Drug shows promise in prostate cancer spread to bone

University of Michigan Medical School professor of Internal Medicine and Urology Dr. David C. Smith led a study on the drug cabozantinib and its effects on patients with prostate cancer that has spread to the bone.

Bone scans were used on the patients to measure the effect of the drug; 12% saw complete uptake and about 66% showed improvement in their bone scans.

Cabozantinib is designed to work on tumors that spread to the bone, which historically are difficult to treat.  According to the study, a majority of patients saw a reduction in pain and some also reduced or eliminated narcotic painkillers after treatment.

For the full article, visit http://www.aalatimes.com/2012/12/09/drug-shows-promise-in-prostate-cancer-spread-to-bone/.

Robot-Assisted Prostate Cancer Surgery More Successful than Open Surgery

The European Urology journal has published a study led by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  This study compares open radical prostatectomies and robot-assisted radical prostatectomies.  In the short time that robot-assisted radical prostatectomies have been performed, many significant benefits have evoloved for both the patient and surgeon.  For the full article, visit  http://europeanurology.com/article/S0302-2838(11)01411-4/fulltext#section-3-results.

Summary:
Open radical prostatectomies used to be more common than robot-assisted prostatectomies.  This study compares open vs. robot assisted prostatectomies, and shows that robot-assisted radical prostatectomies are now more common and are more succesful than open radical prostatectomies.

This study was based on data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from October 2009-December 2009.  In that time, 11,889 patients had robot-assisted radical prostatectomies and 7,389 patients had open prostatectomies.  This study is based on nationwide data.  Prior comparative studies only compared data within one institution or with one surgeon.  More robot-assisted surgeries were conducted at urban teaching institutions, and most of them were at high-volume hospitals. 

Robot-assisted surgeries were also found to be less likely to:
-Need a blood transfusion
-Have a prolonged hospital stay
-Suffer complications during or after surgery (such as cardiac, respiratory or vascular issues)

This study was led by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.  Henry Ford Hospital is a Vattikuti Foundation Network Hopsital.  Dr. Mani Menon started the robotic surgery program at the Vattikuti Urology Institute in 2000.  He and his team have performed over 7,000 robotic surgeries to date and have published many papers on robotic surgery.

Vattikuti Global Robotics

This event was the first of its kind in India and was held 13-15 January 2012. The focus was on robotic surgery, highlighting the current status and future of robotic surgery in Urology, Gynecology, Cardiovascular Surgery, ENT and General Surgery. Courses were offered in how to establish a cost-effective robotic surgical program in a hospital and operating theatre management. Live robotic surgery demonstrations were shown by the best in the world to educate and expose surgeons to the best practices and new techniques as well as outcomes for their patients.