Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy

This chapter provides a brief overview of the complete procedure of radical retropubic prostatectomy. Radiotherapeutic techniques have been employed in prostate cancer treatment for many decades. Techniques have continually changed in terms of dosimetry, number, and definition of fields of treatment, use of neoadjuvant hormonal ablation, and imaging technique for planning. Radical retropubic prostatectomy has several attractive aspects: longer survival results are available from multiple institutions, surgical removal of the primary organ is a time-tested principle of oncology, and the pathologic staging provides valuable information to the patient as risk of failure and need for further treatment to minimize failure. The chapter reviews some interesting technical, pathologic and quality of life information, which may help the younger surgeons to develop their own technique. Despite a lack of proof from randomized clinical trials, traditional urologic teaching is that radical prostatectomy offers the best chance of cure when disease is organ confined.