With most things in life it is fair to say that the more experienced and practiced you are the better your performance and this is most certainly true when it comes to prostate cancer surgery.
A significant problem with cancer is that, despite 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 through radical prostatectomy recent studies show that, while the chances of a recurrence are approximately 18 percent when surgery is performed by a fairly inexperienced surgeon, this figure falls to under 11 percent in more experience hands. So just what do we mean when we talk about 'experienced hands'?
A recently conducted study examined 7,800 prostate cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomy in the United States between 1987 and 2003 involving no fewer than 72 surgeons from 4 major academic cancer centers around the country.
The study showed that there is a very steep learning curve when it comes to carrying out prostate surgery and that it takes a significant amount of practice to master this particular surgical technique. Indeed, the study revealed that it was not until surgeons had performed a minimum of 250 operations that a marked improvement in recurrence rates was seen.
So just what can we learn from this study if we are faced with the prospect of requiring prostate surgery?
First it is very important that patients choose a surgeon who frequently performs this form of surgery. Indeed, it could well be advisable to choose a surgeon who specializes exclusively in prostate surgery, or whose work revolves largely around such surgery. In most general hospital settings surgeons will carry out such surgery very infrequently, perhaps as rarely as just one or twice a year, and this is simply insufficient to provide them with the expertise necessary to provide you with the best possible change of a low recurrence rate.
In the light of this therefore your first choice should without doubt be a specialist cancer treatment center and a surgeon whose work involves exclusively, or at least very largely, prostate surgery.
The study also showed however that there is a significant improvement in recurrence rates not only for specialist cancer centers, but also for teaching facilities. This is because, within an academic environment, a good deal of emphasis is placed upon supporting mechanisms to assess the outcome of procedures as well as to provide feedback in an effort to create an environment in which continuous improvement is seen. This is not always 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 position of requiring prostate surgery then you would be well advised to choose to undergo surgery at the hands of an experienced surgeon who works in a specialist cancer center housed within a major teaching facility.
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