Salvage Surgery in Patients with Local Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy

Abstract Background Since the introduction of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, isolated local recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP) can be delineated accurately. Objective To describe and evaluate surgical technique, biochemical response, and therapy-free survival (TFS) after salvage surgery in patients with local recurrence in the seminal vesicle bed. Design, setting, and participants We retrospectively assessed 40 patients treated with open salvage surgery in two centres (11/2014-02/2020). All patients presented with biochemical recurrence (BCR) after RP with a singular local recurrence at PSMA PET imaging. Thirty-three (82.5%) patients received previous salvage radiation therapy. Surgical procedure Open salvage surgery with PSMA radioguidance. Measurements Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) nadir and percentage of patients with complete biochemical response (cBR) without further treatment (PSA  Results and limitations Prior to salvage surgery, median PSA was 0.9 ng/ml (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.5–1.7 ng/ml). Postoperatively, median PSA nadir was 0.1 ng/ml (IQR: 0–0.4 ng/ml). In 31 (77.5%) patients, cBR was observed. During the median follow-up of 24.4 months, 22 (55.0%) patients experienced BCR and 12 (30.0%) received further therapy. At 1 yr of follow-up, BCR-free survival rate was 62.2% and TFS rate was 88.3%. Three (7.5%) Clavien-Dindo grade III complications were observed. The main limitations are the retrospective design, short follow-up, and lack of a control group. Conclusions Salvage surgery of local recurrence within the seminal vesicle bed is feasible. It may present an opportunity in selected, locally recurrent patients to prolong BCR-free survival and increase TFS. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings. Patient summary We looked at the outcomes from prostate cancer patients with locally recurrent disease after radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy. We found that surgery in well-selected patients may be an opportunity to prolong treatment-free survival.