Surgery to treat prostate cancer is usually reserved for men in good health who are younger than 70 and who choose to have surgery. Surgery may be done to relieve symptoms and to slow the growth of cancer.

Surgery Choices

• Radical prostatectomy, the removal of the prostate and its cancer. It is not usually done if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
• Orchiectomy, the removal of the testicles. This may cause the cancer to shrink and may improve symptoms because prostate cancer often needs the testosterone made by the testicles to grow.
• TURP, or transurethral resection of the prostate. This operation can help to relieve bladder problems because it removes part of the tumor that may be blocking the urethra, the tube that carries urine from your bladder through your penis.

What To Think About

A study suggests that advanced prostate cancer can sometimes be cured if the cancer has spread to only a few lymph nodes and great care is used to completely remove the lymph nodes during prostatectomy.¹² Radiation and hormone treatment may be used afterwards to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

Surgical removal of the testicles (orchiectomy) and hormone therapy have the same side effects, including hot flashes, larger breasts, loss of sexual desire, and the inability to have an erection.