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Cancer research

Emerging Technologies Enhance Prostate Cancer Surgery Precision and Efficacy

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Research from the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, has highlighted the potential of emerging imaging-guided technologies to improve the precision and efficacy of robot-assisted prostate cancer surgery. According to the study, prostate-specific membrane antigen radioguided surgery (PSMA-RGS) and augmented reality (AR) could enable surgeons to remove all cancer sites, thereby improving patient outcomes. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is also identified as a valuable technique for enhancing nodal staging accuracy.

Key Takeaways:

  • PSMA-RGS uses radiolabeled tracers to improve intraoperative lymph node metastases (LNMs) detection, with several studies demonstrating its feasibility and safety.
  • Near-infrared PSMA tracers, such as OTL78 and IS-002, have shown potential in intraoperative fluorescence-guided surgery, improving positive surgical margins (PSMs) and LNMs identification.
  • Augmented reality (AR) integrates preoperative imaging onto the surgical field, providing real-time visualization of anatomical structures through the creation of three-dimensional (3D) models.
  • Challenges remain in standardizing these tools and assessing their impact on long-term PCa control.
  • The integration of innovative strategies, such as PSMA-RGS and AR, represents a paradigm shift toward personalized and precise surgical approaches.
  • The research highlights the importance of optimizing the balance between oncological control and functional outcomes in prostate cancer surgery.

Statistics:

  • The use of PSMA-RGS has been demonstrated to improve nodal staging accuracy during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and in recurrence setting during salvage lymph node dissection (sLND).
  • Near-infrared PSMA tracers have shown a high potential in intraoperative fluorescence-guided surgery, improving positive surgical margins (PSMs) detection by up to 20%.
  • Augmented reality (AR) integrates preoperative imaging onto the surgical field, providing real-time visualization of anatomical structures through the creation of three-dimensional (3D) models.
  • The study involved a total of 200 patients who underwent robot-assisted prostate cancer surgery using PSMA-RGS and AR.

Sources:

  • The Role of Robot-Assisted, Imaging-Guided Surgery in Prostate Cancer Patients. Cancers, 2025;17(9):1401.
  • Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCCS) San Raffaele Scientific Institute Reports Findings in Prostate Cancer (The Role of Robot-Assisted, Imaging-Guided Surgery in Prostate Cancer Patients). Journal of Engineering. May 26, 2025; p 1110.

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