Northwestern Memorial Launches Dedicated Surgical Robotics Program For Gynecologic Malignancies

Surgical Robotics Program For Gynecologic Malignancies

Very few programs aimed at surgically managing and treating women ,, s cancers center on a robot as the lead combatant. But Northwestern Memorial Hospital believes surgical robotics can improve on operative outcomes and dramatically reduce recovery time for certain forms of gynecologic malignancies, such as uterine and cervical cancers. Leading the charge is M. Patrick Lowe, MD, a Northwestern Memorial gynecologic oncologist, and Director of the Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Program for the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Northwestern University ,, s Feinberg School of Medicine.

"Generally speaking, after the initial shock of diagnosis, women confronted with a gynecologic malignancy find incredible resolve to take steps to rid their body of the cancer, says Lowe. "Even though the willingness to fight is there, women still want the shortest route leading back to a degree of normalcy post treatment. Surgical robotics offers these cancer patients the path of least resistance. We are committed to making this state of the art treatment available to women with cancer because we believe that the outcomes are clearly superior.

Minimally invasive techniques have been used to treat early-stage uterine, cervical and some ovarian cancers for more than a decade. However, widespread utilization of conventional laparoscopy in the specialty of gynecologic oncology has not gained widespread acceptance due to numerous factors such as lack of training, a steep learning curve, long-term commitment, and technology. However, use of the robotic surgical system to treat these cancers in a minimally invasive fashion has rapidly expanded in the past two years since receiving FDA approval for use in gynecology.

This comes as encouraging news to thousands of women who are diagnosed with some form of these cancers annually because the road to recovery most often leads to surgery. Historically, cancers of the uterus and cervix called for invasive surgical approaches, which meant a lengthy abdominal incision and use of large retractors to gain access to the abdomen and pelvis to remove the cancer of interest. This approach requires hospital stays of 3-5 days and recovery times of six-to-eight weeks with heavy restrictions on everyday activities such as work and child care.

When compared to traditional surgery, studies have demonstrated that minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of uterine and cervical cancers offers patients similar survival with the added benefits of a shorter hospital stay (1 day), quicker recovery (1 week), decreased blood loss during surgery, decreased pain and improved quality of life. In addition, patients experience less scarring and reduced incidence of infection.

"Surgical robotics provides improved visualization, dexterity, and precision over current conventional laparoscopy and expands the range of surgical options for many of our patients, says Lowe. "We are not advocating for an end to traditional procedures. Traditional approaches for the surgical treatment of gynecologic malignancies will always remain very viable options for combating this killer of women. We want women to be educated about all available treatments including minimally invasive surgery. Fighting the disease is our main concern and fortunately we now have a dedicated Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Program in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Northwestern Memorial where women now have a range of surgical options to help them fight a good fight against gynecologic cancers.