Treating prostate cancer, Part IV: Surgery

About 186,320 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year. Most cases will be diagnosed by PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screening, with transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies. And most patients will have early disease that appears confined to the prostate itself.

Men with early prostate cancer face a choice of management options. The major choices are active surveillance, radiotherapy, and surgery. More often than not, men choose surgery. That means a radical prostatectomy to remove the entire gland. It's an obvious choice for men who want to "get it all out" and a reasonable option for any generally healthy man with a life expectancy greater than 10 years.