The Complete International Patient Guide to Prostate Cancer Treatment in India — Everything You Need, in One Place, Before You Make Any Decision
If you have just been diagnosed with prostate cancer and you are considering treatment in India, this is the one page to bookmark. It links to every detailed guide GAF Healthcare has published — diagnosis, treatment options, hospitals, costs, the medical tourism journey, and real patient stories — organised by where you are in your decision-making process.
By Gaf Healthcare Editorial Team
2026-05-25
The Complete International Patient Guide to Prostate Cancer Treatment in India — Everything You Need, in One Place, Before You Make Any Decision
If you have just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, or you are watching a family member's PSA numbers rise, the amount of information online can feel overwhelming and contradictory.
Some pages tell you to have surgery immediately. Others say radiation is just as good. Some quote costs that seem impossibly low.
Most of them are written for a domestic audience in a single country, not for someone sitting in Lagos, Dhaka, or Dubai trying to understand their options from 5,000 kilometres away.
This guide is for you. It does not try to replace a specialist consultation. It tries to get you to the right specialist consultation — with enough background knowledge that you understand what you are being told and can ask the right questions.
Below you will find links to every detailed guide GAF Healthcare has published for international prostate cancer patients. Each one covers a specific part of the journey — from understanding your diagnosis to choosing a hospital to planning the trip and getting home safely.
GAF Healthcare has been co-ordinating prostate cancer treatment for international patients at India's top hospitals for years. The questions patients ask — before they travel, during treatment, and after they get home — are almost always the same.
We have written detailed guides answering every one of those questions.
This page brings them together in one place, organised by where you are in your journey — from the moment you first suspect something is wrong to the follow-up PSA test you send your surgeon from home six weeks after returning.
Not sure where to start? Skip the reading and send your reports directly.
Send your PSA result, biopsy report, and any imaging to GAF Healthcare on WhatsApp. A uro-oncologist reviews your case and tells you — in plain language — what your results mean, which treatment options apply, and what it will cost in India. Free. Within 48 hours.
Send My Reports for a Free Review →Step 1 — Understanding Your Diagnosis
Before you can make any decision about treatment, you need to understand what your results actually mean.
PSA, Gleason score, Grade Group, T stage, PSMA PET-CT — these are not just medical jargon. They are the numbers and letters that determine which treatments apply to you and which do not.
Most patients receive these results in a format that is written for doctors, not for them. Our diagnosis and staging guide translates everything into plain language.
What each investigation measures, how to read a Gleason score and Grade Group, what the T stage tells your surgeon, and why PSMA PET-CT is the most accurate staging tool in India — at USD 500 to 900 versus USD 3,000 to 6,000 in the USA.
One thing worth saying directly: a Gleason Grade Group 1 diagnosis — the most common finding in PSA-prompted biopsies — does not automatically mean you need surgery or radiation.
Many men with this diagnosis are managed on active surveillance and never need active treatment. If you have been told you need urgent surgery for a Grade Group 1 tumour, a second opinion is worth getting before you agree.
Step 2 — Understanding Your Treatment Options
Prostate cancer has more treatment options than almost any other cancer — and for localised disease, the evidence shows that surgery, radiation, and active surveillance all achieve equivalent long-term cancer control.
What differs is the side effect profile, the recovery timeline, and the practical logistics of each approach. The guides below explain each option honestly — not to recommend one over another, but to give you enough information to have a real conversation with a specialist.
Surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy compared side by side — success rates, costs, recovery timelines, and how each affects quality of life.
The three surgical procedures — what each addresses, who needs which, blood loss, hospital stay, continence recovery, and cost. Includes Andrew Mganga's real patient story from Tanzania.
A direct comparison of the two surgical approaches — outcomes, blood loss, hospital stay, continence, erectile function recovery, costs, and recovery timelines. Includes 6 FAQs inside the article.
SBRT (5 sessions, 10–14 days in India), EBRT, and brachytherapy compared — which fits your stage, how long you need to stay, and what outcomes look like at India's leading radiation oncology centres.
ADT, abiraterone, enzalutamide — how each drug works, what each costs in India vs the UK and USA, how to start in India and continue at home, and the side effects to genuinely prepare for.
