 "Dr. Slawin is a recognized authority on prostate disease and in addition to numerous scientific articles and book chapters published on this topic, he co-edited the “Atlas of the Prostate, Third Edition” together with renowned prostate expert, Dr. Peter Scardino, Chairman of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. In addition, he authored the chapter on Robotic Radical Prostatectomy, one of seventeen chapters contained within the text."
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Urology Program at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center named One of Nation’s Best by U.S. News & World Report
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center earned distinction as one of the nation’s top hospitals in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” issue, published July 21, 2008.
After an absence of several years, Memorial Hermann-TMC returned to the rankings at number 39 in the country for its urology program in only the first year after it entered into a strategic partnership with the Vanguard Urologic Institute, led by Dr. Kevin Slawin, who was appointed Director of Urology at Memorial Hermann-TMC in May 2007. Read more
Center for Screening, Prevention, Detection, Surveillance, and Minimally Invasive and Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer
 "The Vanguard Center for Screening, Prevention, Detection, Surveillance, and Minimally Invasive and Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer was developed specifically to bring to bear the entire body of knowledge with respect to these sequential issues during the decision making process between each patient and his physician, and to use the latest online Web-enabled nomograms and other tools, to help men make the best, most well-informed decisions that fits each man’s philosophy and goals with respect to his health and lifestyle"
To make an appointment to see Dr. Slawin, call 713-366-7847. Dr. Slawin now participates as an “in network” provider in most of the major managed care plans.
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“We believe that ultrasensitive PSA can be used after robotic or open radical prostatectomy as an unbiased indicator of complete prostate removal. In our hands, patients who achieve a very low level of PSA by ultrasensitive assay (< 0.01 ng/mL) have a high likelihood of cure and may face future follow up visits with less anxiety about possible cancer recurrence”
“Most patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy surgery for the treatment of prostate cancer, performed either robotically or through an open approach, are followed after surgery with PSA blood testing, typically beginning about six weeks after surgery. Using a standard PSA blood test, an undetectable PSA level reported to the lower limit of most assays (<0.1 ng/mL) has typically been accepted as indication that a patient is cancer-free, however up to 20 – 30% of patients who initially achieve this low level will go on to develop a rising PSA level indicative of prostate cancer recurrence at some future date. read more
 AUA Ultrasensitive PSA (207.6 kB)
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Robotic Prostectomy - Prostate Cancer: Dawn of a New Era
 As Director of the Baylor Prostate Center for the 15 years, and now Director of the Vanguard Urologic Institute and the Texas Prostate Center for the past two years, I have dedicated my life to the improvement of care for patients with prostate disease, primarily prostate cancer.
Despite widespread success in reducing the mortality due to prostate cancer over the past two decades, new data from randomized trials performed in this country and in Europe are leading to a sea change in the way we care for men concerned about their risk of prostate cancer and committed to taking the necessary steps to maximize their chances of living a full life with minimal impact from this disease. Achieving this requires the right balance at every step of the process, including how often to perform PSA-based screening, when to employ methods at prostate cancer prevention and which make the most sense, when to perform a prostate biopsy and when necessary how to perform it, and what to do when prostate cancer is detected and when it is not. The answers to all of these questions have become more confusing than ever to the average man.
So for any man contemplating his options with respect to his prostate health, there are many decisions he needs to make which may greatly affect his future length and quality of life as it relates to prostate cancer. And while there remain many unknowns, these decisions can be well-informed and aided by our current extensive knowledge and informatics tools to assist the decision-making process at every step.
The Vanguard Center for Screening, Prevention, Detection, Surveillance, and Minimally Invasive and Focal Therapy for Prostate Cancer was recently inaugurated specifically to bring to bear the entire body of knowledge with respect to these issues during the decision making process between each patient and our physicians, who are leaders in the field, and to use the latest online Web-enabled nomograms and other tools, to help men make the best, most well-informed decisions that fits each man’s philosophy and goals with respect to his health.
Of course, when treatment for prostate cancer is required, our extensive experience with the latest technologies, including Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy (RALP), performed by Dr. Slawin in over 750 patients since he performed the first case in Houston in 2001, provides patients with the best achievable outcomes. But this may not be the right choice for every man... we don't view ourselves as a robotic prostatectomy "assembly line" but rather a center for the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of prostatic disease. For example we also offer Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), and minimally invasive therapies like High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), along with active surveillance in appropriate cases. You can read more about these and other services within these pages.
