PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL MEDICINE® NEWS BUREAU
Contact: Leonard N. Karp
lkarp@philadelphiamedicine.com
215-735-3989
 October 28, 2005

For immediate release:

In this month's issue:

1. Live Webcast Will Give Close-up View of Robotic Surgery for Prostate Cancer Offered by Jefferson’s Multidisciplinary Urologic Cancer Team
2. Crozer Physician to Chair State Cancer Advisory Board
3. The Children’s Hospital Marks 150th Anniversary

Editors note: Research by Philadelphia International Medicine physicians may lead to new ways to treat some of our most challenging diseases. Below are some examples from our hospitals.


Live Webcast Will Give Close-up View of Robotic Surgery for Prostate Cancer Offered by Jefferson’s Multidisciplinary Urologic Cancer Team

Philadelphia –Two forms of high technology will join together this January to allow the public and physicians to view from the comfort of their home or office a less invasive surgery for prostate cancer.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital will host a live webcast of a radical laparoscopic prostatectomy at 4:30 pm, Thursday, January 19, 2006, using a futuristic, state-of-the art robotic technology, called the daVinci ® System. For information on viewing the Webcast, please e-mail Lucia Rosenberg at lrosenberg@philadelphiamedicine.com.

“Webcast viewers will see how laparoscopic surgery offers potential advantages to patients, including less trauma through smaller incisions, faster recovery and less overall blood loss during surgery,” said Leonard Gomella, MD, FACS, chair of Urology and Bernard Godwin Jr. Professor of Prostate Cancer, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and director of Urologic Oncology, Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. Jefferson’s multidisciplinary Genitourinary (GU) cancer center celebrates its 10th anniversary in January.

The new robotic system further refines laparoscopic prostatectomy by allowing a surgeon’s hand movements to be scaled, filtered and translated into precise movements of micro-instruments within the operative site. The magnified, three-dimensional view the surgeon experiences enables him or her to perform precise surgery in complex procedures such as radical prostatectomy through small surgical incisions.

Edouard Trabulsi, MD, assistant professor of Urology, Jefferson, a urologic oncologist who is an expert trained in laparoscopic prostatectomy by one of the pioneers of the technique, and Costas Lallas, MD, assistant professor of Urology, Jefferson, will perform the procedure. Dr. Gomella will serve as the webcast’s narrator.

The American Cancer Society reports that one in six men will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime. For all men, the risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age. More than 75 percent of all prostate cancers occur in men over 65. Because of early detection and improved treatment, the survival rate for prostate cancer continues to rise. Most prostate cancer is now diagnosed while it is still confined to the prostate.

One treatment for prostate cancer is radical prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the entire prostate gland and surrounding tissue including the seminal vessels.
Laparoscopic prostatectomy is a less invasive procedure for a patient. The prostate is removed through several tiny incisions, including one in the navel. The laparoscope is passed though the navel, and other small incisions create portals for instruments. The laparoscope is outfitted with a camera that allows the surgeon to see on a video screen what he or she would not otherwise be able to see without a large, open incision.

Like traditional open prostatectomy, laparoscopic prostatectomy involves a reconstruction of the urinary tract. In the laparoscopic procedure, the surgeon approaches and removes the prostate above from the bladder and below from the urethra. Then the bladder is sewn back to the urethra.

Under normal circumstances, the laparoscopic prostatectomy takes three or four hours. The laparoscopic procedure sometimes takes longer than traditional prostatectomy in the operating room, but in most cases, in the end, offers great advantages. It appears to be equally effective in treating cancer as the traditional surgery.

In the robotic prostatectomy, the laparoscopic approach is also used. The robot cannot be programmed nor can it make decisions on its own. The system requires that every surgical maneuver be performed with direct input from a surgeon, Dr. Gomella noted. “The daVinci prostatectomy has been used successfully in thousands of prostate cancer procedures world-wide,” he said.

Dr. Gomella cautions that not all patients are candidates for robotic prostatectomy. “A consultation with the team at the GU oncology center allows the patient and his family to discuss all treatment options so they can determine which may be the best for that individual patient,” he said.

For more information about the daVinci prostatectomy procedure, to make an appointment for a patient with a Jefferson urologist or to visit Jefferson’s GU cancer center, e-mail Nawal Khafaji, MD, director, PIM patient care services, at nkhafaji@philadelphiamedicine.com.


