Total en Bloc Urethra Preservation at Robot-assisted Prostatectomy IDEAL Stage 2a (ToP-RAP)

June 28, 2026 updated by: Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah

Total en Bloc Urethra Preservation at Robot-assisted Prostatectomy (ToP-RAP): A Prospective IDEAL Stage 2a Study

Prospective single-arm IDEAL stage 2a feasibility study of urethra-preserving RARP in localized prostate cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Our study introduces a urethra-preserving prostatectomy concept that maintains the entire intraprostatic urethra, thereby avoiding both urethral transection and vesicourethral anastomosis. We embed the technique in a transparent IDEAL-based framework with predefined intra-operative decision rules, including prespecified conversion to standard robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. This positions the technique as a distinct step beyond existing bladder neck- or urethra-sparing modifications, and provides the first prospective multicentre data supporting its feasibility in selected patients.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
60

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Germany
      • Düsseldorf, Germany, 40217
        • Recruiting
        • Clinic Bel Etage
        • Contact:
      • Siegen, Germany, 57074

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion criteria:

  • Life expectancy >=10 years (biological age)
  • No prior prostate therapy (laser enucleation, TURP, focal therapy)
  • No pelvic/prostate radiotherapy;
  • No prior abdominal/rectal surgery;
  • No prior (neoadjuvant) androgen-deprivation therapy
  • No prior stroke/cerebral ischemia with neurological sequelae;
  • No neurological disease (e.g., Parkinson's)
  • Transrectal or transperineal bilateral biopsy >=12 cores (MRI-ultrasound fusion, targeted + systematic)
  • PSA <=15 ng/mL; prostate volume <=80 mL
  • Biopsy ISUP grade 1-3 (= Gleason 3+3 / 3+4 / 4+3)
  • No Gleason pattern 5; no intraductal, cribriform or neuroendocrine carcinoma
  • mp/bpMRI (mandatory if biopsy Gleason >=3+4)
  • No suspected metastases at staging

Exclusion Criteria:

- Failure to meet any inclusion criterion, or patient declining ToP-RAP (offered standard RARP per EAU guidelines)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: ToP-RAP
Procedure: ToP-RAP
**ToP-RAP** is a urethra-preserving modification of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) for localized prostate cancer. Its distinguishing feature is preservation of the **entire intraprostatic urethra with complete omission of urethral transection and the vesicourethral anastomosis**. This separates it mechanistically from standard RARP, Retzius-sparing RARP, and the hood and sleeve techniques - all of which transect the urethra and reconstruct a vesicourethral anastomosis - and from urethra-sparing *simple* prostatectomy, which is a benign (BPH) enucleation rather than whole-gland cancer surgery. The whole prostatic gland is removed while only the intraprostatic urethra is retained, with anterolateral neurovascular-bundle preservation.
Other Names:
  • * Total en bloc Urethra Preservation at Robot-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Total Urethral Length Preservation
  • TULP
  • TUP-RAP
  • TUPRAP
  • TOPRAP
  • Urethra-sparing radical prostatectomy
  • Urethra-preserving robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
  • Complete (total) intraprostatic urethral preservation RARP
  • Total en bloc Urethral Preservation at Robot-assisted Prostatectomy
  • Full-length urethra-preserving RARP

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Technical feasibility of ToP-RAP
Time Frame: Intraoperative (day of surgery)
Proportion of enrolled patients in whom ToP-RAP is completed per the pre-specified technical standards without intraoperative conversion to standard RARP.
Intraoperative (day of surgery)
Perioperative safety (Clavien-Dindo)
Time Frame: Up to 90 days after surgery
Rate and maximum grade of intra- and post-operative complications classified by the Clavien-Dindo system.
Up to 90 days after surgery
Time to urinary continence recovery
Time Frame: Up to 12 months after surgery
Days from surgery to urinary continence recovery defined as use of 0 or 1 safety pad per day. Inpatient continence is defined by Stamey criteria (medical expert assessment).
Up to 12 months after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PSA persistence and biochemical recurrence
Time Frame: 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 months after surgery
PSA persistence (failure to reach <0.1 ng/mL within 12 weeks) and biochemical recurrence (PSA >=0.2 ng/mL) assessed on serial PSA measurements.
3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 months after surgery
Erectile function recovery
Time Frame: Up to 24 months after surgery
Post-ToP-RAP Erectile function recovery, measured via IIEF-5
Up to 24 months after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Clinic Bel Etage Dusseldorf, NRW, Germany

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Director: Sami-Ramzi Leyh-Bannurah, Associate Professor, Martini Klinik am UKE GmbH, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 30, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 31, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 20, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 28, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
July 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 28, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2025086

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

De-identified patient-level data may be made available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to institutional approval and privacy/ethical restrictions.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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