Surgical extirpation of the primary tumor together with the involved regional nodes has been considered ineffective treatment for locally disseminated prostatic carcinoma. We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 42 patients with Stage D1 disease who underwent radical prostatectomy and bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy and who had a follow-up of one to thirteen years (mean 5 years). The following variables affecting survival and tumor progression were analyzed: (1) tumor grade and local extent; (2) number of positive lymph nodes, and (3) adjuvant therapy. The overall five- and ten-year survival was 79.5 per cent and 28 per cent compared with the expected survival of an age-matched control group of 88 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively. The degree of tumor differentiation had no effect on prognosis, but local tumor bulk and the number of involved lymph nodes significantly changed the disease progression and survival rate. Patients with low local tumor bulk and one positive node survived as long as the age-matched male population group. Our data suggest that radical prostatectomy may represent a valuable treatment in selected patients with Stage D1 prostate carcinoma.