Goal of Radical Prostatectomy... Health Article

Radical prostatectomy is the name of the surgery that removes a cancerous tumor. Its goal is to cure you of cancer. It involves removing all of the following:

• The entire prostate

• The seminal vesicles, which produce a fluid that is part of semen and help form the duct that carries your ejaculate, called the ejaculatory duct

• Part of your urethra, which is the tube that carries urine out of your body

• The end of the vas deferens, which, along with the seminal vesicles, makes up the ejaculatory duct

• In many cases, the surrounding lymph nodes

This type of surgery is a common treatment for stage I prostate cancer. But it can also be used to ease symptoms such as bleeding or urinary blockage in stage IV cancer.