Newswise — Red Bank, NJ – November 14, 2014 – Meridian Health’s Ghulam Abbas, M.D., MCHM, FACS, director of Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery, and Thomas Lee Bauer II, M.D., medical director of Thoracic Oncology and chief of thoracic surgery at Meridian Cancer Care, recently performed robotic lobectomy on a patient suffering from lung cancer at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Robotic lobectomy is a type of lung cancer surgery that removes the entire tumor and affected lobe through small incisions in the chest. Robotic lobectomy utilizes advanced technology and techniques to treat forms of thoracic cancer, reducing the pain and recovery time associated with traditional surgery.
Thoracic cancer comes in many forms, including esophageal, lung and trachea. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women. “Lung cancer accounts for about 14% of all new cancers,” says Dr. Bauer. “It is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women today.” Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.
Using Riverview’s robotic da Vinci Surgical System, which optimizes a surgeon’s optical view of the cancerous tumor, Drs. Abbas and Bauer successfully removed the centralized tumor from a patient suffering from lung cancer without the need for large incisions or cracking of the ribs.
“The minimally invasive robotic approach to thoracic surgery greatly improves upon the traditional methods employed by surgeons,” says Dr. Abbas. “Now, Meridian Cancer Care physicians are able to more accurately dissect and remove tumors through smaller incisions, leading to better outcomes, shorter recovery times and less pain.”
According to Mark J. Krasna, M.D., corporate medical director, Meridian Cancer Care, “The addition of minimally invasive robotic thoracic surgery is further reinforcement of Meridian Cancer Care’s commitment to expanding and improving its comprehensive services to offer the absolute best care to this community.”
Meridian Health is the only system partner of the prestigious Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCI-CCC). The coveted NCI-CCC designation is only awarded to 41 centers in nation. They investigate and share the nation’s very latest treatments and most promising clinical trials.
As a system partner of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Meridian Cancer Care is committed to providing the highest-quality cancer care, including sophisticated diagnostics, the latest techniques in surgery, the best technology in radiation therapy, genetic counseling, and clinical research for tomorrow’s most promising treatments. The multi-disciplinary team of specialists provides timely diagnoses, treatment and support in a full range of disease areas, including breast, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, neuro-oncology, melanoma, thoracic and gynecologic oncology. In 2012, the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons granted its Outstanding Achievement Award to Meridian Cancer Care for excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients.
About Riverview Medical CenterRiverview Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health Family, is a 463-bed not-for-profit community hospital located on the Navesink River in Red Bank, New Jersey. Riverview Medical Center provides health care programs and services in all major medical disciplines including: maternity, oncology, orthopedics and rehabilitation, neurology, thoracic and vascular surgery, cardiology, renal dialysis, diabetes management, and emergency and critical care services. Riverview’s Jane H. and John Marshall Booker Cancer Center offers comprehensive cancer services close to home, while Riverview’s Jane H. Booker Women and Children’s Center combines expertise and convenience to address preventative health, diagnosis, treatment, and support for women of all ages. Riverview Rehabilitation Center is Monmouth County’s only fully-accredited inpatient rehabilitation facility, and Riverview is a designated Primary Stroke Center and has also maintained prestigious Magnet designation for Nursing Excellence since 1998. Riverview is the only hospital in the region with the groundbreaking CyberKnife® system, offering new hope for patients with inaccessible or inoperable tumors. For more information about Riverview Medical Center and Meridian Health, please call 1-800-DOCTORS or visit www.riverviewmedicalcenter.com.###
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