The cancer is only in the prostate and usually is found accidentally when surgery is done for other reasons, such as for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Cancer cells may be found in only one area of the prostate or they may be found in many areas of the prostate. There are treatments for all patients with cancer of the prostate. Surgery is a common treatment of cancer of the prostate. Your doctor may take out the cancer using one of the following operations.
Radical prostatectomy is the removal of the prostate and some of the tissue around it.
Radical prostatectomy is done only if the cancer has not spread outside the prostate. Often before the prostatectomy is done, your doctor will do surgery to take out lymph nodes in the pelvis to see if they contain cancer. This is called a pelvic lymph node dissection. If the lymph nodes contain cancer, usually your doctor will not do a prostatectomy and may or may not recommend other therapy at this time. Impotence and leakage of urine from the bladder can occur in men treated with surgery.