The initials TURP stand for trans urethral resection of the prostate. This is a type of surgery to remove tissue from the prostate gland.

The urethra is the tube which links the bladder to the penis and the prostate gland sits, like a collar, around the urethra, immediately below the bladder. This means that the urethra passes right through the prostate gland and so surgeons can pass a probe through the urethra to the prostate gland and, using a high frequency electric current through the probe, can cut away fragments, or chips, of prostate tissue 'from the inside'.

This operation needs an anaesthetic and a stay of a few days in hospital. It is usually used for the treatment of benign (non-cancerous) enlargement of the prostate gland. This is a common condition known as benign prostatic hypertrophy or BPH.

BPH and prostate cancer are both very common in older men. This means that about one in ten men who have a TURP for BPH have traces of unexpected prostate cancer in the pieces of prostate tissue that have been removed. In as many as two out of three of these men the prostate cancer will be at such an early stage that the TURP might well cure the problem. For the remaining third of men some form of further treatment will be needed.

Apart from those men whose prostate cancer is a very early chance finding during a TURP for BPH, the operation of TURP is not usually used as a treatment for prostate cancer (except occasionally in more advanced disease to help ease problems if the cancer is pressing on the urethra and interfering with passage of urine).