Evaluation of the current prostate cancer staging system based on cancer-specific mortality in the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results database

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous malignancy diagnosed in men. From a large population-based database, this study aimed to report prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) rates of men diagnosed with various presentations of prostate cancer and to examine the adequacy of the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system.

Patients and methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was queried for all patients diagnosed with prostate cancer from 1997 to 2005. PCSM was reported by the classification of extent of disease provided by the SEER database, for clinically staged and pathologically staged cohorts.

Results: Using the cumulative incidence method, PCSM at 10 years for all patients (n = 354,326) was 5% for clinically localized (CL) lesions, 7% for T3aN0M0, 14% for T3bN0M0, 26% for T4N0M0, 27% for TanyN1M0, and 66% for TanyNanyM1. Within the pathologically staged subgroup (n = 108,135), PCSM at 10 years was 1% for CL lesions, 4% for T3aN0M0, 9% for T3bN0M0, 9% for T4N0M0, and 19% for TanyN1M0.

Conclusion: Staging of any disease site aims to accurately communicate, prognosticate, and guide management for that particular level of disease. Stage IV prostate cancer is a diverse group, with PCSM in the subgroups ranging from 9% to 68% in this study. Considering the favorable outcomes of those with T4 or N1 nonmetastatic prostate cancer relative to those with M1 disease, the authors propose that T4 or N1 M0 prostate cancer should be reclassified into a new stage IIIB and that patients with such disease should be offered curative-intent therapy whenever possible.