Overview

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer is a malignant tumour that often begins in the outer part of the prostate. It may spread to the inner parts of the prostate and beyond the prostate to other parts of the body. It is usually curable when detected early, but can kill if diagnosed late or not treated effectively.

Symptoms

Symptoms and Signs of Prostate Cancer

There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of prostate cancer. In the more advanced stages, symptoms may include :

• Frequent urination (especially at night)
• Weak urinary stream or inability to urinate
• Interruption of urinary stream (stopping and starting)
• Pain or burning on urination
• Blood in the urine

Treatment Options

Treatment for Prostate Cancer - Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy (LRP)

Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy (popularly known as Da Vinci Robotic Surgery) is one of the major advances in surgery. This minimally invasive procedure is employed for complex, intricate surgery required in urological problems such as prostatectomy, or removal of the prostate gland in prostate cancer.

Robot-assisted LRP allows for greater surgical precision, minimising damage to surrounding tissues and nerves.

The key benefit of robotic-assisted LRP is that the patient recovers faster. The patient need only stay in hospital for 2-3 days and return to work within 2 weeks compared to 4-5 days and a month respectively in conventional surgery. There is less loss of blood and the small wound incisions also result in less pain and lower risk of complications.