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34 Role ofProstate MRI forPostfocal Treatment Assessment andSurveillance
423
a
c
b
d
Fig. 34.2 Multiparametric MRI in a 60-year-old man with an elevated prostate-specic antigen level of 17.35 ng/mL who previously had a high-intensity focused ultra­sound therapy. Patient has a recurrent disease located in the left apical peripheral zone. (a) Axial T2-weighted image shows hypointense appearance of the lesion (arrow). (b) High–b value diffusion-weighted image
recurrence on a per-patient basis. On a per-sector basis, the sensitivity and specicity of this inter­pretation system were 0.42 and 0.87, respec­tively. They concluded that despite the limited sensitivity, a high level of suspicion identied through post-HIFU MRI holds clinical signi­cance due to its high specicity, particularly when acknowledging the potential for sampling errors during biopsies.
Another study evaluated the performance of mpMRI and prostate specic antigen (PSA) test­ing in follow-up after HIFU for localized PCa. The cohort was comprised of 73 men, who under­went HIFU followed by per-protocol PSA and mpMRI. The association between post-HIFU mpMRI and PSA with disease persistence on
shows high signal intensity within the lesion (arrow). (c) Apparent diffusion coefcient map showing low signal intensity within the lesion (arrow). (d) Dynamic contrast­enhanced image shows early enhancement of the lesion (arrow). MRI/US fusion–guided biopsy revealed clini­cally signicant prostate cancer with an International Society of Urological Pathology grade of 4
biopsy was studied. However, 58% of men with persistent Gleason grade 2 disease had no vis­ible lesions on mpMRI and the patients with false negative mpMRI ndings had higher PSA den­sity. The researchers concluded that mpMRI alone may not be sufcient to rule out residual cancer in the post-HIFU setting [19].
Focal Laser Ablation (FLA)
FLA represents a thermally induced ablation methodology that employs high-energy laser irradiation to induce coagulative necrosis in spec­ied tissue regions through rapid thermal escalation.
424
O. T. Esengur et al.
Within a cohort of 27 participants, Westin etal. [11] documented the occurrence of a hypo­vascular anomaly in the zone of ablation on mpMRI scans conducted right after FLA proce­dures. Subsequent imaging at a 3-month interval post-FLA revealed the presence of a patchy or band-like diminution in T2 signal intensity in
66.7% of the treated lesions. At the 12-month mark, T2 scarring was noted in a similar propor­tion (66.7%) of the lesions. Notably, in instances where postablation biopsies yielded positive results, the lesions exhibited low T2 signal and diffusion restriction on apparent diffusion coef­cient (ADC) maps. Additionally, there was an observation of focal enhancement within the ablation region (Fig. 34.3). Furthermore, a
a
marked decrease in the forward volume transfer constant at the ablation site was evident upon follow-up assessments, indicating signicant alterations postablation.
In a 2020 study, early postoperative mpMRI observations encompassed the presence of edema, rim enhancement surrounding the abla­tion area, a T2W hypointense boundary encir­cling the ablation zone, and the formation of a discernible ablation cavity. Subsequent scans delineated progressive enhancement within the ablation zone and the development of a scar char­acterized by T2-hypointensity [10].
Regarding the incidence of recurrence, Chao etal. [20] discerned in their study that the occur­rence of in-eld or out-of-eld recurrence was
b
c
Fig. 34.3 Multiparametric MRI in a 73-year-old man with an elevated prostate-specic antigen level of 7.96 ng/ mL who previously had a focal laser ablation therapy. Patient has a recurrent disease located in the right apical­mid anterior transition zone. (a) Axial T2-weighted image shows hypointense appearance of the lesion (arrowheads). (b) High–b value diffusion-weighted image shows high
d
signal intensity within the lesion (arrowheads). (c) Apparent diffusion coefcient map showing low signal intensity within the lesion (arrowheads). (d) Dynamic contrast-enhanced image shows early enhancement of the lesion (arrowheads). MRI/US fusion–guided biopsy revealed clinically signicant prostate cancer with an International Society of Urological Pathology grade of 2
34 Role ofProstate MRI forPostfocal Treatment Assessment andSurveillance
425
prevalent, with a 40% rate of in-eld recurrence and two instances of metastatic disease post­FLA, necessitating salvage ablation interven­tions. In a separate analysis involving 120 patients diagnosed with low to intermediate risk PCa, 44 individuals (constituting 36.4% of the cohort) exhibited positive postablation MRI ndings (with a PI-RADS score of 3 for out-of-eld recurrences) or persistent PSA levels. Notably, all recurrences were identied at the margins or the original site of the ablation, underscoring the localized nature of tumor recurrence [21].
