Salvage radical prostatectomy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Radiotherapy has been a major method of treating localized carcinoma of the prostate. It is becoming increasingly apparent that failures of radiotherapy do occur and can be predicted by postradiation biopsy. Salvage radical prostatectomy can be offered to these patients. The authors report on five patients with residual carcinoma after radiotherapy. Three patients had undergone external-beam radiotherapy and two had undergone interstitial plus external-beam radiotherapy. All salvage radical prostatectomies were uncomplicated technically. One patient had a myocardial infarction believed to be unrelated to the procedure. Two patients, observed for over 1 year, have mild residual stress incontinence but residual adenocarcinoma proved to be localized to the surgical specimen in all but one patient. One patient underwent nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy and has had return of sexual function. Salvage radical prostatectomy is a viable option for patients who have histologically proven residual carcinoma after definitive radiotherapy.