Evaluation of the importance of the positive surgical margin in patients underwent radical prostatectomy

Introduction: Visible tumor cells on the surface of the resected tissue after radical prostatectomy signify incomplete local resection and an unsuccessful outcome of the disease and have a positive predictive value for the progression of the tumor. Materials and methods: In our study we were trying to find correlation between the state of the surgical margin after radical prostatectomy and the rate of biochemical failure or clinical relapse and other oncological parameters in the presence of margin positivity as well. Results: We have found significant correlation between the presence of Positive Surgical Margin (PSM) and other pathological and oncological features (just as PSA level, pre- and postoperative Gleason-score, the rate of biochemical failure, lymph node metastasis), and by that we present possible explanation for the positive predictive value of the surgical margin positivity