pre-, intra-, and post-operative parameters, body mass index (odds ratio [OR]: 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.19, P= 0.029), pathological stage (pT3b or higher vs pT2; OR: 5.14; 95% CI: 1.92–13.78; P = 0.001) and percentage of the tumor (OR: 46.71; 95% CI: 6.37–342.57; P< 0.001) were independent predictive factors for PSMs. The most common location of PSMs in patients at high-risk was the PL aspect, which reflects the reported tumor aggressiveness. The only significant predictive factors of PSMs were pathological outcomes, such as percentage of the tumor in the specimen and pathological stage.

Introduction During robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), the quality of nerve sparing (NS) was usually classified by laterality of NS (none, unilateral, and bilateral) or degree of NS (none, partial, and full). Recently, side-specific NS have been more frequently performed, but previous NS grading system might not reflect the differential NS in each side. Aim Herein, we assessed whether a subjective NS score (NSS) incorporating both degree of NS and NS laterality can predict the time to potency recovery following RARP. Methods Data were analyzed from 1,898 patients who had left and right neurovascular bundle sparing quality scores and at least one year of follow-up after RARP was performed between January 2008 and October 2011. Main Outcome Measures Cox proportional hazard method analyses were used to determine predictive factors for early recovery. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess subjective NSS in an effort to predict time to potency recovery. Subjective NSSs were compared to a model based on the three grades according to laterality and degree. Results Time to potency recovery showed a statistically significant difference in favor of higher NSS by the Cox proportional hazard regression analysis (NSS 0 vs. NSS 5–6, 7–8, and 9–10; P &lt; 0.01). The regression model indicated that the statistical significance of the subjective NSS covering the differential NS is not different from that of the conventional three-grade scales, while it has a higher R2. The regression equation with subjective NSS was as follows: Log (Time) = 5.163 − (0.035 × SHIM Score) + 0.028 Age − (0.101 × Subjective  NSS). Conclusion The subjective NSS can reflect NS degree for each side based on the visual cues. Regression model can be used to help inform the patient about the time to postoperative potency regain, which is an important patient concern following RARP.