Implications of Definitive Prostate Cancer Therapy on Soft Tissue Margins and Survival in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy for Bladder Urothelial Cancer

Purpose: We evaluated the possibility of an existing link between definitive prostate cancer treatment and its effect on positive soft tissue surgical margins at radical cystectomy. A secondary objective was to determine whether definitive prostate cancer treatment was associated with bladder cancer survival end points. Materials and Methods: There were 749 patients who underwent radical cystectomy between 2000 and 2013. After excluding females and patients with nonurothelial histologies 561 men were identified, of whom 69 (12.3%) received single or multimodal definitive prostate cancer treatment. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to determine an association between clinical and pathological features such as definitive prostate cancer treatment and positive soft tissue surgical margins. Cox regression models and competing risk regression were used to investigate the impact of definitive prostate cancer treatment and positive surgical margins on survival. Results: The median age of the male population was 70.0 years. There were 57 cases of positive soft tissue surgical margins in our cohort of 561 men (10.2%). Of men who underwent previous definitive prostate cancer treatment 20 of 69 (29.0%) had positive surgical margins compared to 37 of 492 (7.5%) who never received definitive prostate cancer treatment (p < 0.0001). Brachytherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy and radical prostatectomy significantly increased the rate of positive margins. Brachytherapy (OR 5.8), radiotherapy (OR 2.7) and hormonal therapy (OR 5.1) remained independent predictors of positive margins on multivariate analysis. Positive margins were associated with negative effects on recurrence-free (HR 3.1), cancer specific (HR 4.1) and overall survival (HR 2.8). Conclusions: Patients with a history of definitive prostate cancer treatment are at increased risk for positive soft tissue surgical margins. Positive margins significantly impact bladder cancer recurrence-free, cancer specific and overall survival following radical cystectomy. Careful patient counseling and surgical planning are crucial when treating patients undergoing radical cystectomy who have a history of definitive prostate cancer treatment.