Carcinoma of the prostate: Results of post-irradiation biopsy

One hundred and forty‐six patients with clinically localized carcinoma of the prostate were surgically staged and treated with external beam irradiation to the prostate and to the lymph node‐bearing areas. Sixty‐four (44%) of these patients had needle biopsy of the prostate 18 months or more following completion of therapy. Thirty‐nine (61%) of the biopsies were interpreted as positive and 25 (39%) as negative. Twenty‐eight (72%) of the 39 patients with a positive biopsy have subsequently developed metastases as compared to only 6 of 25 (24%) of the patients with a negative biopsy. It is concluded that an apparently positive postirradiation biopsy is likely to indicate active disease and identifies patients at a higher risk for development of metastases. Other details of staging, grading, and outcomes that compare these two groups are discussed.