Research
What we measure is the objective result.
We record our patients' courses in a structured way from the very start — so that we know what we achieve, and can improve it.
Every course counts
A treatment can only be improved if its outcome is known. That is why our patients' data are not pieced together in hindsight but recorded from the outset, in fixed fields — from the section's first operation onwards and across the further course.
This is no end in itself. Those who measure see deviations early, can readjust the technique and do not have to rely on an impression. The benefit reaches those who come after you — and you yourself, in follow-up care.
All of this follows the rules of data protection. Where consent is required, we obtain it beforehand.
Where we stand — said openly: The section is new. We are building this database right now and therefore do not yet publish outcome figures of our own. We collect them first. Figures we have not measured ourselves are figures you will not find here.
What is recorded
Continence
How many pads do you need per day — and from when none at all? Recorded from the operation onwards and across the further course.
Potency
Erectile function before the operation is the benchmark for the time after it. That is why it is documented beforehand.
Surgical margins
Is the removed tumour surrounded by healthy tissue on all sides? The histological finding is recorded in a structured way.
Complications
Graded according to a fixed catalogue — otherwise nothing is comparable.
Assessment follows established benchmarks: Pentafecta combines five criteria of prostate surgery — continence, potency, tumour-free surgical margin, no recurrence, no complications. Only when all five are met does a course count as fully successful. CAPRA-S grades the risk of recurrence, so that cases of different severity can be compared at all.
You tell us how you are doing
Whether an operation has succeeded is not decided in the operation report alone. It is decided by how you live six months later. And that can only be asked of one person: you.
That is why patient-reported outcomes are a fixed part of our data collection. Using validated questionnaires, you yourself record how things stand with continence, sexual function and quality of life — at fixed intervals, not just once at the final consultation. Your answer counts just as much as the medical finding.
It costs you a few minutes per appointment. It is the most honest benchmark there is — and the only one that answers the question you are actually asking.
Second opinion
Questions about taking part in a trial or about our quality benchmarks? Talk to us.
Clinical trial
ToP-RAP — preserving the urethra
Total en bloc Urethra Preservation at Robot-assisted Prostatectomy — a prospective IDEAL stage 2a study
In the standard operation the urethra is divided and then sewn back to the bladder. The ToP-RAP trial investigates whether the entire section of the urethra inside the prostate can be preserved — without dividing it and without this suture. The prostate itself is still removed completely.
The expectation behind it: the more urethra is preserved, the sooner continence can return. Whether that holds true is what this trial is meant to show — it is deliberately designed as a feasibility study.
A trial is a trial. The procedure is not standard care and is an option only for carefully selected patients with a locally confined tumour. Should preservation prove impossible to carry out safely during the operation, the switch to the standard operation is defined in advance. The safety of the tumour removal ranks above the technique.
Taking part in Hamm. Enrolment of patients at our site is in preparation. Until the site is listed in the trial registry, we cannot enrol here. If you are interested, talk to us in the consultation — we will tell you where the trial is currently recruiting and whether the procedure would even be an option for your findings.
What is measured
- — Technical feasibility — in how many cases does preservation of the urethra succeed according to the criteria defined in advance?
- — Safety — complications within 90 days, classified by Clavien-Dindo
- — Time to continence — days until at most one safety pad per day, followed over twelve months
- — In addition: the PSA course over 24 months and erectile function, recorded with the IIEF-5 questionnaire
- Principal investigator
- Associate Professor Dr. med. Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah
- Design
- prospective, single-arm, IDEAL stage 2a
- Planned participants
- 60
- Status
- started January 2024 — Hamm site in preparation
- Registry number
- NCT07678489
Publicly accessible in the ClinicalTrials.gov trial registry of the US National Library of Medicine.
Further registered trial
Reducing blood loss at robot-assisted prostatectomy
A randomised trial on the question of how blood loss during robot-assisted prostatectomy can be lowered further.
Registry numberNCT06822036
Publications
Numerous peer-reviewed papers, mostly on robot-assisted prostate and bladder surgery and on MRI-guided diagnostics. A selection is shown here; the complete, continuously updated list is kept by PubMed.
All publications in PubMedSurgical technique
Witt J, Leyh-Bannurah SR. Preservation of Lateral and Anterior Periprostatic Structures in Radical Prostatectomy: The Sleeve-Technique. In: Robotic Urology. Springer; 2024:517–525.
Book chapter in the standard reference
Surgical technique
Gloger S, Ubrig B, Boy A, Leyh-Bannurah SR, et al. Bilateral Peritoneal Flaps Reduce Incidence and Complications of Lymphoceles After Robotic Radical Prostatectomy. J Urol 2023;209(1):76–77.
ProLy — prospective randomised multicentre trial
Diagnostics
Leyh-Bannurah SR, Kachanov M, Beyersdorff D, et al. Anterior Localization of Prostate Cancer Suspicious MRI Lesions in Patients Undergoing Initial and Repeat Biopsy. J Urol 2018.
multicentre analysis of MRI/ultrasound fusion biopsies
Diagnostics
Kachanov M, Leyh-Bannurah SR, et al. Optimizing Combined MRI-Targeted and Systematic Biopsy Strategies: Sparing the mpMRI-Negative Transitional Zone. J Urol 2022.
Imaging
Budäus L, Leyh-Bannurah SR, Salomon G, et al. Initial Experience of 68Ga-PSMA PET/CT Imaging in High-risk Prostate Cancer Prior to Radical Prostatectomy. Eur Urol 2016.
Prostate cancer
Leyh-Bannurah SR, Gazdovich S, Budäus L, … Graefen M, Karakiewicz PI. Local Therapy Improves Survival in Metastatic Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol 2017;72(1):118–124.
Bladder cancer
Martini A, Falagario UG, … Leyh-Bannurah SR, … Hosseini A; EAU Robotic Urology Section Scientific Working Group. Robot-assisted Radical Cystectomy with Orthotopic Neobladder Reconstruction in Males. Eur Urol 2023;84(5):484–490.
Artificial intelligence
Leyh-Bannurah SR, Tian Z, Karakiewicz PI, … Budäus L. Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing in Urology. JCO Clin Cancer Inform 2018;2:1–9.
Artificial intelligence
Eminaga O, Leyh-Bannurah SR, et al. Artificial intelligence unravels interpretable malignancy grades of prostate cancer on histology images. npj Imaging 2024;2:1–12.
Peer review and professional societies
Reviewer for international urological and oncological journals, including European Urology. Whoever examines the work of others stays close to what is moving right now.
Member of the EAU, DGU, AUA and DGRU, as well as of the ERUS Science Working Group, the scientific working group of the European section for robot-assisted urology.
On his career and qualifications:Your surgeon.
Contact
Questions about our research?
Trial participation, quality benchmarks or a second opinion — call us or write to us.
Consultation hours
- Wednesday · 14:00
- Thursday · 08:30–16:00
PD Dr. med. Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah. Appointments are arranged by the urology secretariat.