¹Department of Urology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China

Correspondence: Prof. Xin Gao, Department of Urology, the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Number 600, Tianhe Road, Guangzhou 510630, China.
Fax: +86-20-8753 6401 E-mail: gaoxin44@vip.163.com

Received 16 October 2008; Revised 26 April 2009; Accepted 29 June 2009; Published online 3 August 2009.

Abstract

In this study we evaluate the oncological and functional results of the largest cohort of patients in China treated by laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) and with at least 3 years of follow-up. 126 inconsecutive patients (range 56–78 years, median 62.5) who had an LRP were retrospectively analyzed. The mean prostate specific antigen level and Gleason score was 13.4 ng mL^-1 and 6.4, respectively. Twenty-seven patients had unilateral or bilateral nerve preservation and 29 had pelvic lymphadenectomy. Multivariate analysis was used to adjust for differences in clinical and pathological features when comparing the risk for biochemical progression-free survival (bPFS). Urinary continence was assessed by incontinence questionnaire and erectile function by the Sexual Health Inventory for Men score. The mean operative duration was 250 min and blood loss 354 mL. Five patients received blood transfusion and nine had complications, including rectal injury (two), ureteral injury (one), active bleeding (one), bladder neck stenosis (two), paralytic ileus (one), subcutaneous hematoma (one) and port-site hernia (one). The overall positive surgical margin rate was 20.6% and correlated with pathological stage and Gleason score respectively (P = 0.03, P < 0.001 respectively). All patients had 3 years of follow-up (range 3–6.75 years, mean 4.6, median 4.75). At 3 years of follow-up, the overall survival rate was 100% and the bPFS was 81.0% in all patients; 124 patients (98.4%) were continent; 22 of 27 patients (81.5%) who underwent nerve preservation retained erectile function. Our series confirms that LRP is an effective, safe and precise technique at Chinese institution.