Negative impact of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy on detecting biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy

Abstract

Background Routine use of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) before radical prostatectomy (RP) is not recommended, but it is sometimes performed to reduce the prostate size and tumor volume or to prevent tumor progression during the wait times for surgery in clinical practice. On the other hand, the impact of NHT on the pattern of biochemical recurrence (BCR) is unknown. Methods We retrospectively examined 1749 consecutive patients who underwent RP between 1996 and 2017. Among the patients who met the inclusion criteria, BCR developed in 240 of non-NHT patients and in 120 of NHT patients during the mean follow-up period of 6.9 years. We examined the impact of NHT on the PSA-doubling time (DT) following BCR at different times after RP. Results The median PSA-DTs in non-NHT patients who experienced BCR in the first year after surgery, between 1 and 2 years, between 2 and 3 years, between