When Considering Prostate Surgery Experience Really Is Important

The level of experience of your surgeon is of critical importance when it comes down to the chances of a recurrence of prostate cancer.

With the majority of things in life it is true to say that the more practiced and experienced you are the better your performance and this is most certainly true when it comes to prostate cancer surgery.

One of the biggest problems with cancer is that, in spite of the best efforts of your surgeon, it has a nasty habit of recurring in a number of cases. In the case of prostate cancer following the removal of the prostate by radical prostatectomy recent studies have deomstrated that, while the likelihood of a recurrence are approximately 18 percent where surgery is performed by a relatively inexperienced surgeon, this figure falls to under 11 percent in more experience hands. So exactly what do we mean by 'experienced hands'?

A recent study looked at just under 8,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomy in the United States between 1987 and 2003 involving some 72 surgeons from 4 major academic cancer centers around the country.

Interestingly enough the study showed that there is a very steep learning curve when it comes to carrying out prostate surgery and that it takes considerable practice to master this particular surgical technique. Indeed, the study showed that it was not until surgeons had performed at least 250 operations that a marked improvement in outcomes was witnessed.

So exactly what can we learn from this study if we are faced with the possibility of having to undergo prostate surgery?

First it is extremely important for patients to select a surgeon who regularly performs this type of surgery. Indeed, it could well be advisable to select a surgeon who specializes exclusively in prostate surgery, or whose work involves a significant proportion of such surgery. In most general settings surgeons will carry out such surgery infrequently, perhaps as rarely as just one or twice a year, and this is not enough to give them the expertise necessary to provide you with the best possible change of a low recurrence rate.

Against this background therefore your first choice should without doubt be that of a specialist cancer treatment center and a surgeon whose work involves exclusively, or very largely, prostate surgery.

The study also revealed however that there is a marked improvement in recurrence rates not only for specialist cancer centers, but also for teaching hospitals. This is because, within an academic setting, a great deal of emphasis is placed upon supporting mechanisms designed to evaluate the outcome of procedures and to provide feedback in an effort to create an environment in which continuous improvement is seen. This tends not always to be the case in non-academic facilities. Also, academic centers tend to attract people who are particularly interested not simply in the outcome of their work but in both correcting their errors and improving their technique.

So, should you find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing prostate surgery then you would be well advised to choose to have surgery with an experienced surgeon working in a specialist cancer center housed within a major teaching facility.

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