Irreversible Electroporation (IRE)
In IRE, electroneedle probes are positioned through the perineum encircling the ablation target, directed by ultrasound or MRI. Subsequently, surges of high-voltage electric current are transmitted through these probes, inducing the formation of pores in the cell walls of the prostate gland, which ultimately leads to cellular necrosis [22].
In terms of post-IRE changes on mpMRI images, the site of ablation is observed as a hypointense diffuse scarring area on T2W imag­ing, restricted water diffusion on DWI, and decreased contrast perfusion on DCE.It is also reported that biopsy proven actual in-eld lesions that emerged after IRE are seen as focal hyper­perfusion on DCE, restricted water diffusion on DWI [12]. Geboers etal. [13] reported true posi­tive in-eld lesions as hypointense on T2W imag­ing with restricted water diffusion on DWI and restricted perfusion on DCE.
In the article by Scheltema etal. [12], a cohort of 50 patients underwent IRE and subsequent monitoring entailing a follow-up mpMRI at a six­month interval and a transperineal template­mapping biopsy after 12 months. For regions of interest within the treatment eld, the sensitivity, specicity, positive predictive values (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV) for detecting clinically signicant PCa which is dened as International Society of Urological Pathologists grade 2 or 1 with a maximum cancer core length of 4 mm, were recorded as 38%, 86%, 33%, and 88%, respectively. The PPV and NPV
for out of eld recurrence were found 50% and 80%, respectively, and for the recurrence in the entire gland, they were found 47% and 70%, respectively. The ndings imply that MRI may be capable of excluding substantial disease pres­ence. Nonetheless, considering the limited scale of the study, it is advised to continue employing biopsy as a conrmatory measure for the diagno­sis of PCa until the outcomes are substantiated through a more extensive trial.
Geboers etal. [13] demonstrated that the sen­sitivity, specicity, PPV, and NPV for mpMRI in identifying residual clinically signicant PCa across the entire gland were respectively 35.8%,
82.0%, 47.1%, and 74.1%. These ndings sug­gest that the diagnostic precision of mpMRI in recognizing residual clinically signicant tumors post-IRE is not optimal.
Focal Cryotherapy (FC)
In FC, PCa cells are subjected to a heat-based ablation process which consists of successive phases of freezing and thawing leading to their coagulative necrosis [17].
Tokuda et al. [14] investigated the post-FC mpMRI sequences of 16 patients for a median follow-up period of 22 months. They reported that, at 3 months, the T1W images, T2W images, and DWI of most of the patients showed a hyper­intense lesion with a hypointense rim. This hyperintense area later diminished 6 months after the therapy. However, 17 months after the proce­dure, every lesion became hypointense. Furthermore, while most lesions exhibited intral­esional enhancement, this nding was not found on the rst MRI sequences taken following treat­ment. Most of the patients also had perilesional enhancement as well at three months which also disappeared in images taken 23 months after the therapy.
The post-FC mpMRI ndings of the ablation zone are described by Velaga etal. [15] as scar­ring and capsule retraction on T2W imaging, restricted diffusion on DWI and ADC maps, and absence of enhancement on DCE images. In-eld recurrent disease was described as focal T2W
426
O. T. Esengur et al.
a
c
b
d
Fig. 34.4 Multiparametric MRI in a 66-year-old man with an elevated prostate-specic antigen level of 14.61 ng/mL who previously had a cryotherapy. Patient has a recurrent disease located in the midline mid-to-base ante­rior transition zone. (a) Axial T2-weighted image shows hypointense appearance of the lesion (arrow). (b) High–b value diffusion-weighted image shows high signal inten-
imaging hypointense lesion with early enhance­ment on DCE, hyperintense on DWI, and hypoin­tense on ADC map (Fig.34.4).
Baskin et al. [23] found that MRI has poor specicity in detecting residual disease after cryotherapy. Their study showed that 91.7% of patients with Gleason grade 2 disease on fol­low- up biopsy had negative or low risk ndings on corresponding imaging, leading to the conclu­sion that MRI is not reective of residual disease on follow-up and making biopsy still the best method for monitoring recurrence post-FC.
