The real prevalence and clinical courses of non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: a retrospective single-institutional study

Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2025 Apr 6;55(4):428-434. doi: 10.1093/jjco/hyaf002.

Abstract

Background: Non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa) has become clinically important in PCa management, with treatments aiming to delay metastasis. However, limited data exist on its prevalence and patient characteristics in real-world settings.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated the clinical records of 1929 patients who were treated for localized PCa between 2005 and 2018. From this population, we counted patients who progressed to non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa, and summarized the characteristics of the patients.

Results: Among patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (796 patients), radiation therapy (1021 patients), or primary androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) (112 patients), 0.9%, 0.9%, and 5.4%, respectively, were diagnosed with non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa over a median follow-up of 5.5 years. Including referred cases, a total of 45 non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa patients were analyzed. The median age at non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa diagnosis was 76 years, with a median time of 4.8 years from the initiation of ADT to non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa development. From the initial PCa diagnosis, the median time to non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa was 5.9 years. Median metastasis-free survival was 5.2 years, while overall survival was 6.3 years.

Conclusion: This study reports the prevalence of non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa at our institution and provides clinical findings of non-metastatic castration-resistant PCa patients by analyzing consecutive localized PCa cases through comprehensive medical chart reviews for every patient.

Keywords: castration-resistant prostate cancer; epidemiology; prostatic neoplasms.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Androgen Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Prostatectomy
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant* / epidemiology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant* / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms, Castration-Resistant* / therapy
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Androgen Antagonists