Minimally invasive surgery in prostate cancer: current and future perspectives

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death for men. Its prevalence increases substantially with advancing age, which coincides with increased incidence of comorbidities. The mainstay therapy for early prostate cancer remains radical surgery and radiotherapy. In the era of prostate-specific antigen and the newly emerging highly specific screening tests, more men are diagnosed earlier in their life and with confined disease. The application of minimally invasive approaches, such as the laparoscopic/telerobotic approach and focal treatments, is becoming more popular, yielding shorter hospital stays and faster recovery, with minimal complications. In part, this is possible due to groundbreaking advances in laparoscopic equipment, prostate imaging modalities, and gained urologic expertise in minimally invasive treatment. In this review we critically discuss the current knowledge and future perspectives of minimally invasive treatment in prostate cancer.