Bladder removal after a recent prostatectomy. My surgeon tells me it's more dangerous than removing both at the same time. Why and what are the percentages of doing it one at a time?

To Pareidolia,

Thanks for getting in touch. My name is Kelly and I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists.

It’s understandable to have lots of questions about treatments and how they may affect your daily life and relationships.  As you say being able to make love with someone you care deeply about is ‘the very stuff of life’.  It’s important to embrace every opportunity.

Prostate Cancer UK and our Macmillan information about relationships explores different ways of being intimate with a partner and getting further support if needed.

We understand though that you want to make sure your partner is protected from any effects of having a prostatectomy and the Prostap. Especially that there she wouldn’t be exposed to cancer cells or the drug particles in the semen after ejaculation.

I’m aware that you had similar questions a few months ago and hope you found the information from Amy one of our other nurses helpful.

As she mentioned, cancer is not contagious and cannot be passed on to anyone through touch or bodily fluids so the answer to your first 2 questions is that – no- cancer would not be in your semen, and this is not dangerous to your partner.

Question 3 and 4 are a little trickier to answer.  Prostate cancer UK state it is safe to have sex if you are having hormone injections but there is no definitive information in any medicines directories that suggest if Prostap would be present or not.  The general advice is around contraception and possible risk of making someone pregnant rather than it being harmful to a partner.

Sometimes speaking to a specialist oncology (cancer ) pharmacist can give further reassurance.  They have the highest level of knowledge about drugs used to treat cancer.

We would encourage you to get back in touch with your surgeon or named Urology Cancer Nurse Specialist who is supporting you at this time if it would help to explore these concerns in more detail. 

As they are directly involved with your medical care, they will also be able to offer accurate advice with your questions about having surgery to remove the bladder after a prostatectomy.  Specifically, about why they feel that having both removed together would have been a less dangerous option than having this done separately.

Unfortunately, as we are not directly involved with your care to know your full situation it’s difficult for us to know exactly what statistic or percentage information is likely to be the most accurate for you.  Your consultant will be able to guide you with what evidence they were referring to about this.

This is because there may be different treatment recommended for each person with a similar presentation of cancer.  This would depend on the stage of cancer and other factors such as any underlying health problems.  For example some people may be more at risk of complications from general anaesthetic during surgery which may make it more dangerous to have more frequently.

I’m aware that we haven’t been able to answer all your questions today but I hope some of the information here has helped.  Please don’t hesitate to get back in touch anytime as needed.

Take care and best wishes,

Kelly (Cancer Information Nurse Specialist).

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts.  Phone on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email or use webchat.

Ref: KA/SB