Docetaxel, cabazitaxel, PARP inhibitors, pembrolizumab, and Lu-177 PSMA therapy — when each is used, what the costs are, and how to manage infusion cycles from abroad.
Step 3 — Choosing the Right Hospital and Surgeon
This is the step where most international patients make their most consequential decision — and often with the least reliable information.
The hospital name matters less than the individual surgeon's annual volume. A surgeon performing 150 to 300 robotic prostatectomies per year consistently produces better outcomes than one performing 30 to 60.
Every guide below makes this point because it changes how you should evaluate any recommendation you receive.
Nine hospitals across Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai — profiled on accreditation, surgical volume, radiation technology, and practical international patient infrastructure. Includes the honest case for and against each one.
The complete Da Vinci procedure guide — candidacy criteria, surgical steps, recovery timeline, and continence and potency outcomes at India's top robotic urology programmes.
Not sure which hospital or surgeon is right for your case?
GAF Healthcare matches you to the right specialist based on your diagnosis, treatment type, preferred city, and budget — not on which hospital pays the highest referral commission. Free. Within 48 hours.
Step 4 — Understanding What It Will Actually Cost
A hospital website might quote robotic prostatectomy from USD 5,000. What it will not quote is the pre-operative tests, the anaesthetist's fee, the pathology, the three weeks of accommodation during recovery, and the return flights.
Both guides below give the complete picture — the procedure costs, the hidden costs to ask about, the total episode estimate, and the drug costs that apply if your treatment continues after you return home.
Every procedure cost at each hospital tier, total episode estimates including accommodation and flights, drug pricing compared to UK and USA, and the hidden costs to check before you agree to any quote.
Side-by-side cost tables for every major procedure and drug — with the saving percentage calculated for each. Includes total trip estimates and the six most common cost questions answered inside the article.
Step 5 — Planning the Trip
Travelling to India for cancer treatment is not as complicated as it sounds when everything is properly planned. The visa takes three to five working days. The flights from most countries are straightforward. The accommodation costs USD 40 to 70 per night.
What makes the difference between a stressful experience and a manageable one is having the right things in place before you leave — confirmed surgeon, confirmed dates, visa letter, accommodation recommendation, and a clear answer to the question of when you can fly home.
Visa, flights, accommodation, what to bring, on-arrival logistics, what recovery in India looks like day by day, how to fly home safely, and country-specific notes for patients from Nigeria, UK, UAE, Kenya, and Bangladesh.
Real Patients — What the Experience Actually Looks Like
Guides and cost tables are useful. Reading about what someone actually experienced — in their own words — is different.
Andrew Mganga was 67 years old when he was diagnosed with Gleason Grade III prostate cancer in Tanzania. Robotic radical prostatectomy was not available in his country.
He came to India through GAF Healthcare, had surgery with Dr Ketan Pai at Fortis FMRI using the Da Vinci robotic system, and was discharged walking five days after admission.
"The pain was much less than I expected. They told me the robot means smaller cuts. I believed them when I saw how I felt. Five days and I am going home. Tell people. It is possible."
— Mr. Andrew John Mganga, 67, Tanzania · Robotic prostatectomy at Fortis FMRI · Read Andrew's full story →
A real GAF Healthcare patient who was diagnosed with Gleason Grade III prostate cancer in Tanzania, came to Fortis FMRI Gurgaon for robotic prostatectomy, and returned home cancer-free — in his own words.
Want to speak to a patient who has been through this? We can arrange it.
GAF Healthcare can connect you with patients who have had the same procedure you are considering — so you can ask someone who actually went through it what the experience was really like. Send us a WhatsApp message and let us know what would help.
Ask About Patient References →How GAF Healthcare Works — and What It Costs to Use Us
GAF Healthcare is a medical facilitation company. We do not treat patients directly — we connect international patients with the right specialist at the right hospital in India and manage the administrative, logistical, and communication aspects of the process.
This includes reviewing your reports, identifying the appropriate specialist, arranging the pre-travel video consultation, and providing the visa invitation letter.
It also means recommending accommodation and ensuring your discharge documentation is complete and properly structured for your home doctor.
We are paid by the hospitals — a small facilitation fee that does not change the price you pay for your treatment. Your hospital bill in India is the same whether you use GAF Healthcare or walk in off the street.
