External radiation therapy of localized prostatic cancer.

From July 1975 to December 1980, 156 patients with localized carcinoma of the prostate received external radiation therapy at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Sixteen patients were lost to follow-up. The follow-up period for the remaining 140 patients ranged from 2 years to 7 years. Median follow-up period was 4.2 years. The overall survival according to stage was as follows: stage A2, 100 percent; stage B, 83 percent; and stage C, 53 percent. Corresponding disease-free survival was 91 percent, 70 percent, and 40 percent, respectively. Both stage and grade have great influence on survival. In stage B, about 44 percent of grade 3 tumors developed distant metastases compared with only 19 percent with grades 1 and 2 tumors. In stage C, 71 percent of grade 3 tumors showed progression of disease. A majority of patients with positive nodes showed progression of disease when compared with patients with negative nodes (75 percent vs 15 percent).