Teaching radical prostatectomy in sub-Saharan Africa

In the United States alone, approximately 220,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be detected in 2007, and 27000 men will die of that disease. African American men will suffer disproportionately, having a prostate cancer incidence that is nearly 60% higher than their Caucasian counterparts. In fact, it is widely accepted that African American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the world. This observation has led investigators to study the prostate cancer risk among African men in an effort to identify factors responsible for the high incidence of prostate cancer that plagues the African American population. Findings suggest that the public health burden of prostate cancer to native African men is substantial. Effective management of prostate cancer depends on early detection of the disease and its definitive treatment. Cost-effective management can be elusive. Radical prostatectomy can cure clinically localized disease and may offer long-term cancer control in patients with stage T3 disease. Of the various forms of radical prostatectomy, radical perineal prostatectomy is ideally suited to accomplish these goals in sub-Saharan Africa. A program to teach radical perineal prostatectomy has begun in Dakar, Senegal. It is a system based on graded surgical responsibility. High-quality audiovisual guides familiarize surgeons with the procedure's unique anatomic concerns. They then observe live procedures, assist in live procedures and eventually begin performing the live procedures under direct supervision. Repeated performance of the operation with simultaneous critique is the hallmark of this program, the goal of which is to establish a center of excellence where surgeons throughout the continent can come to learn this technique.