The design and implementation of a multidisciplinary prostate cancer clinic.

The authors describe how a "traditional" clinical center and research organization was transformed into a multidisciplinary clinic for patients with prostate cancer. How and why the clinic was designed and implemented, as well as benefits to patients, staff, and research initiatives, are detailed.

Long-term salvage radiotherapy outcome after radical prostatectomy and relapse predictors.

Purpose: We assessed the efficacy of salvage radiotherapy (SRT) and analyzed predictors of biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS) and distant metastasis-free survival in patients with clinically localized disease recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

Materials And Methods: The records of 114 patients treated with SRT at 2 institutions between 1991 and 2001 were retrospectively reviewed. Time to biochemical recurrence and to distant metastases was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier estimation.

Marker seed migration in prostate localization.

Purpose: Marker seed location was analyzed to test the hypothesis that there is no intraseed migration within the prostate, a premise fundamental to the technique of marker seed localization of this organ. Despite increasing interest in the use of implanted seeds as fiducial markers for gland location, there are few data available with which to evaluate the validity of this technique, particularly over the entire course of external beam radiation therapy.

Methods And Materials: Between May 2001 and December 2001, after obtaining fully informed written consent, 9 patients with early stage prostate cancer were enrolled on an institutionally reviewed protocol.