Active surveillance outcomes among a cohort of county hospital patients.

Abstract

136 Background: The standard of care for managing localized prostate cancer includes offering patients active surveillance. With the 10-year prostate cancer specific survival between 96-100% for both low and low-intermediate risk patients, active surveillance has proven to be a safe and effective option. Most studies have examined cohorts of patients within a tertiary referral center but data is sparse on county hospital patients, where health insurance coverage among other concerns pose barriers for patients to receive consistent medical care. We were interested in how active surveillance was performing amongst a cohort of county hospital based patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on fifty patients placed on active surveillance for low and low-intermediate risk prostate cancer (by D’Amico criteria) between July 1, 2007 and August 1, 2013. Overall and cause-specific survival were the main outcome measures. Data was also collected on loss to follow-up rates. Results: In the cohort, the mean age at diagnosis was 62.2, mean body mass index was 28.0, most were African American or Hispanic (50% and 46%, respectively) and the majority had low-risk disease (84%). The median length of follow-up after diagnosis was 22 months. Nearly half of patients stopped active surveillance (44%), the most common reason being reclassification of their disease after second biopsy. All patients who were reclassified received definitive treatment with the exception of one patient who was lost to follow-up. Cause-specific and overall mortality were both 100% in this cohort. Nearly a quarter of patients (22%) were lost to follow-up (either had less than 12 months of surveillance following diagnosis or had not presented to clinic within the last 12 months). Conclusions: High rates of loss to follow-up present a significant challenge to managing localized prostate cancer with active surveillance in a county hospital population. In this small cohort, active surveillance appears to be a safe and effective management option for localized prostate cancer, yet undetected disease progression remains a significant concern.