Pelvic lymph node dissection for prostate cancer and nomograms

Abstract

Pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) is the most accurate staging procedure for assessing nodal status in patients undergoing surgical treatment for PCa. In particular, an anatomically defined extended template would allow properly sampling up to 75% of possible positive stations. The use of clinical nomograms provides good predictive accuracy and might guide clinicians in the identification of patients at higher risk of LNI, who should therefore receive an extended lymph node dissection. This is reflected also by the current urological clinical guidelines. Of note, PLND also has a role in the context of recurrent disease after primary surgical treatment.