In 200 men with prostate cancer and urinary symptoms, a planned resection before radiotherapy left symptom scores lower, with grade 3 urinary events in 14 percent by 36 months

What the research found

A multicentre retrospective cohort was published on 10 November 2026. Patients who had a transurethral resection of the prostate up to 9 months before external-beam radiotherapy, between March 2015 and March 2025, were included. 200 men with prostate cancer and lower urinary symptoms were analyzed. Median follow-up after radiotherapy was 30 months among those who had not had a grade 3 or higher urinary adverse event. At 36 months, the cumulative incidence was 53 percent (95 percent CI 46 to 61) for grade 2 or higher events and 14 percent (95 percent CI 9.1 to 20) for grade 3 or higher events, with death treated as a competing event. A longer gap between resection and radiotherapy was tied to grade 2 or higher events (hazard ratio 1.18 per month, 95 percent CI 1.03 to 1.36). The authors say that pattern likely reflects confounding by indication. A larger clinical target volume was tied to a lower chance of a grade 3 or higher event (hazard ratio 0.95 per mL, 95 percent CI 0.92 to 0.99). Mean symptom score fell from 19.8 before surgery to 11.1 after surgery and stayed near that level after radiotherapy. The abstract does not give age. This is a record review, not a trial of one approach against another. DOI 10.1097/JU.0000000000005388. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at The Journal of Urology