The association of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors with the biochemical recurrence-free and overall survival of patients with prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy

Purpose: To determine whether phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor documentation is associated with biochemical relapse-free and overall survival of patients with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. Materials and methods: We undertook a retrospective cohort analysis of 3,100 patients with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy between 2003 and 2015. The patients were categorized as a phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitor user or non-user. The biochemical relapse-free and overall survival at 5-years and 10-years were determined. Results: Of the patients, 1,372 reported phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor documentation, and 1,728 did not. The biochemical recurrence-free survival for non-users at 5- and 10-years follow-up was 87.6% and 85.3%, respectively, and the overall survival at these time intervals was 97.9% and 94.5%. The biochemical recurrence-free survival for phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor users was 94.3% and 93.2% at 5- and 10-years follow-up, respectively, and overall survival was 99.2% and 95.8% at these intervals. The hazard ratio for biochemical recurrence-free survival was 0.44 (CI 0.34-0.56) and for overall survival was 0.65 (CI 0.45-0.94). On the multivariate analysis, phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor documentation was associated with a lower risk of biochemical recurrence and death when corrected for the other variables. Age at surgery and Gleason scores >8 was associated with a higher risk of death. Higher pathological stage, higher Gleason score, presence of lymph node metastases, and nonwhite race were associated with a higher risk of recurrence. Conclusion: This retrospective analysis revealed a significant association of postoperative phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor documentation with biochemical recurrence-free- and overall survival in patients with localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. Larger scale studies are warranted to investigate the clinical significance of this association. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the association between phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor documentation and biochemical relapse-free and overall survival in patients with prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy. The results showed that the use of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors was significantly associated with a lower risk of recurrence and death.