RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the experience of the Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá with radical prostatectomy in the treatment of localized prostatic cancer. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on 108 patients with localized carcinoma of the prostate stage T1-T2NxM0 submitted to radical prostatectomy from 1989 to 1994. RESULTS: Preoperatively, 50% of the patients had a PSA < 10 ng/ml and 14% had values that fell within the normal ranges of 0-4 mg/ml. A family history of prostate cancer was detected in 9.3% of the patients. The prostate cancer was clinically understaged in 75% of the patients, particularly those with stages T2a and T2b, and less significantly in those with stage T2c. Considering only those patients in whom the pathological staging had disclosed the cancer was not localized, this incidence accounted for 52% (n = 57). The presence of surgical margins was approximately 36%. The tumor recurrence rate was 26.9% and the complication rate was 6.8%. CONCLUSION: The relatively low complication rate in the present series shows that radical prostatectomy is a safe procedure that achieves good results if the cases are carefully selected and the diagnostic test are widely utilized.