On the other hand, in the more recent study by Velaga etal. [15], mpMRI was found to be highly sensitive (100%) but poor specicity (14.82%) in detecting residual PCa post-FC.The researchers concluded that the modality may have important
sity within the lesion (arrow). (c) Apparent diffusion coef­cient map showing low signal intensity within the lesion (arrow). (d) Dynamic contrast-enhanced image shows early enhancement of the lesion (arrow). MRI/US fusion– guided biopsy revealed clinically signicant prostate can­cer with an International Society of Urological Pathology grade of 5
clinical applications in active surveillance posta­blation, helping to stratify men with high-risk lesions requiring rebiopsy from those with low­risk lesions who may not. Comparing their nd­ings to those in the article by Baskin etal. [23], they claimed that conict between the two papers stemmed from the fact that in Baskin etal., the expertise of the radiologists in mpMRI was poor and no reinterpretation was conducted by experi­enced radiologists leading to the poor perfor­mance of the modality in the latter paper [15].
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)
PDT is a FT method, which rapidly destroys tar­geted tumors through injection of a photosensi-
34 Role ofProstate MRI forPostfocal Treatment Assessment andSurveillance
427
tizing material leading to vascular disruption. The efcacy of PDT is often assessed using mpMRI [16].
Following PDT using WST11 as a photosensi­tizer, early posttreatment mpMRI (around one week after therapy) typically shows an increased volume of the treated lobe and a large, homoge­neous area of necrosis. At around 6-months post­treatment, mpMRI shows signicant changes in the shape and signal of the prostate. These changes include atrophy of the treated lobe, irregularly shaped small uid cavities inside the scar, disappearance of the peripheral hyperinten­sity of the gland. During this time, minimal areas of necrosis (hypointense areas with no enhance­ment) which designate coagulative necrosis can also be seen. Kulik etal. consider this 6-month mpMRI as the posttreatment “baseline” appear­ance for further follow-up or monitoring as the imaging ndings of the gland persist after this timestamp [16].
For the mpMRI ndings of recurrent disease, Kulik etal. [16] also report that the detection of tumor recurrence in the treated area via MRI is hindered by the diminished hyperintensity of the peripheral prostate in T2W images and the signal interference from scar tissue. Given the absence of reliable recurrence features and the fact that small lesions are often not discernible on MRI, biopsy and post-PDT PSA levels remain the pri­mary utilities in the diagnosis of recurrent dis­ease. However, they state that when recurrence was visible on MRI, T2W images showed hypointense nodules and DCE images demon­strated early enhancement.
A 2014 study by Barrett etal. [24] indicates that DCE-MRI holds potential as a predictive instrument for positive outcomes post-PDT, par­ticularly following unsuccessful external-beam radiotherapy. Their ndings reveal that DCE­MRI accurately identied recurrent disease in all 10 participants who experienced recurrence after PDT at a one-week posttreatment evaluation. The modality demonstrated a sensitivity of 100% and a specicity of 60%, underscoring its capability to guide early decisions regarding the necessity for subsequent treatment interventions.
It is important to note that the changes induced by PDT in the prostate are not widely reported in
the literature yet, and the specic mpMRI fea­tures in the follow-up of patients who underwent PDT for localized PCa are still in need of being studied.

Future Perspectives

FT is a relatively new approach in the manage­ment of localized PCa compared to prostatec­tomy and radiation therapy. Surveillance after FT using imaging, mainly mpMRI, is also a rela­tively new concept in which traditional mpMRI interpretation approaches (e.g., PI-RADS) uti­lized in treatment-naïve patients may not work. As PI-RADS is compromised in the aftermath of focal PCa therapies due to the signicant thera­peutic changes to the gland, it becomes insigni­cant in these evaluations. Just like PI-RADS in the pretreatment setting, a standardized system for scoring prostate appearance on MRI after FT would be very benecial. In order to address this need, Giganti et al. [25] recently proposed a three-point scale system called Prostate Imaging after Focal Ablation (PI-FAB), for systematic evaluation and scoring mpMRI sequences fol­lowing focal ablation techniques in PCa. The standardization of PI-FAB aims to minimize interpretative discrepancies, leading to more accurate and consistent assessments. The scoring system has shown promising results in predicting recurrent clinically signicant PCa after primary FT.With its reasonably high sensitivity, PI-FAB holds potential for categorizing patients who may benet from further prostate biopsy. Nonetheless, it is crucial to realize that the PI-FAB scoring sys­tem is in its early stages, and extensive validation in broader patient groups is essential to thor­oughly understand its efcacy and the advantages it may offer [26].
