Biological aggressiveness of hereditary prostate cancer: Long-term evaluation following radical prostatectomy

Purpose: We answer the question of whether, following radical prostatectomy, prostate cancer in patients with a family history of prostate cancer relapses biochemically at the same rate as prostate cancer in appropriately matched patients with no family history. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in 2 parts. In both parts prostate specific antigen (PSA) progression was defined as a postoperative elevation in serum PSA greater than 0.2 ng./ml. Part 1 included 656 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy by the same surgeon. Men with a family history of prostate cancer in a father or brother (94) were compared to those with no history of prostate cancer in a father or brother (562). Part 2 comprised 52 men with a family history of prostate cancer consistent with hereditary prostate cancer (HPC). HPC is defined as a family with 3 generations affected, 3 first-degree relatives affected or 2 relatives affected before age 55 years. Each member of this HPC group was matched by postoperative Gleason score and postoperative pathological stage with a patient who also underwent radical prostatectomy in the same time frame by the same surgeon but who reported no family history of prostate cancer by telephone interview and questionnaire. Results: In part; 1, 94 probands (14%) reported a history of prostate cancer in the father or in at least 1 brother. The remaining 562 probands (85%) reported no known history of prostate cancer in the father or brother(s). There was no statistically significant difference in the probability of maintaining an undetectable PSA between these 2 groups. In part 2, 45 of 52 pairs (87%) were matched identically for all matching criteria. Mean follow time for the sporadic and hereditary groups was 5.4 and 5.1 years, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the probability of maintaining an undetectable PSA between the 2 groups. Conclusions: Men with an affected father or brother, or those with a family history consistent with HPC have the same outcome following radical prostatectomy as men with no family history of the disease. Combined with our previous studies, these findings suggest that there is no biologically important difference between hereditary and sporadic prostate cancers.