Timing of Postoperative Radiation Therapy After Radical Prostatectomy

Postoperative radiation therapy may be given as an adjuvant to those with no known residual disease after surgery, or it may be used later as a salvage treatment in those with recurrent disease. Adjuvant treatment might be more effective than salvage treatment because it is given earlier, when the disease burden is lower. However, the salvage approach has one major advantage: Those who turn out to have been cured by surgery alone avoid the need...