I hope this website helps those of you searching for answers regarding prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), while providing a glimpse of some of our exciting and novel work in these areas. In addition to text, this website contains links to scientific papers and presentations, surgical videos, electronic nomograms and other useful tools for patients and physicians.
Local and National Media
News and Views
 Kevin Slawin and Dr. Tung Shu are the first in the U.S. to use AxoGen's Avance nerve grafts to repair the cavernous nerves robotically.
Vanguard Urologic Institute founders Kevin Slawin, M.D., and Tung Shu, M.D., have long been leaders in the development of minimally invasive techniques for radical prostatectomy using the da Vinci® surgical system. The outcomes speak for themselves: minimized damage to tissues surrounding the prostate and excellent cancer control rates that are equivalent to the traditional open approach to radical prostatectomy. Results also include decreased length of stay and decreased morbidity as measured by a more rapid recovery of potency
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Patient Testimonials |
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Dear Dr. Slawin, John Dodge and Pat Meyers:
Thank you for all of your help with my prostate cancer surgery. I am also thankful to have benefited from all of the prostate cancer patients who went before me and who helped Dr. Slawin, and others, refine procedures to increase my probability of being cured and decrease my probability of side effects. The entire process was much easier than I expected and the results couldn’t be much better:
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Dear Dr. Slawin and Staff,
I will be in Houston next week for my post-surgery check-up, but I wanted to take a moment and write a letter of thanks ahead of time. I had my laparoscopic robotic prostatectomy on January 23, and was dismissed form the hospital 22 hours after the surgery. I experienced very little blood loss and did not need any pain medication after the third day. I stayed at my son’s home in Houston for a week, and though I took it easy, my wife and I went to the movies and got about. The only inconvenience or slight discomfort I experienced had to do with the catheter.
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Dear Dr. Slawin,
Today marks exactly three months since you and John Dodge performed my prostatectomy and I am happy to say that my recovery has gone quite well. I regained complete urinary control about three weeks after surgery and have had no problems since. I continue to follow your prescribed ED regimen and expect good results given more time.
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When the test results came in form the biopsy of my prostate, my urologist asked to meet with my wife, Denise and I. I’ll never forget his first words to us, “you have prostate cancer but it is not going to kill you!” He felt we detected the cancer in an early stage and explained to Denise and I the options for treatment that were available.
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April 4, 2006
Dear Dr. Slawin, John Dodge, and Pat Meyers,
I want to thank you for all you did to make the treatment of my prostate cancer a wonderful success. You guys are incredible. As you know, my robotic laparoscopic prostatectomy was performed by Dr. Slawin on February 6, 2006 and the results could not have been better.
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Dear Kevin,
When I first met you, it was on the recommendation from a close friend who had been treated by both you and your partner, Peter Scardino. I was seeking care for my father, Oliver Harper, who had been treated for prostate cancer in another city some years before he moved to Houston. On one of the many times I came to your office with him, I asked how often I, as the son of a prostate cancer patient, should be checked for the disease. You advised me to do so every six months. It was because of that conversation that my cancer was caught on my “in between annual physicals” exam.
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Only the small dime size scars on my abdomen remind me that it has only been 60 days since my robot assisted prostate surgery, and 2 weeks after receiving the pathology/ultrasensitive PSA results showing I am cancer free. I owe this to you, Dr Slawin, John Dodge, and Pat Meyers. My fear of cancer surgery, pain, incontinence, and erectile dysfunction prior to the operation were totally overblown! Pat, your counseling weeks before the surgery, describing what I should expect before, during, and after the surgery was invaluable in helping me prepare mentally.
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I recently underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery to remove my prostate. While my PSA was less that 4.0, it had moved up 0.8 of a point (2.4 to 3.2) from the previous year, which caused my primary care physician to send me to a urologist. This led to a biopsy, and with Gleason scores of six and seven, surgery or external beam radiation were the best options. I elected surgery, which went very well, and I was home and moving around the next day.
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Dear Reader,
I, as a prostate cancer survivor, would like to share with you my experience being under the care of Dr. Kevin Slawin in the diagnosis, surgical treatment, and follow up care.
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October 18, 2008
Dear reader:
I am a 60 year old physician who is about 6 weeks out from robotic prostatectomy performed by Dr. Kevin Slawin. For me it was important to have a rapid recovery time to resume work and still benefit from a successful operation which I believe robotic surgery provides.
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