# Radical prostatectomy

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/prostatectomy/  
OnCo record `prostatectomy` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Removing the entire prostate gland and seminal vesicles for localised prostate cancer, now almost always with a robot.

## Summary

One of three options for localised disease alongside radiotherapy and active surveillance; ProtecT showed identical 15-year prostate cancer mortality (~3%) across all three. Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy dominates in high-income countries with nerve-sparing techniques to reduce erectile dysfunction, but incontinence (5-20%) and impotence (30-70%) remain the main harms. PSA should become undetectable; a rise afterwards (biochemical recurrence) is imaged with PSMA PET and treated with salvage radiotherapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: prostatectomy; robotic prostatectomy; robot-assisted prostatectomy; prostatectomies

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostatectomy
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostatectomy

## Connected records

- technologies: [Active surveillance](https://onco.cc/technologies/active-surveillance/), [PSMA PET](https://onco.cc/technologies/psma-pet/), [Robotic & minimally invasive surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/robotic-surgery/)
- terms: [Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)](https://onco.cc/terms/adt/), [Choosing treatment for localised prostate cancer: what each option costs](https://onco.cc/terms/prostate-treatment-choice-localised/), [Extraprostatic extension and seminal vesicle invasion](https://onco.cc/terms/extraprostatic-extension/), [Gleason score / Grade Group](https://onco.cc/terms/gleason-grade-group/), [Minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic, robotic, VATS)](https://onco.cc/terms/minimally-invasive-surgery/), [TNM staging for prostate cancer, and what changed in the 9th edition](https://onco.cc/terms/tnm-prostate-cancer/), [Whole-mount pathology](https://onco.cc/terms/whole-mount-pathology/)
- cancers: [Ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate-ductal-adenocarcinoma/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- fronts: [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- trials: [ARTISTIC meta-analysis](https://onco.cc/trials/artistic-meta-analysis/), [EORTC 22911](https://onco.cc/trials/eortc-22911/), [GETUG-AFU 16](https://onco.cc/trials/getug-afu-16/), [GETUG-AFU 17](https://onco.cc/trials/getug-afu-17/), [PIVOT (Prostate Cancer Intervention Versus Observation Trial)](https://onco.cc/trials/pivot/), [ProtecT](https://onco.cc/trials/protect/), [RADICALS-HD](https://onco.cc/trials/radicals-hd/), [RADICALS-RT](https://onco.cc/trials/radicals-rt/), [RAVES (TROG 08.03/ANZUP)](https://onco.cc/trials/raves/), [SPCG-4 (Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study 4)](https://onco.cc/trials/spcg-4/), [SWOG 8794](https://onco.cc/trials/swog-8794/)
- key papers: [Detection of individual prostate cancer foci via multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-johnson-mpmri-individual-foci-eur-urol-2019/), [PIVOT: follow-up of prostatectomy versus observation for early prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-wilt-pivot-prostatectomy-observation-nejm-2017/), [Prostate-specific antigen as a serum marker for adenocarcinoma of the prostate](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-stamey-psa-serum-marker-nejm-1987/), [SPCG-4: radical prostatectomy or watchful waiting in prostate cancer, 29-year follow-up](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bill-axelson-spcg-4-29-year-nejm-2018/)
- ideas: [Publish a per-lesion miss rate for every prostate MRI service before it is allowed to guide focal treatment](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-prostate-per-lesion-mri-audit-before-focal-treatment/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/prostatectomy.json