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. The tumor may be found by a needle biopsy that is done because a blood test showed an elevated PSA level or it may be felt in the prostate during a rectal examination, even though the cancer cells are found only in the prostate gland. It may come back in the prostate or in another part of the body. There are treatments for all patients with cancer of the prostate.
Surgery is a common treatment for 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.