Lymphovascular invasion is a pathological feature related to aggressive cancer behavior and predicts early recurrence in prostate cancer

In order to determine the prognostic impact of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in patients after radical prostatectomy, the retrospective data from our institution has been analyzed. From 1998 to 2010, 117 patients underwent radical prostatectomy. A total of 87 patients were included in this retrospective study. The relationship between LVI and advanced prostate cancer characteristics was evaluated by χ2 test. The Kaplan-Meier method and meta-analysis were used to describe the impact of LVI invasion upon early biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy. LVI was observed in patients with clinically or pathologically aggressive prostate cancer including patients of higher preoperative risk group, higher preoperative PSA, advanced Gleason grade, and pathological T3 disease. LVI is also associated with early biochemical failure rate both in our report and in the literature. Therefore, LVI is a pathological feature which indicates prognosis correlates with aggressive prostate cancer behavior and results in early biochemical failure after radical prostatectomy.