The role of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in high-risk organ-confined prostate cancer

The traditional open retropubic radical prostatectomy has an established role in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, it is well known to be morbid procedure with high complication rate. This bad reputation prevented utilizing it on a large scale for high risk prostate cancer. Utilizing the da Vinci(®) to preform radical prostatectomy decreased the morbidity of the procedure. Since the introduction of robotic prostatectomy, there have been hot debates on its role in the treatment of high risk disease. In this article we reviewed the current evidence on utilizing the surgical system in treating high risk organ confined prostate cancer.