[Salvage radical prostatectomy for brachytherapy failure: preliminary results].

Objectives: Analysis of preliminary results in six patients operated by second-line (salvage) radical prostatectomy for local recurrence after low-dose brachytherapy.

Patients And Methods: Since January 2009, six patients had an open salvage radical prostatectomy with a lymph node dissection and without neurovascular bundles preservation for a low-dose I125 brachytherapy failure. Local recurrence was confirmed by trans-rectal biopsy or TURP. All the patients had PSA increase or lower urinary tract symptoms. Bone scan and pelvis MRI were performed to detect a locally advanced disease, a lymph node involvement or the presence of bone metastasis. Pathology reports and PSA level at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months were analyzed.

Results: Salvage radical prostatectomy with lymph node dissection was performed in all patients without major complications. The PSA level was below 0.1 ng/mL in five out of six patients at 1 and 3 months. The only case of persistent PSA is treated by androgen deprivation in a pT3b N1 patient.

Conclusion: Salvage radical prostatectomy after brachytherapy failure was feasible with a limited perioperative morbidity. This second-line curative treatment in a selected group of patients should be kept in mind. Our early results looked promising.