Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy - Review of the Literature Concerning Oncological and Functional Outcome of Patients

In 2000, the first robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) worldwide for treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) was performed in Frankfurt/Main (Germany). Since then, this surgical method has broadly dispersed. In the US, RARP currently already represents the most frequently applied surgical technique for treatment of localized PCa, although until now the potential benefits of RARP in comparison to alternative surgical procedures have still not been evaluated in prospective randomized trials. Against the background that also in Germany a continuously and fast growing number of patients are treated by RARP, the present article provides a comprehensive and critical review of internationally published data concerning oncological and functional results of RARP. The main focus represents evaluation of the safety of this procedure with respect to achieving Pentafecta criteria (i.e. no biochemical recurrence, complete urinary continence and erectile function, negative surgical margins, and no postoperative complications), which were primarily described by Patel et al. in 2011.