What changes is that you arrive with a confirmed specialist, a confirmed plan, and a team that knows the system and will respond when you have a question at 11pm from your hotel room.
The initial consultation — reviewing your reports and giving you a written recommendation — is always free. You pay nothing until you commit to travel, and even then you pay the hospital directly, not us.
| ✓ | Free medical report review and written treatment recommendation |
| ✓ | Specialist match — right doctor for your specific diagnosis |
| ✓ | Pre-travel video consultation with your proposed surgeon |
| ✓ | e-MedVisa invitation letter — within 24 to 48 hours of confirming |
| ✓ | Itemised written cost estimate before you commit to travel |
| ✓ | Accommodation recommendations near your hospital |
| ✓ | Discharge pack — operative summary, red-flag document, follow-up schedule |
| ✓ | Remote follow-up support — WhatsApp access to your surgeon after you return home |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is prostate cancer treatment in India safe for international patients?
Yes — at JCI and NABH-accredited hospitals, which are the only hospitals GAF Healthcare works with. JCI is the same international quality body that accredits hospitals in the United States. Its audit applies the same standards regardless of country.
The surgical equipment is identical — Da Vinci Xi robotic systems and Varian TrueBeam linear accelerators at India's top centres are the same machines used at major Western cancer hospitals.
Surgeon volumes at Fortis FMRI and Medanta — 150 to 300 robotic prostatectomies per year — are comparable to or higher than most UK NHS centres.
How do I start the process of getting treatment in India?
Send your medical reports to GAF Healthcare on WhatsApp. This means your PSA history, MRI report and imaging disc, biopsy pathology report, and any staging scan results you have.
A uro-oncologist reviews your reports and gives you a written recommendation — which treatment applies, which hospital and surgeon, and what it will cost.
You then have a video consultation with the proposed surgeon before you commit to travel or book any flights. The initial review is free and takes 48 hours.
How long do I need to stay in India for prostate cancer treatment?
It depends on your treatment type. For robotic radical prostatectomy — the most common surgical procedure for international patients — plan three to four weeks from arrival to medical clearance to fly home.
For SBRT — five sessions of radiation — plan ten to fourteen days total.
For conventional EBRT, plan to stay for the full course duration of four to eight weeks. For a chemotherapy infusion cycle, plan four to five days per cycle with a return trip every three weeks.
Does GAF Healthcare charge a fee for its services?
The initial report review, specialist match, written recommendation, and video consultation arrangement are all free to you. GAF Healthcare receives a small facilitation fee from the hospital — which does not change the price you pay for your treatment.
Your hospital bill in India is the same whether you book through GAF Healthcare or independently.
What changes is that you arrive with a confirmed plan, a specialist who has reviewed your case before you travel, a visa letter ready, and a support team available throughout your stay and after you return home.
What if something goes wrong after I return home?
Every GAF Healthcare patient receives a discharge pack that includes a red-flag symptom document written for their local doctor and the Indian surgeon's direct contact details.
The surgeon is available by WhatsApp for urgent clinical questions within 24 hours after you return home.
Three symptoms always need same-day attention from your local doctor — not a WhatsApp message: fever above 38°C, calf pain or swelling, and unexpected heavy bleeding.
For these, go to your local doctor or emergency department immediately and contact GAF Healthcare at the same time. Your Indian surgeon will be informed.
Which countries do GAF Healthcare patients come from?
GAF Healthcare has co-ordinated prostate cancer treatment for patients from over 40 countries. The largest groups are from Nigeria, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Kenya, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and South Africa.
We also regularly treat patients from Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Canada, and Australia. Our medical tourism guide includes country-specific notes on visa processing, flight routing, and currency exchange for the countries we see most frequently.
Ready to take the first step? It costs nothing and takes 48 hours.
Send your reports to GAF Healthcare on WhatsApp — PSA, biopsy, MRI, whatever you have. A uro-oncologist reviews your case and gives you a written recommendation. No payment. No commitment. Just a clear answer to the question most patients find hardest to get: what should I do next?
A question we have not answered in any of the guides above?
GAF Healthcare's clinical advisors answer specific questions — about any treatment option, any hospital, any cost, any logistical aspect of travelling to India — by WhatsApp within 24 hours.