Adding radiotherapy to androgen deprivation therapy in men with node-positive prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Several studies have tested the addition of adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in node-positive prostate cancer (PCa) after radical prostatectomy (RP). This meta-analysis aims to assess the effects of adding RT to ADT in the treatment of PCa patients with lymph node invasion. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed and Embase through June 2018 for human studies comparing RT plus ADT versus ADT in men with node-positive PCa after RP. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Secondary end point was cancer-specific survival (CSS). Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the effects of RT plus ADT on OS and CSS were combined across studies using meta-analysis. RESULTS: Five studies were selected for inclusion. Overall, 15,524 patients were enrolled in the 5 studies. This included 6309 (40.6%) patients receiving ADT, 4389 (28.3%) patients receiving adjuvant RT plus ADT, and 4826 (31.1%) patients receiving observation. In lymph node-positive PCa patients, the addition of adjuvant RT was associated with improved OS (HR: 0.74; 95% CI, 0.59–0.92; P = .008). Moreover, the addition of adjuvant RT was also associated with a dramatic CSS improvement (HR: 0.40; 95% CI, 0.27–0.59; P = .000). CONCLUSIONS: Adding RT to ADT may be a clinically effective treatment option for men with lymph node-positive PCa after RP.