Patients with Biopsy Gleason Score 3 + 4 Are Not Appropriate Candidates for Active Surveillance

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of including patients with biopsy Gleason score (bGS) 3 + 4 prostate cancer in an active surveillance (AS) protocol. Methods: A total of 615 patients underwent a radical prostatectomy and satisfied the following requirements: prostate-specific antigen ≤10 ng/dL, clinical stage T1c or T2a, 2 or fewer positive biopsy cores, and bGS 6 or 3 + 4 prostate cancer. The patients were divided into two groups according to their bGS (bGS 6 group, n =534; bGS 3 + 4 group, n = 81). Results: The adverse pathological features were significantly higher in the bGS 3 + 4 group (16.7 vs. 49.4%, p< 0.001). Biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free survival was also significantly lower in this group (p < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis, clinical stage (odds ratio [OR] 2.026, p =0.007), maximum percentage of biopsy core involvement (OR 1.015, p = 0.014), and bGS (OR 1.913, p = 0.030) were independent risk factors for adverse pathological features. However, the bGS was the only variable to forecast BCR (hazard ratio 3.567, p < 0.001). Conclusions: A bGS 3 + 4 was the leading risk factor for a worse postoperative prognosis. Therefore, patients with a bGS 3 + 4 are not appropriate candidates for AS.