Impact of lymphovascular invasion on lymph node metastasis for patients undergoing radical prostatectomy with negative resection margin

The association between lymphovascular invasion and lymphatic or hematogenous metastasis has been suspected, with conflicting evidence. We have investigated the association between the risk of biochemical recurrence and lymphovascular invasion in resection margin negative patients, as well as its association with lymph node metastasis. One thousand six hundred thirty four patients who underwent radical prostatectomy from 2005 to 2014 were selected. Patients with bone or distant organ metastasis at the time of operation were excluded. Survival analysis was performed to assess biochemical recurrence, metastasis and mortality risks by Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression. Odds of lymph node metastasis were evaluated by Logistic regression. LVI was detected in 118 (7.4%) patients. The median follow-up duration was 33.1 months. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, lymphovascular invasion was associated with significantly increased 5-year and 10-year BCR rate (60.2% vs. 39.1%, 60.2% vs. 40.1%, respectively; p