Long-term impact of positive surgical margins on biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy: Ten years of follow-up

Abstract Objective. Positive surgical margins (PSMs) in men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer are associated with an increased risk of biochemical recurrence. This study evaluated the long-term (>10 year) impact of PSMs on biochemical recurrence after RP in adjuvant treatment-naive pT2–pT4 N0 men and determined predictors of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure. Material and methods. The institutional registry of 1276 patients who underwent RP at Henri Mondor Hospital from 1988 to 2001 was reviewed, identifying 403 patients with regular follow-up at the time of analysis. The study included 108 patients with PSMs who did not receive neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy before PSA relapse. Median follow-up was 12.2 years. PSA failure was defined by a PSA rising by more than 0.2 ng/ml and biochemical recurrence-free survival (RFS) was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to analyse clinicopathological variables associated with bioc...