Surgical Candidates

• Good candidates for surgical treatment should be in good health overall, have no metastasis (spread) of the cancer to bones, have a tumor which is confined to his prostate, be younger than 70 and have at least 10 years to live.
  
  

Identification

• Radical prostatectomy removes the prostate gland entirely and can be completed both traditionally and laparascopically. Additional surgical treatments include lymphadenectomy to remove the pelvic lymph nodes, and TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate), which removes specific tissue from the prostate.
  
  

Significance

• The prostate gland, seminal vesicles and surrounding tissues are removed during a radical prostatectomy. TURP procedures are performed to alleviate tumor-related symptoms and can be done in men who are not candidates for a radical prostatectomy due to illness or age.
  
  

Recovery

• Recovery from a prostate surgery usually involves a three- to seven-day hospital stay and catheterization for two to three weeks.
  
  

Side Effects

• Surgical side effects may include urine leakage, impotence or leakage of stool from the rectum. In certain cases doctors may be able to use nerve-sparing techniques which preserve erection-related nerves.