Robotic prostatectomy
High-volume prostate cancer surgeon
Professor Declan Murphy is a high-volume radical prostatectomy surgeon, performing 130-160 of these procedures per year. He has exclusively performed this procedure using robotic surgery since 2004, and is one of the longest established and most experienced robotic prostatectomy surgeons in the world. His surgical practice is almost completely dedicated to prostate cancer surgery and he is internationally regarded as a leader in this field. He has performed live robotic prostatectomy all around the world and has trained very many surgeons to perform this surgery to the highest standards.
Since his appointment at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 2010, Declan has rapidly developed the highest-volume radical prostatectomy service in the public system in Australia. In July 2010 Declan performed the first robotic prostatectomy in the public system in Victoria. Prior to that, approximately 10 open radical prostatectomy procedures per year were performed at Peter Mac, which has risen to approximately 200 robotic prostatectomies per year currently.
Learn more
Robotic radical prostatectomy is a complex procedure. Declan gives a brief overview in this 2m 30s video.
Caution - although this video is designed specifically for patients, there are some surgical scenes which not everybody is comfortable with.
Funnel plots showing Declan’s positive surgical margin rates at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for pT2 cancers (top graph), and intermediate risk cancers (bottom graph). Declan’s outcomes are indicated by the red dot, demonstrating that he is a very high volume surgeon, and that his margin results are much better than the average.
Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry
The outcomes of Declan’s patients undergoing robotic prostatectomy are recorded in the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry and are benchmarked against his peers. This data is updated six monthly and demonstrates how Declan’s outcomes compare with others in Victoria. For example, here is a graph showing Declan’s positive surgical margin results (red dot).
Surgical technique
Declan has published very many papers and book chapters detailing the anatomy and surgical techniques of prostate cancer surgery, robotic radical prostatectomy in particular. See more details through the links to his publications on his Research page.
FAQs
Where does Prof Murphy perform surgery?
Prof Murphy performs surgery at Epworth Healthcare, Richmond, directly across the street from his rooms at Cancer Specialists. He also performs surgery in the public healthcare system at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville.
What surgical robots does Prof Murphy use to perform robotic prostatectomy?
Prof Murphy uses state-of-the-art da Vinci Xi surgical robots at both Epworth Healthcare and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. In the past, he has used all generations of da Vinci surgical robots including the da Vinci Si, the da Vinci S HD, and both the 4-arm and the original 3-arm da Vinci Standard robots. Although amazing at the time, the robots he used back in 2004 seem very primitive compared to what he uses now. In fact, one of these is at the Science Museum in Melbourne and looks truly antiquated! “It’s like going from an old Nokia to the latest iPhone in terms of technology”, says Prof Murphy.
Does Prof Murphy perform nerve-sparing surgery?
Yes, Prof Murphy is extremely experienced at performing nerve-sparing surgery in appropriate cases. He has published extensively on the anatomy and techniques of nerve-sparing surgery and has lectured on this topic all over the world. He has also performed live surgery as Visiting Professor around the world to demonstrate optimal nerve-sparing surgery techniques
Can I see examples of Prof Murphy performing prostate cancer surgery?
Prof Murphy regularly demonstrates robotic prostatectomy techniques at urology conferences and also as part of live surgery demonstrations such as the World Robotic Surgery Events. You can see many narrated and unedited examples of him performing robotic prostatectomy on his Youtube channel
Does Prof Murphy contribute data to the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry (PCOR)?
Yes as a high-volume prostate cancer surgeon, Prof Murphy has contributed data to PCOR continuously since 2010. He is on the Steering Committee of PCOR Victoria and has published many papers from the Registry.