For Immediate Release
March 5, 2008

 
BUFFALO, NY – Surgical robots revolutionized the treatment of prostate cancer in the past decade and robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate) is the gold standard therapy for these patients.

Now, a team of surgeon-researchers led by Khurshid A. Guru, MD, Director of Robotic Surgery, Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) is advocating the widespread application of robotic-assisted cystectomy (removal of the urinary bladder) in patients with bladder cancer. They describe the procedure in the journal Lancet Oncology (February 2008).

Since the first robotic-assisted cystectomy was reported in 2003, about 200 procedures have been performed at 10 centers nationwide. Currently, however, this approach is used to treat less than five percent of invasive bladder cancers. Dr. Guru and colleagues contend that robotic cystectomy has the potential to attain the status of robotic prostatectomy. 

“Surgical robots give surgeons a three-dimensional view of the field that allows visualization from angles that are difficult to achieve in open surgery, and instrument tips that allow the surgeon to operate with extreme precision and enhanced dexterity not available in traditional surgeries,” according to Guru.

For patients, robotic surgery is less invasive and painful, recovery is faster and hospital days are fewer and, most importantly, cancer control and outcomes are comparable to traditional surgery.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute became the first facility in the Buffalo-Niagara region to offer state-of-the-art robotic surgical technology to patients with prostate cancer in 2004. Since then, more that 490 prostate cancer patients have been treated, and 80 bladder cancer patients.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania, and in China. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.