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Patient outcomes after open radical prostatectomy (ORP) are better with greater experience on the part of the surgeon (J Natl Cancer Inst 2007; 99:1171). To test whether that association also holds for laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP), investigators conducted an international, retrospective analysis of disease outcome in 4702 patients who underwent nonrobotic LRP performed by 29 urologists. Approximately half the urologists had performed >100 LRPs; surgeons with the most experience treated slightly younger patients.
After adjusting for case mix, greater surgical experience was associated with lower risk for recurrence: the 5-year risk for recurrence was 17%, 16%, and 9% for urologists who had performed 10, 250, and 750 LRPs, respecti…