Dr. Tewari and Dr. Schlegel, of the Dept. of Urology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, go over the basics of prostate surgery, including the different types of surgery available.

Dr. Tewari: Prostate Cancer surgery is one surgery where we don't get any credits for what we take out. We get credit by what we leave behind. Prostate happens to be a very small, bulbous structure situated in a very strategic location which is surrounded all around by certain nerves which just happen to be nearby, but are actually supporting the erection. Dr. Schlegel: Surgical treatment for prostate cancer involves removing the entire prostate and about a millimeter of tissue outside of it. Together that's what's referred to as a radical prostatectomy. Dr. Tewari: Patient kind of evaluates what's his best likelihood of living longest with A versus B versus C kind of a treatment. And when outcomes are pretty equal, sometime patients are more comfortable with getting it out of their body, and especially in patients who are quite healthy and young.