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Prostate Cancer · Radiation · Salvage radiotherapy

GETUG-AFU 16

After prostatectomy biochemical recurrence, does short-term androgen deprivation added to salvage radiotherapy improve progression-free outcomes?

Population743 men with rising PSA 0.2–2.0 ng/mL after prostatectomy and no clinical metastases.InterventionSalvage RT 66 Gy plus 6 months of goserelin.ComparatorSalvage RT alone.Primary endpointProgression-free survival.

Absolute Effect

5-year PFS
80% vs 62% (+18 points)

HR 0.50 (95% CI 0.38–0.66), P<.0001.

10-year PFS
64% vs 49% (+15 points)

Long-term follow-up confirmed the benefit; HR 0.54.

Clinical interpretation

Adding short-term ADT to salvage RT produced a large and durable absolute improvement in progression-free survival.

The trial is directly relevant to men with biochemical recurrence after prostatectomy, but its PSA range and RT era should be considered when extrapolating to very-low-PSA modern salvage practice.

Treatment burden

Goserelin adds temporary androgen-deprivation toxicity to RT. No treatment-related deaths were reported in the long-term follow-up.

NNT

NNT ≈ 6 at 5 years and ≈ 7 at 10 years, based on the reported absolute PFS differences.

Limitations

Progression-free survival combined biochemical and clinical progression/death; the trial was not powered primarily for overall survival.

Primary / authoritative sources

GETUG-AFU 16 primary report — PubMed

112-month follow-up — PubMed

Current-practice context · reviewed 14 October 2026

GETUG-AFU 16 supports adding six months of androgen deprivation to salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy for biochemical recurrence, with durable progression-free benefit. ADT use and duration should still be individualized by PSA at salvage, PSA doubling time, pathological risk, nodal status, comorbidity and patient preference; the result does not mean every man receiving salvage RT requires the same hormonal duration.

GETUG-AFU 16 primary/long-term source ↗ · Current guideline guidance ↗