Does prior benign prostate biopsy predict outcome for patients treated with radical perineal prostatectomy?

To determine the effect of prior benign prostate biopsies on the surgical and clinical outcomes of patients treated with radical perineal prostatectomy for prostate cancer. A total of 1369 patients with clinically localized prostate cancer underwent radical prostatectomy by a single surgeon between 1991 and 2001. A subset of 203 patients (14.9%), who had undergone at least one prior benign prostate biopsy for a rising prostate-specific antigen and/or abnormal digital rectal examination, constituted our study population. A total of 1115 patients with no prior biopsy represented our control group. After prostatectomy, patients were evaluated at 6-month intervals for biochemical evidence of recurrence, defined as a prostate-specific antigen level of 0.5 ng/mL or greater. Patients with a prior benign biopsy had more favorable pathologic features with more organ-confined (74% versus 64%; P