Minimally invasive prostate removal was pioneered in the late 1990s by two French surgeons, Guy Vallancien and Bertrand Guillonneau.

FORBES: Men, Cancer & Hope

Researchers then randomly assigned the men to prostate removal or observation only.

MSN: Prostate cancer surgery fails to cut deaths in study

Treatment options include prostate removal, radiotherapy and hormone treatment, But for every life saved through treatment for prostate cancer, it is thought that between 12 to 48 men are treated unnecessarily.

BBC: DNA test reveals 80 markers for inherited cancer risk