[Cancer of the prostate: results of radiotherapy. Multicenter study].

From 1975 to 1982, 597 patients with localized prostatic adenocarcinoma were treated using external beam irradiation in one of 6 cooperating centers. The mean patient age was 67 years. The 5 and 10 years actuarial survivals (including all causes of death) were 70% and 40% respectively. The adjusted survival rates become 86% at 5 years and 61% at 10 years when only death due to cancer is taken into consideration. Despite the fact that patients with stage A1 and A2 disease show different patterns of lymphatic spread, the actuarial and adjusted 8 years survivals were identical for both staging groups, in this study, 57% and 90%, respectively. It is significant that the majority of patients in both group A1 and in group A2 received irradiation to the pelvic lymph nodes as well as the prostate. Patients with stage B1 disease showed a 7 years actuarial survival of 53% and an 82% survival adjusted for death due to cancer only. Patients in both group B2 and group C, showed an identical 10 year actuarial survival rate of 49%. However, without CT scanning, it is difficult to differentiate between these 2 staging groups. Patients with stage C2 disease showed 10 years actuarial and adjusted survival rates of 20% and 40% respectively. The local recurrence rate after primary radiation therapy did not exceed 11% in any patient group. These data demonstrate, once again, that the dogma pertaining to the radioresistance of prostatic cancer is outdated.