Considering the ongoing trend for earlier diagnosis of increasing numbers of younger men with low-risk prostate cancer, this study is original and demonstrates the possibility of core fragmentation, explaining in part over- and under-staging. One core per container and an overall Gleason score and percentage of adenocarcinoma for each container are encouraged.

patients self-reported some degree of erectile dysfunction in 84.8% (p = 0.01) in the group treated by prostatectomy and 23.07% (p = 0.86) in the brachytherapy group. Urinary incontinence occurred in 17.6% in the group treated by prostatectomy (p = 0.01) and in 9.5% (p = 0.52) in the brachytherapy group. Urinary incontinence and impotence significantly affected treatment satisfaction. However, considering satisfaction with the treatment and willingness to undergo treatment again, 88.2% of patients would elect surgery again and 95.5% brachytherapy again.

This study suggests that restricting radiation doses to 70 Gy or less on 30% of bladder volume, visualized through CT planning, may reduce late urinary complications. It furthermore suggests that patients with prior transurethral resection of prostate may indicate a group of patients with a greater risk for late urinary toxicity grade 2-3 after 3DCRT.

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