Publication

Radiotherapy for pelvic nodal recurrences after radical prostatectomy: patient selection in clinical practice

Journal Paper/Review - Oct 16, 2019

Units
PubMed
Doi

Citation
Panje C, Zwahlen D, Vees H, Reuter C, Pesce G, Papachristofilou A, Kaouthar K, Herrera F, Gomez S, Garcia Schüler H, Brouwer K, Arnold W, Pra A, Zilli T, Putora P. Radiotherapy for pelvic nodal recurrences after radical prostatectomy: patient selection in clinical practice. Radiat Oncol 2019; 14:177.
Type
Journal Paper/Review (English)
Journal
Radiat Oncol 2019; 14
Publication Date
Oct 16, 2019
Issn Electronic
1748-717X
Pages
177
Brief description/objective

AIM
There is no general consensus on the optimal treatment for prostate cancer (PC) patients with intrapelvic nodal oligorecurrences after radical prostatectomy. Besides androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) as standard of care, both elective nodal radiotherapy (ENRT) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) as well as salvage lymph node dissection (sLND) are common treatment options. The aim of our study was to assess decision making and practice patterns for salvage radiotherapy (RT) in this setting.

METHODS
Treatment recommendations from 14 Swiss radiation oncology centers were collected and converted into decision trees. An iterative process using the objective consensus methodology was applied to assess differences and consensus.

RESULTS
PSMA PET/CT was recommended by 93% of the centers as restaging modality. For unfit patients defined by age, comorbidities or low performance status, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) alone was recommended by more than 70%. For fit patients with unfavorable tumor characteristics such as short prostate-specific antigen (PSA) doubling time or initial high-risk disease, the majority of the centers (57-71%) recommended ENRT + ADT for 1-4 lesions. For fit patients with favorable tumor characteristics, there were low levels of consensus and a wide variety of recommendations. For 1-4 nodal lesions, focal SBRT was offered by 64% of the centers, most commonly as a 5-fraction course.

CONCLUSIONS
As an alternative to ADT, ENRT or SBRT for pelvic nodal oligorecurrences of PC are commonly offered to selected patients, with large treatment variations between centers. The exact number of lymph nodes had a major impact on treatment selection.