[en] Objective: Urologists have attempted to treat stage T3 prostate cancer by neoadjuvant total androgen deprivation (TAD) and prostatectomy. This approach has been disappointing because of the inability of ultrasonography to predict pathological disease status and frequent upstaging due to nodal positivity. Moreover, no reports give PSA-based outcome data among patients treated with TAD and prostatectomy. We therefore instituted a pilot study for T3 disease based on non-invasive staging (endorectal coil MRI), mandatory negative laparoscopic nodal dissections prior to hormonal manipulation, and prostatectomy followed by pathological and PSA-based outcome determinations. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients had negative laparoscopic lymphadenectomy followed by 4 months of neoadjuvant hormonal treatment (Lupron, Flutamide) prior to radical prostatectomy. Endorectal coil MRI was performed at the time of diagnosis and following hormonal treatment. Serum PSA was determined at 3 month intervals. Prostatectomy specimens were evaluated by 3 mm whole mount step sections. Results: Median age was 63 (range: 51-68). Karnofsky performance status was 90-100 in all patients. The median number of nodes sampled was 10 (range: 2-60). Prior to prostatectomy, downsizing was observed by MRI in 57% and biochemical response was documented in all patients. However, pathological downstaging to a lower state (≤T2c) was achieved in only 48%. The actuarial 3 year freedom from biochemical relapse was only 24%. Conclusion: Neither serum PSA response nor MRI downsizing predicted pathological disease status after pre-operative androgen deprivation. Even in the setting of pathologically negative lymph nodes, TAD decreased the pathological stage of disease in the minority of patients. The present approach appeared to offer no advantage when compared with PSA-based benchmarks achieved with conformal irradiation (Urology 45: 484, 1995) or TAD followed by external beam treatment (IJROBP 27: 246, 1993) among less well selected patients with clinical T3 disease