BACKGROUND Radical prostatectomy reduces mortality among men with localized prostate cancer; however, important questions regarding long-term benefit remain. METHODS Between 1989 and 1999, we randomly assigned 695 men with early prostate cancer to watchful waiting or radical prostatectomy and followed them through the end of 2012. The primary end points in the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 (SPCG-4) were death from any cause, death from prostate cancer, and the risk of metastases. Secondary end points included the initiation of androgen-deprivation therapy. RESULTS During 23.2 years of follow-up, 200 of 347 men in the surgery group and 247 of the 348 men in the watchful-waiting group died. Of the deaths, 63 in the surgery group and 99 in the watchful-waiting group were due to prostate cancer; the relative risk was 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41 to 0.77; P = 0.001), and the absolute difference was 11.0 percentage points (95% CI, 4.5 to 17.5). The number needed to treat to prevent one death was 8. One man died after surgery in the radical-prostatectomy group. Androgen-deprivation therapy was used in fewer patients who underwent prostatectomy (a difference of 25.0 percentage points; 95% CI, 17.7 to 32.3). The benefit of surgery with respect to death from prostate cancer was largest in men younger than 65 years of age (relative risk, 0.45) and in those with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (relative risk, 0.38). However, radical pros-tatectomy was associated with a reduced risk of metastases among older men (relative risk, 0.68; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Extended follow-up confirmed a substantial reduction in mortality after radical prostatectomy; the number needed to treat to prevent one death continued to decrease when the treatment was modified according to age at diagnosis and tumor risk. A large proportion of long-term survivors in the watchful-waiting group have not required any palliative treatment. (Funded by the Swedish Cancer Society and others.)

Background Whether the genomic rearrangement TMPRSS2:ERG has prognostic value in prostate cancer is unclear. Methods Among men with prostate cancer in the prospective Physicians’ Health and Health Professionals Follow-Up Studies, we identified rearrangement status by immunohistochemical assessment of ERG protein expression. We used Cox models to examine associations of ERG overexpression with biochemical recurrence and lethal disease (distant metastases or cancer-specific mortality). In a meta-analysis including 47 additional studies, we used random effects models to estimate associations between rearrangement status and outcomes. Results The cohort consisted of 1,180 men treated with radical prostatectomy between 1983 and 2005. During a median follow-up of 12.6 years, 266 men experienced recurrence, and 85 men developed lethal disease. We found no significant association between ERG overexpression and biochemical recurrence (HR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.78-1.26) or lethal disease (HR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.61-1.43). The meta-analysis of prostatectomy series included 5,074 men followed for biochemical recurrence (1,623 events), and 2,049 men followed for lethal disease (131 events). TMPRSS2:ERG was associated with stage at diagnosis (RR≥T3 vs. T2: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.16-1.30) but not with biochemical recurrence (RR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.86-1.17) or lethal disease (RR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.47-2.09). Conclusions These results suggest that TMPRSS2:ERG, or ERG overexpression, is associated with tumor stage but does not strongly predict recurrence or mortality among men treated with radical prostatectomy. Impact This is the largest prospective cohort study to examine associations of ERG overexpression and lethal prostate cancer among men treated with radical prostatectomy.

Background: PTEN is a tumor suppressor frequently deleted in prostate cancer that may be a useful prognostic biomarker. However, the association of PTEN loss with lethal disease has not been tested in a large, predominantly surgically treated cohort.

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