Real-world clinical outcomes of patients with localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy in SEER-Medicare

Aim: This study examined the clinical outcomes of patients in the US with low/intermediate-risk localized prostate cancer (LIR-LPC) and high-risk localized prostate cancer (HR-LPC) who received radical prostatectomy (RP) as initial treatment. Materials & methods: This is a retrospective analysis of the SEER-Medicare database. Patients newly diagnosed with LPC at age of ≥65 years during 2012–2019 who underwent RP as initial definitive treatment and had continuous Medicare Fee-For-Service for ≥12 months prior to RP were included. Eligible patients were stratified into LIR-LPC and HR-LPC cohorts. Overall survival, metastatic free survival and time to advanced prostate cancer treatment (TTAT) were described and compared using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards model. Results: The LIR-LPC cohort (n = 4120) and the HR-LPC cohort (n = 5359) had comparable socio-demographic characteristics, with a mean age of approximately 70 years. Survival analysis showed that HR-LPC was associated with significantly shorter overall survival, metastatic free survival and TTAT than LIR-LPC (log rank p < 0.001). After adjusting for comprehensive socio-demographic and baseline clinical characteristics, patients with HR-LPC had an approximately 70% increased risk for all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.72; confidence interval [CI]:1.39–2.12), 2.5-fold increased risk for metastasis or death (HR: 2.57; CI: 2.14–3.09), and ninefold increased risk for initiating advanced treatments (HR: 9.06; CI: 6.22–13.18) compared with patients with LIR-LPC. Conclusion: In patients with LPC who received RP as initial definitive treatment, high risk is strongly associated with suboptimal clinical outcomes. Novel therapeutic approaches are needed to enhance the management and improve the outcomes for this patient population.