Molecular imaging has been documented to assist PCa diagnosis in treatment naïve and bio­chemically recurrent PCa. It also has the poten­tial to further assist surveillance and management of FT.A very commonly used target molecule for PCa imaging is Prostate-Specic Membrane Antigen (PSMA), which is an integral membrane glycoprotein, markedly upregulated in the major­ity of PCa cells, establishing its role as a robust
428
O. T. Esengur et al.
biomarker for prostate malignancies and a prime candidate for tumor-specic diagnostic and ther­apeutic interventions [27]. PSMA-targeted posi­tron emission tomography (PET) imaging has demonstrated superior precision in disease detec­tion when contrasted with traditional radiological methods like mpMRI; however, its role in FT is quite understudied. In a 2019 study by Burger etal. [28] with a cohort of 10 PCa patients with negative mpMRI for recurrent disease,
68
Ga-PSMA-11 PET/MRI detected six patients as positive with a Gleason group 3. This study demonstrates that can PSMA-focused PET/MRI techniques bare the potential for detecting local recurrence of PCa after HIFU that was occult on mpMRI.Future studies will help us to understand the actual utility of molecular imaging in post-FT surveillance.

Conclusion

mpMRI has become a crucial tool in the diagno­sis, treatment planning, and posttreatment sur­veillance of PCa, especially with the advent of FT techniques. In general, posttreatment changes on T2W images often appear as brotic and sig­nal void darker areas in the prostate, indicating scarring. However, distinguishing between treat­ment effects and recurrent disease can be chal­lenging, as both can appear hypointense. Areas of recurrent cancer may show early enhancement and washout, distinguishing them from treated areas, which may have reduced or delayed enhancement. Restricted diffusion, seen as high signal intensity on DWI and low signal on ADC maps, suggests high cellularity, typical of recur­rent or residual cancer. On the other hand, in posttreatment images, both DWI and ADC maps will show hypointensity due to necrosis or brosis.
While MRI has enhanced the detection and delineation of PCa, it is not without its con­straints. In the setting of post-FT mpMRI, these constraints are primarily due to the distortion of prostate anatomy following FT that leads to treatment- related artifacts, which can complicate the interpretation of mpMRI images. An absence
of standardized protocols for posttreatment MRI data interpretation, and a general lack of exper­tise in assessing post-FT MRI images among radiologists amplify these challenges [29]. Advancements in imaging technology, poten­tially through the integration of articial intelli­gence, radiomics, or other novel molecular imaging techniques such as PET with PSMA and standardized interpretation systems like PI-FAB could benet this domain [25]. Despite these advancements, prostate biopsy continues to be the denitive method for the post-FT follow-up and evaluation of local recurrence, as both PSA kinetics and imaging interpretations present con­siderable interpretative challenges.

References

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12. Scheltema MJ, Chang JI, van den Bos W, Böhm M, Delprado W, Gielchinsky I, etal. Preliminary diagnos­tic accuracy of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging to detect residual prostate cancer following focal therapy with irreversible electroporation. Eur Urol Focus. 2019;5(4):585–91.
13. Geboers B, Gondoputro W, Thompson JE, Reesink DJ, van Riel LAMJG, Zhang D, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging to detect residual prostate cancer following irreversible electroporation—a multicenter validation study. Eur Urol Focus. 2022;8(6):1591–8.
14. Tokuda B, Yamada K, Takahata A, Fujihara A, Iwata T, Ukimura O, etal. Time-course changes in multipa­rametric magnetic resonance imaging following focal cryotherapy for localized prostate cancer: initial expe­rience. Eur J Radiol. 2023;160:110714.
15. Velaga J, Tay KJ, Hang G, Tan YG, Yuen JS, Chua M, et al. Surveillance one year post focal cryother­apy for clinically signicant prostate cancer using mpMRI and PIRADS v2.1: an initial experience from a prospective phase II mandatory biopsy study. Eur J Radiol Open. 2023;11:100529.
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20. Chao B, Lepor H. 5-year outcomes following focal laser ablation of prostate cancer. Urology. 2021;155:124–9.
