International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics
Clinical investigationProstateComparison of biochemical failure definitions for permanent prostate brachytherapy
Introduction
Recently, there has been considerable interest in revisiting prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure definitions for external beam radiation therapy. Since the 1996 American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) Consensus Conference which established the three PSA rise with backdating definition (1), multiple criticisms of this methodology have been expressed (2, 3, 4), largely because of the availability of data with longer clinical follow-up and the opportunity to apply more sophisticated statistical analysis. Therefore, to reevaluate the ASTRO Consensus definition and explore other definitions, a second Failure Definition Symposium was held in Phoenix in January 2005. In addition to data on external beam radiotherapy patients, included were failure definition analyses for external radiotherapy combined with hormonal therapy and permanent radioisotopic implant. The goal was to establish a uniform failure definition for all radiation modalities, if possible. The information in this study expands on the brachytherapy analysis contributed to the PSA Failure Definition Symposium.
Section snippets
Methods and materials
Eleven institutions combined data on 2693 patients treated with permanent radioisotopic implant, I-125 or Pd-103, as solitary treatment for T1–T2 prostatic adenocarcinoma. Contributing institutions included: M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, New York Prostate Institute, Arizona Oncology Services, Seattle Prostate Institute, Chicago Prostate Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic-Rochester, University of Michigan, and Fox
Results
The median PSA nadir for all brachytherapy patients was 0.25 ng/mL at a median follow-up of 2.36 years. However, PSA nadir was related to the amount of follow-up time after implant such that the median nadir was 0.1 ng/mL for patients with at least 3 years follow-up. In 239 patients who were PSADF at 8 years posttreatment by the nadir + 2 definition, the median nadir PSA was 0.1 ng/mL with a range of 0–2.1 ng/mL. The 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles were 0.3 ng/mL, 0.5 ng/mL, and 0.8 ng/mL,
Discussion
With the ongoing changes in radiotherapeutic methods and techniques for prostate cancer treatment in conjunction with higher doses and varied fractionation schedules, it is extremely important that a standard methodology to assess efficacy is employed. To compare treatments fairly, a tested and agreed upon PSA failure definition is necessary. While standardizing failure definitions across all treatment modalities for prostate cancer would be ideal, the work reported to date and the analysis
Conclusion
Thorough analysis of biochemical failure definitions for both external beam radiotherapy, with or without hormonal therapy, as well as for brachytherapy for prostatic carcinoma has now been done. The data presented here show that the nadir + 2 definition is the best option for patients with various amounts of follow-up treated by brachytherapy, including for studies with less than 5 years maturity. An absolute definition in the 0.5 ng/mL range could only be applied to brachytherapy patients who
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D.A. Kuban was supported by an Educational Grant from Oncura.