Should we treat cN+ prostate cancer patients with surgery as part of multimodal approach?

Abstract

The optimal management of prostate cancer (PCa) patients with clinical positive lymph nodes (cN+) is still matter of debate. Historically, cN+ as well as metastatic PCa men were scheduled for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). However, despite the lack of prospective randomized controlled trials, some authors recently reported improved survival outcomes in PCa patients who underwent local therapies (LT) for cN+ disease as compared to long-term ADT alone (1). As consequence, current guidelines include radical prostatectomy (RP) with extended pelvic lymph node dissection as a part of a multi-modal therapy for cN+ PCa patients (2). As previously stated, PCa with nodal metastases doesn’t necessarily translate in a poor prognosis (3), since node positive PCa men represent a highly heterogeneous group and each man should be counseled accordingly to choose the most suitable management on individualized level (4-7).