Effect of positive surgical margins on biochemical failure, biochemical recurrence-free survival, and overall survival after radical prostatectomy: Median long-term results

The aim of this study was to investigate the median long-term effects of positive surgical margin (PSM) and other prognostic factors on biochemical recurrence-free survival, overall survival, and biochemical failure in patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. Our study included 121 patients with pT2-3N0 disease treated between March 2006 and August 2012. The patients were divided into two groups: those with PSM and those with negative surgical margin (NSM). We analyzed the age, clinical and pathological stages, preoperative and postoperative Gleason scores, duration of the follow-up, adjuvant chemo-/radiotherapy, biochemical failure, biochemical recurrence-free survival, and overall survival in these patients. PSM was found in 25 (20%) patients, whereas 96 patients had NSM. The median follow-up time was 46.6 months (range 12-72 months) for the PSM group and 48.3 months (range 7-149 months) for the NSM group. The biochemical failure rate was 24% in the PSM group and 8.3% in the NSM group (p = 0.029). The biochemical recurrence-free survival was found as 76% in the PSM group and 91.7% in the NSM group. The difference between the groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.06). The overall survival was 100% in both groups. The surgical margins of the radical prostatectomy material is an important pathological indicator for biochemical failure at mid long-term follow-up. We did not find any effect of PSM on overall survival or biochemical recurrence-free survival.