Goal of Surgery for Prostate ... Health Article

Surgery is a commonly performed treatment used to cure prostate cancer. The first goal of surgery is to remove the tumor. A second goal of surgery may be to ease symptoms.

Types of Surgery for Prostate Cancer

The main type of surgery to treat prostate cancer is called a radical prostatectomy. Another type of surgery is called transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). TURP is a common surgery to treat noncancerous prostate enlargement. Sometimes doctors discover cancer when they do a TURP to ease the symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

The goals of these 2 types of surgery are very different. With a radical prostatectomy, the goal is to the remove the tumor and cure the cancer. This type of surgery is only done if the cancer does not appear to have spread beyond your prostate. To determine this, your doctor looks at your Gleason score and PSA levels, and may do a lymph node biopsy. Men who can’t have a radical prostatectomy because of their age or health reasons may have a TURP. This type of surgery does not cure cancer. Its goal is to ease symptoms.