Urinary tract infection after radiation therapy or radical prostatectomy on the prognosis of patients with prostate cancer: a population-based study

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the trends in urinary tract infections (UTIs) and prognosis of patients with prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy (RP) and radiation therapy (RT) as definitive treatment options. METHODS: The data of patients diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2007 and 2016 were collected from the National Health Insurance Service database. The incidence of UTIs was evaluated in patients treated with RT, open/laparoscopic RP, and robot-assisted RP. The proportional hazard assumption test was performed using the scaled Schoenfeld residuals based on a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model. Kaplan–Meier analysis were performed to assess survival. RESULTS: A total of 28,887 patients were treated with definitive treatment. In the acute phase (< 3 months), UTIs were more frequent in RP than in RT; in the chronic phase (> 12 months), UTIs were more frequent in RT than in RP. In the early follow-up period, the risk of UTIs was higher in the open/laparoscopic RP group (aHR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.44–1.83; p < 0.001) and the robot-assisted RP group (aHR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11–1.43; p < 0.001), compared to the RT group. The robot-assisted RP group had a lower risk of UTIs than the open/laparoscopic RP group in the early (aHR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.77–0.78; p < 0.001) and late (aHR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.89–0.91; p < 0.001) follow-up periods. In patients with UTI, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, primary treatment, age at UTI diagnosis, type of UTI, hospitalization, and sepsis from UTI were risk factors for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: In patients treated with RP or RT, the incidence of UTIs was higher than that in the general population. RP posed a higher risk of UTIs than RT did in early follow-up period. Robot-assisted RP had a lower risk of UTIs than open/laparoscopic RP group in total period. UTI characteristics might be related to poor prognosis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-023-10869-4.