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.
Most American urologists view the radical prostatectomy as the "gold standard" therapy for localized prostate cancer. But before a man submits to the knife, he should understand the advantages and disadvantages of surgery. And in the increasingly complex world of prostate cancer, he may be offered a choice of surgical techniques.
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