The Martini-Klinik – Prostate Cancer Centre in Germany

The Martini-Klinik is a highly specialised private clinic for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer. We offer all options for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and care for around 5,000 outpatients annually in a prostate cancer centre certified by German Cancer Society together with the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). We perform the world's most complete (radical) removals of the prostate, with approximately 2,600 prostate cancer operations taking place per year.

The Martini-Klinik’s doctors and researchers have excellent international networks and have made many innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer over decades of concentrated research. As a result, our patients receive the best possible individual treatment based on the latest scientific findings about prostate cancer. We are extremely proud that 98% of our inpatients would recommend the Martini-Klinik to their friends and relatives* and that an increasing number of patients from all over the world come to us for treatment in Hamburg (according to the ongoing patient survey at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf).

We take our time with each patient – which is not a luxury service, but rather our normal way of working. In addition to medical treatment of the highest quality, personal attentiveness is very important to us. Throughout your stay, you will be personally supervised by one of the senior faculty doctors.

We recommend that every patient take the time to identify the therapy individually suited to them and the best possible clinic for it. As prostate cancer generally grows relatively slowly compared to other cancers, time is not the most important factor. The healing, continence and potency rates demonstrated by a clinic are vital for your quality of life. At the Martini-Klinik, we have been surveying all our former patients on their health and quality of life year after year since 1992. These results are primarily used by the surgeons to reflect on and optimise their personal surgical outcomes. In addition, each senior doctor has a high throughput of operations in the course of a week (4 to 8) and, as a result, the level of experience gained by our busy surgeons is immense. All this enables a quality of results that is demonstrably outstanding.

Quality of treatment/Our patients’ quality of life
	Germany as a whole	Martini-Klinik
Fully continent *	56.7 %	93.5 %
Severe incontinence **	4.5 %	0.4 %
Severe erectile dysfunction (1 year) ***	75.5 %	34.7 %
Ureteral injury	0.6 %	0.04 %
Sepsis	2.5 %	0.04 %
Pulmonary embolism	0.8 %	0.1 %
Delayed wound healing	1.7 %	0.9 %
Rectal injury	1.7 %	0.2 %
Thrombosis	2.5 %	0.4 %
* Fully continent is defined as the use of no incontinence pads or the use of one for safety. More than 5 incontinence pads used per day. * Including patients who already suffered from erectile dysfunction before the operation.
Source: BARMER GEK Krankenhaus Bericht 2012

Wherever we see systematic measurement of results in health care, we see those results improve.

Michael E. Porter, economist at Harvard Business School, Cambridge, USA

He regrets that consistent measurement of outcome quality is still the exception to the rule and praises the Martini-Klinik, which is exemplary in this respect.

Prof. Dr. Markus Graefen
Medical Director, Faculty member

Contact

We welcome many international patients. If you are interested in treatment at the Martini-Klinik, you can find the right contact details for you below.

If you are an EU citizen, please contact our private outpatient clinic.

+49 (0)40 7410-51300
info(at)martini-klinik.de

If you are insured in Austria or Switzerland with our cooperation partner Helsana, please contact Helsana directly.

If you live outside the European Union, contact the International Office of the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). That is where the details of your stay will be organised.

+49 (0)40 7410-58574
+49 (0)40 7410-51691
patients(at)uke.de

Please note that we can only process medical reports and histologies if they are available in English or German. We are able to translate documents from other languages and pass on the costs.

More information

German webseite

Feedback from our guests

We are very proud that 98 % of our patients would recommend us to their family members and friends. You can find some of their feedback in our guest book.

See our guest's feedback

Prostate cancer operation

Surgical techniques

At the Martini-Klinik, two surgical techniques for the complete removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy) are offered.

In open surgery, the prostate is removed through a small incision in the lower abdomen. The operation is performed using micro-surgical technology and microscope magnification.
In minimally invasive robot-assisted surgery, the surgeon controls the micro-surgical instruments using a highly magnified three-dimensional view in a console that exactly translates the surgeon’s hand movements.

An advantage of the Martini-Klinik is that it offers excellent results, regardless of the procedure. For most patients, both methods are equally suitable.

Oncological outcome after 4 years
Relapse free	Open surgery	Robot-assisted surgery
	90.8 %	89.3 %
Source: Haese et al. BJU 2019

Health after 10 years
	No biochemical recurrence	Disease-specific survival rate
pT2 (Tumor confined within the prostate)	87 %	98 %
pT3a (Tumor infiltrated the capsule)	53 %	98 %
pT3b (Tumor infiltrated the seminal vesical)	28 %	87 %
pT4 (Tumor infiltrated the surroundings)	6 %	77 %
Source: Isbarn, H., et al. (2009)

Preserving potency

To preserve potency, at the Martini-Klinik the prostate is first carefully detached from the very thin layer that contains the vascular and nerve structures for erectile function. While the operation is still in progress, its margins are examined by an experienced pathologist specialising in prostate cancer. Only if the doctor has determined microscopically that the tumour has exceeded the capsule will the tissue then be carefully removed from the affected areas – always attempting to preserve maximum potency (NeuroSAFE technique).

Nerve sparing
	Open surgery	Robot-assisted surgery
Both sides	74.3 %	76.5 %
One side	21.6 %	20.7 %
Total	95.9 %	97.2 %
Quelle: Isbarn, H., et al. (2009)

Erectile dysfunction 12 months post-operation
	Open surgery	Robot-assisted surgery
IIEF-5-Score ≥ 18 independent of age and nerve sparing	48.5 %	53.4 %
IIEF-5-Score ≥ 18 independent of nerve sparing, age < 59 years	60.4 %	59.2 %
Ability to have an erection independent of age and nerve sparing	83.0 %	83.6 %
Ability to have an erection independent of nerve sparing < 59 years	89.9 %	90.8 %
Ability to have an erection independent of nerve sparing > 66 years	70.9 %	81.0 %
Source: Haese et al. BJU 2019

Continence

In order to preserve continence, the Martini-Klinik developed a surgical method to completely preserve the urethral sphincter. Although a significant part of the urethral sphincter protrudes into the prostate, we are able to preserve the complete functional length of the urethral sphincter and the complete anatomical embedding of the sphincter in the pelvic floor anatomy (FFLU technique).

As such, continence remains as it was before the operation in the majority of cases.

Continence in the first year post-operation
	Open surgery	Robot-assisted surgery
7 days after catheter removal No pad One pad for safetyt	25.8 %	21.8 %
7 days after catheter removal No pad One pad for safetyt	33.9 %	30.9 %
3 months post-operation	77.0 %	78.4 %
12 months post-operation	88.8 %	90.3 %
Source: Haese et al. BJU 2019

Continence 12 months post-operation by age group
	Open surgery	Robot-assisted surgery
< 61.7 years	90.4 %	90.8 %
61.7 - 68.2 years	86.7 %	89.7 %
> 68.2 years	80.4 %	82.0 %
Source: Haese et al. BJU 2019

Animation surgical procedures

How is the prostate removed? And how are continence and potency maintained if oncologically possible. A short explanatory film.

4.08 minutes

Treatment of advanced prostate cancer

In the case of a further spread of tumour cells via the lymphatic pathways or bloodstream, the tumour often returns – what is known as a relapse.

In order to postpone or avoid hormone-withdrawal therapy, which negatively impacts quality of life, PSMA-radioguided surgery offers the possibility of identifying even minuscule prostate cancer metastases in the lymph nodes and soft tissues through radioactive marking and detecting them during surgery with a gamma probe.