Prostate cancer

This is a surgical procedure to remove the prostate gland. It can be performed as open surgery, or as keyhole surgery.  

Keyhole surgery can either be carried out by-hand or robot-assisted. A robot-assisted prostatectomy is a type of minimally invasive, keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery, which our surgeons perform using a robot known as the da Vinci X robot.  

The surgeon still carries out the procedure, but with the help of the robot, which the surgeon controls. The robotic console enables the surgeon to make more controlled and precise movements during the operation.  

A prostatectomy is generally performed in instances of localised prostate cancer and sometimes when there is locally advanced prostate cancer.  

Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy destroy cancer cells in the body.

Radiotherapy does this by using high doses of radiation to kill off the cancerous tumours. Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs specifically designed to kill cancer cells. 

Hormone therapy lowers the amount of testosterone your body makes, which helps to slow down the growth of cancer cells. Hormone therapy on its own won’t cure your cancer, so you may be offered this as an option alongside another treatment.  

HIFU is a minimally invasive procedure which uses high-frequency ultrasound energy to heat and destroy individual cancerous cells in the prostate. It may be suitable for you if your cancer is contained within your prostate (localised cancer), or if your prostate cancer has started to break out of the prostate and has spread to the area just outside the prostate (locally advanced cancer).  

HIFU is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it doesn’t involve any cuts or incisions to the skin and there is less blood loss. Your hospital stay is also short – often you can be discharged on the same day.  

Cryotherapy works in a similar way to HIFU but instead of using heat it uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy cancer cells. The procedure involves the insertion of very fine needles into the prostate, which a doctor will then pass a special gas through to kill the cancer cells. 

You might have cryotherapy for cancer that hasn’t spread outside of the prostate. You may also have it for prostate cancer that has come back in the prostate after radiotherapy. 

Your hospital stay is generally short – you may only be in hospital for a day or overnight – and recovery is also quick. You are likely to be able to resume normal activities within a few weeks of the procedure