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Measuring Patient-Based Outcomes: Setting Realistic Expectations When Balancing Functional Outcomes withCancer Control
AlexanderLight, DeepikaReddy, andSrinivasVourganti
35

Introduction

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer, and the majority of men will present with local­ized disease. Of these, most will be managed with radical treatments, either radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy. However, a better understanding of this cancer’s long natural history has led to the emergence of alternative treatment strategies. Most recently, the ProtecT trial reported 15-year data, concluding that radical treatments reduced disease progression versus active monitoring but had no additional survival benet [1].
Patients, therefore, need to consider carefully the harms of treatments. Because radical treat­ments are applied to the whole gland, they carry risk to surrounding structures. Accordingly, uri­nary incontinence is observed in 5–25%, erectile dysfunction in 30–60%, and bowel dysfunction
A. Light · D. Reddy (*) Imperial Prostate, Imperial College London, London, UK e-mail: a.light@imperial.ac.uk;
Deepika.reddy06@imperial.ac.uk
S. Vourganti RUSH Medical College, Chicago, IL, USA e-mail: Srinivas_vourganti@rush.edu
in 1–15%. These risks have largely persisted despite technological innovations like robotic surgery and three-dimensional conformal radio­therapy [2].
Driven by innovations in MRI and biopsy strategies, focal therapy is an attractive alterna­tive that may offer a better therapeutic ratio for many men with an identiable index lesion. Through ablating the tumour alone, surrounding structures are spared, and a better functional out­come may be obtained without compromising oncological success. The importance of preserv­ing functional outcomes cannot be understated; previous discrete choice experiments have identi­ed that men are willing to trade a reduction in cancer-specic survival for a better chance of retaining continence and erectile function [3]. Focal therapy should be offered to eligible men, but it is vital that clinicians discuss this treatment strategy honestly and objectively.
The aim of this chapter is to explore the bal­ance between oncological and functional out­comes of focal therapy in patient consultations.

Oncological Outcomes

A number of oncological outcomes are used to assess the efcacy of prostate cancer treatments over the short, medium, and long term. These
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024 T. J. Polascik et al. (eds.), Imaging and Focal Therapy of Early Prostate Cancer,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66754-1_35
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A. Light et al.
should be considered both together and in isola­tion, as patients may weigh certain outcomes differently. Ultimately, however, when composite treatment failure outcomes are considered, focal therapy and radical treatments have similar fail­ure rates at up to 8 years follow-up [4, 5].
When discussing descriptors of success fol­lowing focal treatment, it is important that these are characterized within the context in which they are measured. Similar to radical treatments and active surveillance, regular post-treatment PSA blood tests are required. MRI is also typi­cally performed between 6 and 24 months to assess for local recurrence. Some centers may schedule a further surveillance MRI or may incorporate an early post-treatment MRI to con­rm complete ablation of the intended target, particularly when treating patients early in the learning curve. PSMA PET/CT may have high specicity for the detection of localized recur­rence but, to our knowledge, it is not routinely used unless there is concern for extraprostatic spread [6].
The need for post-treatment biopsies should also be mentioned. Consensus guidelines advo­cate for protocol post-treatment biopsies, whilst some centres, for example in the UK, only per­form this if suspicious of localized recurrence from PSA kinetics or imaging [710]. In contrast, it is less likely that biopsy is needed after radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy.
patients in total (2.7%) had died from their can­cer. Crucially, cancer-specic mortality only affected 3.1% of the active monitoring group, compared to 2.2% and 2.9% in the surgery and radiotherapy groups, respectively. Furthermore, 104/1610 (6.3%) developed metastases, of which
9.4% were noted in the active monitoring group and 4.7% and 5.0% in the surgery and radiother­apy groups, respectively.
For focal therapy, the largest analysis and with the longest follow-up derives from the UK HEAT registry of HIFU cases, representing 1379 men from 13 UK centres over 15 years [11]. Only one patient died from their cancer in recorded follow­ up, only three developed metastases. The com­bined 7-year cancer-specic and metastasis- free survival was 100%.
Patients should therefore, be counselled that focal therapy has excellent medium-term out­comes with regard to metastases and survival, which are comparable to other treatments. Given the excellent long-term survival with active sur­veillance, it may be expected that focal therapy would be at least comparable. However, consid­ering its novelty, comment cannot yet be made about the longer-term survival outcomes in com­parison to radical treatments. Regardless, exist­ing medium-term data are certainly reassuring.
