FRIDAY, Dec. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Longer prostatic urethral length measured on prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is independently associated with a higher risk for developing late genitourinary (GU) toxicity after radiation therapy (RT) for prostate cancer, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in Academic Radiology.

Joseph Lee, M.D., Ph.D., from the Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, and colleagues evaluated pretreatment prostate quantitative MRI measurements and clinical characteristics in predicting GU toxicity after RT for prostate cancer. The analysis included 361 men (June 2016 to February 2023).

The researchers found that 14.4 percent of men experienced grade ≥2 acute toxicity. Brachytherapy (odds ratio, 2.9) was associated with higher odds of acute GU toxicity, while longer membranous urethral length (odds ratio, 0.41) was associated with decreased odds. Median follow-up for late toxicity was 15.0 months with approximately 88.7 percent of patients free of toxicity at one year and 72.0 percent free at three years. An increased risk for late GU toxicity was associated with longer prostatic urethral length (hazard ratio, 1.6), particularly urinary frequency/urgency symptoms (hazard ratio, 1.7).

“This pretreatment metric may be potentially valuable in risk-stratification models for quality of life following prostate RT,” the authors write.

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