Crozer Physician to Chair State Cancer Advisory Board

Joel Noumoff, MD, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Crozer-Chester Medical Center and medical director of the Fox Chase Crozer-Keystone Cancer Partnership for Crozer, was appointed chairperson of the Pennsylvania Cancer Control, Prevention and Research Advisory Board.

The board advises the Secretary of Health on matters related to cancer; approves a yearly plan for cancer control, prevention and research; reports annually to the General Assembly; and recommends the awarding of grants and contracts related to cancer control, prevention and research.

The board has 11 members, including the Secretary of Health and 10 members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate for four-year terms. The diverse panel consists of three physicians, one nurse, one health care administrator, two public health professionals, one community health nurse, and three consumers.

“The board membership is comprised of individuals bringing different expertise and insights, yet all have the common goal of preventing and fighting cancer,” Dr. Noumoff says. “Our goal is to identify the needs of people in Pennsylvania related to cancer care, and then provide support to the best programs and research related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.”

Dr. Noumoff also serves as chairperson of the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology at Crozer and is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Temple University School of Medicine. Crozer-Chester Medical Center is part of the Fox Chase Crozer-Keystone Cancer Partnership, which also includes Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Taylor Hospital and Springfield Hospital.


The Children’s Hospital Marks 150th Anniversary

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the nation’s first hospital exclusively for children, celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding. Hospital employees and leaders joined young patients, families, public officials, high-achieving adults who are former patients, and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, D.Sci., in festivities in the Hospital’s main atrium.

“Today we trace a path of discovery and innovation that stretches 150 years, a path that begins in Philadelphia, but reaches to every corner of the globe,” said Hospital President and CEO Steven M. Altschuler, MD, adding, “We have so much to look back on with pride. But we have so much more to look forward to as we work to advance healthcare for children and eradicate pediatric disease.”

“Much has changed in 150 years,” added Tristram C. Colket, vice chairman of the Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees. “But what has remained constant is the hospital’s passionate pursuit of answers and the complete and utter dedication of its staff to the patients and families in their care.”

Speaking at the ceremony was a special guest: C. Everett Koop, MD, D.Sci., the U.S. Surgeon General from 1981 to 1989, who served as surgeon-in-chief at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1948 to 1981. Also speaking was developmental pediatrician Dana McMullin, MD, who was an oncology patient at Children’s Hospital in her childhood, and whose early hospital experiences inspired her to enter a career in medicine.

Participants in the anniversary celebration shared pieces of a three-foot-high birthday cake as the Philadelphia Boys Choir sang “Happy Birthday.”
Musicians On Call, sponsored by WXPN-FM, performed throughout the Hospital. A display of historical photographs from the Hospital’s archives highlighted the institution’s rich heritage of caring for generations of children.

This evening brought a screening of “The Incredibles” in the Hospital’s main cafeteria, with the movie also playing on the Hospital TV channel in patient rooms.
Throughout its 150-year history, Children’s Hospital has been the birthplace of many dramatic firsts in pediatric medicine and has fostered medical discoveries and innovations that have improved pediatric healthcare, and saved countless children’s lives. Some examples include:

Advances in medical and surgical treatments pioneered at Children’s Hospital enable many children to survive once fatal childhood illnesses, like congenital heart disease, cancer and complications of prematurity. Physicians and researchers now focus on addressing the long-term outcomes and health issues affecting these children to improve the quality of life for this new generation of survivors.

Founded on Nov. 23, 1855 with 12 beds and a dispensary on Blight St. in Philadelphia, Children’s Hospital was the first hospital in the United States dedicated exclusively to the care of children. Today, the Hospital has 430 beds, as well as an extensive pediatric healthcare network with nearly 50 locations.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the leading pediatric hospitals and research facilities in the world; the institution’s 150 years of innovation and service to patients and families and to the community reflects an ongoing commitment to exceptional patient care, innovative research and training new generations of pediatric healthcare providers.

The hospital has been ranked as the nation’s best pediatric hospital by Child Magazine and by U.S. News & World Report. Child Magazine also ranked Children’s Hospital’s cardiac center, neonatology, oncology and orthopaedics departments number one in the nation.


Philadelphia International Medicine is an organization that provides medical and patient support services to international patients. It also provides continuing medical education and health care training and education to international physicians, administrators and other practitioners. As the international department of several Philadelphia-area hospitals, international patients gain access to physicians and hospitals rated among the best in the world through one telephone call to PIM. You can reach PIM by calling 1-215-735-3575; fax, 1-215-790-1267; or e-mail, physicians@philadelphiamedicine.com . You can find out more about PIM through its Website at www.philadelphiamedicine.com .