Local Recurrence andRetreatment
Cancer-Specic Survival andMetastases
With many cancer treatments, the most important oncological outcome is usually cancer-specic survival, followed by metastasis-free survival. However, given the very long natural history of prostate cancer, the feasibility of meaningfully measuring these outcomes has been questioned. The recently reported 15-year follow-up data for the ProtecT randomized-controlled trial provides the best data to date for which to examine these outcomes. The trial identied that only 45/1610
Given the targeted and nonextirpative nature of focal therapy, recurrence within the prostate is an inherent concern, and is thus a more pressing medium-term outcome. Recurrence can either be within the treated zone and its margins (in-eld recurrence), or outside of it (out-of-eld recur­rence). If identied within or close to the treat­ment zone, retreatment is usually feasible in the form of a second focal therapy session without signicant compromise to post-treatment genito­urinary functional outcome [12]. Occasionally, however, disease characteristics or patient choice may lead to salvage whole-gland therapy being performed. Clinicians may also utilize androgen
35 Measuring Patient-Based Outcomes: Setting Realistic Expectations When Balancing Functional…
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deprivation therapy as standalone treatments, or in combination with local treatments. Therefore, the detection of local recurrence and the need for re-retreatment are two oncological outcomes patients should be counseled on. Whether recur­rent cancers are inherently more aggressive and ablation-resistant than primary cancers is unclear, and the role of metrics like grade group and tumor size is not known. However, there are data to suggest that grade group 1 recurrent cancers have almost no metastatic potential [13].
A 2021 72-study systematic review deter­mined a median reported in-eld recurrence rate of 25% (IQR 17–37%) [14]. For clinically sig­nicant in-eld recurrent cancer as dened by individual studies, this was 12% (IQR 5–19%). With regard to local retreatments, a 2023 124­study systematic review reported focal retreat­ment being performed in a range of 0–40%, and whole-gland salvage treatments being performed in a range of 2–54% [15]. For each outcome, a breakdown by individual focal therapy modali­ties is given in Table35.1.
The largest single-study analysis derives from the UK HEAT registry. Of 1379 men, 252 (18%) needed at least one further focal therapy session.
26 underwent two further sessions, and 1 under­went four further sessions. Seven-year focal retreatment-free survival was reported as 43% (95%CI 39–49%). 132 men (10%) required whole-gland salvage treatment. Of the 53 radical prostatectomy patients, 9 underwent this after a second focal HIFU session. Of 39 radiotherapy patients, 20 had undergone a second focal HIFU. 7-year whole gland treatment- and systemic treatment-free survival was 75% (71–80%).
Data suggest that further focal treatments are feasible, safe, and only minorly impact sexual and erectile function [12, 1618]. Whole-gland salvage treatments also appear feasible. RAFT was two-centre UK prospective study of salvage robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy at a median of 2.1 years after previous focal therapy [19]. Of 23 men, only one patient demonstrated a Clavien-Dindo Class 1 complication, 4 (17%) needed further treatment within a year. At 12 months, 74% had preserved urinary function, but only 30% had preserved erectile function. Second, a UK retrospective series compared 100 salvage radical prostatectomy patients against 100 salvage radiotherapy patients after previous ablation; 23% and 14% needed further treatment
Table 35.1 Summary of study-reported rates for any in-eld recurrence, clinically-signicant in-eld recurrence (as dened by individual studies), focal retreatment, and salvage whole-gland retreatment
Whole-gland
In-eld clinically-signicant
In-eld recurrence rate No.
Range
Modality HIFU 17 0–65 27
Cryotherapy 4 0–57 29
IRE 4 16–39 21
VTP 5 13–37 25
FLA 6 7–70 20
RFA 2 25–30 28
a
Taken from a 2021 72-study systematic review [14]
b
Taken from a 2023 124-study systematic review [15]
studies
(%)
a
Median % (IQR)
(17–37)
(15–42)
(17–28)
(24–25)
(15–47)
(26–29)
recurrence rate No.
studies 12 0–31 15
2 0–18 9 (5–14) 14 2–20 15 1–44
4 0–33 9 (5–16) 10 1–11 12 2–16
3 10–13 11
4 4–40 17
1 20 20 1 10 1 20
a
Range (%)
Median % (IQR)
(8–21)
(11–12)
(12–24)
Focal retreatment
b
rate No.
studies 14 2–54 26 3–38
4 2–23 4 8–67
5 2–33 4 2–17
Range (%)
salvage treatment
b
rate No.
studies
Range (%)