ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HAREWOOD

SPECIALISING IN ROBOTIC
RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY
OR "DA VINCI PROSTATECTOMY"
Results
Link to Link to
Positive Margin Rates:
(What does this mean »)

A major indicator of whether all the Cancer in the Prostate has been removed at surgery, is whether there is a positive margin or not in the specimen of the prostate, after it has been excised from the patient.
If the margins are negative, it strongly indicates that all the cancer is likely to have been removed. If the margin is positive, it may indicate that some cancer has been left behind.

After 400 procedures Associate Professor Harewood's positive margin rates are as follows:

Number of PatientsNumber with Negative Margins.Number with Positive Margins.Positive Margin RateNumber of Positives that are focal only.
Overall400371297.3%
Organ Confined (pT2)287 (71.7%)28251.7%All
Non Organ Confined (pT3)113 (28.3%)892421.2%


The following table compares the positive margin rates of a number of series of Open Radical Prostatectomy, Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy and Robotic Radical Prostatectomy.

SeriesMethod of Surgery
(number of patients)		Positive Margin Rate:
Harewood LM. (Melbourne Australia). Current series.Robotic
(400 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		7.3%
1.7%
21.2%
Patel VR. (Florida USA)
(Patel VR et al. BJU Int 2007 99:1109-1112)		Robotic
(500 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		9.4%
2.5%
31.0%
Scardino PT (USA)
(Swindle P et al. J Urol. 2005 Sep;174(3):903-7)		Open Surgery
(1389 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		12.9%
6.8%
23.0%
Smith JA (USA)
Smith JA et al. J Urol 2007 Dec;178:(6):2385-9		Open Surgery
(509 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		35.0%
24.1%
60.0%
Smith JA (USA)
Smith JA et al. J Urol 2007 Dec;178:(6):2385-9		Robotic
(1238 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		15.0%
9.4%
50.0%
Guillonneau (USA)
Touljer K et al European Urology 52 (2007) 1090-1096		Laparoscopic
(629 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		11.3%
8.2%
17.2%
Menon M USA)
(Menon M et al. European Urology 51 (2007) 648-658		Robotic
(2652 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		13.0%
-
-
Murphy DG (Melbourne Australia)
Murphy DG, Crowe H, Kerger M, Peters JS, Costello AJ. Abs 123 BJU Int 2008 101 (Supp 1) : pg 37		Robotic
(400 patients)		Overall:
pT2:
pT3:		24.1%
13.9%
52.3%

Conclusion: Associate Professor Harewood achieves world's best practice, with a very low positive margin rate equivalent to the world's best reported figures.