Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology Advance Access originally published online on February 26, 2008
Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2008 38(3):200-204; doi:10.1093/jjco/hyn008
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© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
External-Beam Radiotherapy for Localized or Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer in Japan: A Multi-Institutional Outcome Analysis
1 Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka
2 Department of Radiation Oncology and Image-applied Therapy, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto
3 Department of Radiology, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu
4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo
5 Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba
6 Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Yamanashi University, Yamanashi
7 Radiation Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba
8 Department of Radiology, Shinshu University, Matsumoto
9 Department of Radiology, Tenri Hospital, Tenri, Nara
10 Department of Radiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
For reprints and all correspondence: Katsumasa Nakamura, Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Nanakuma 7-45-1, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka 814-0180, Japan. E-mail: nakam{at}fukuoka-u.ac.jp
Received November 21, 2007; accepted January 6, 2008
Background: The outcomes of patients with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer treated with external-beam radiotherapy are not well known in Japan.
Methods: Thirty-four institutions combined data on 679 patients with localized or locally advanced prostate cancer treated with a total dose 
60 Gy between 1995 and 2002.
Results: With a median follow-up of 46 months, the 5-year overall, clinical progression-free, and biochemical relapse-free survival rate were 93.0, 95.3 and 71.9% for all patients, respectively. The 5-year progression-free, and biochemical relapse-free survival rates according to the risk group were 100%, 90.8% in the low-risk group, 98.3%, 75.7% in the intermediate-risk group and 93.6%, 67.6% in the high-risk group, respectively. The multivariate analysis for biochemical relapse-free survival revealed that prostate-specific antigen (relative risk, 1.002; 95% CI, 1.001–1.003; P = 0.0041), Gleason score (relative risk, 1.166; 95% CI, 1.046–1.302; P = 0.0055), T classification (relative risk, 2.897; 95% CI, 1.999–4.230; P = 0.0000), pelvic irradiation (relative risk, 2.042; 95% CI, 1.328–3.273; P = 0.0008), and androgen abletion (relative risk, 0.321; 95% CI, 0.240–0.427; P = 0.0000) were significant prognostic factors. Only 1.1% of patients experienced late morbidity of Grade 3.
Conclusion: Radiotherapy for prostate cancer seemed to be effective, with little risk of normal tissue complications.
Key Words: prostatic neoplasms • radiotherapy • treatment outcome
Abbreviations: AHT, adjuvant hormonal therapy; ASTRO, American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology; EBRT, external-beam radiotherapy; GS, Gleason score; IMRT, Intensity-modulated radiation therapy; LHRH, Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone; NHT, neoadjuvant hormonal therapy; PSA, prostate-specific antigen; RP, radical prostatectomy; RT, radiotherapy