It’s a rite of passage that fills men of a certain age with dread: the digital exam for prostate cancer. But suffering prostate cancer is even worse — especially since the treatments come with the chance that the patient will experience either erectile dysfunction (ED) or urinary incontinence.
A new surgical approach now reduces the odds of those unwanted side effects, according to a report in The Lancet. A robot-assisted surgical method shows it can spare the periprostatic neurovascular bundles (key nerves that, if injured could lead to ED or incontinence).
Safer Surgery for Prostate Cancer
The study had 190 participants receive the robot-assisted surgery (named NeuroSAFE) and another 191 underwent the standard surgical approach for prostate cancer. The NeuroSAFE patients had noticeably better outcomes both in terms of ED and urinary incontinence after 12 months.
“The erectile function benefit is enhanced in patients who would not otherwise have undergone bilateral nerve-sparing by standard practice,” said the authors in the study.
These results should be welcome news for men as they age, since the odds of getting the disease increase drastically as the years add up; the average age of prostate cancer diagnosis is 67. About 1 in 8 men will develop the disease during their lifetime. About 6 in 10 prostate cancers are found in men who are 65 or older, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
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Prostate Screening Still Key
The ACS predicts about 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer for 2025, with about 35,770 resulting in death. The numbers declined sharply from 2007 to 2014 — but that’s largely because less men sought screening then.
This new surgery could encourage screening that could lead to earlier, more successful surgery, rather than waiting too long and either suffering from ED and urinary incontinence as a result of treatment — or dying from the disease.
Better Prostate Treatment, Better Outcome
Those prospects should, if not put a bounce in someone's step on the way to a digital exam, at least make men consider scheduling a screening, and visit their physician.
The number of prostate cancers diagnosed each year declined sharply from 2007 to 2014, coinciding with fewer men being screened because of changes in screening recommendations. Since 2014, however, the incidence rate has increased by 3 percent per year.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Prostate Cancer
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
