According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America – affecting one in six men. This year, more than 192,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 27,000 men will die from the disease.

The most common way to screen for prostate cancer is a blood test that measures prostate specific antigen (PSA). Because various factors can lead to elevated PSA levels, a biopsy must be performed to confirm a tumor.

Two studies published this spring in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that screening for prostate cancer doesn’t necessarily save lives – and that any benefits of screening can come at a high price.

The studies – one in the United States and the other in Europe – reached different conclusions.

In the U.S., where screening is widely used, researchers reported that it did not save lives in a study of 76,000 men. In Europe, where PSA screening isn’t a routine practice, researchers studied 162,000 men and found a slight reduction of about seven fewer deaths per 10,000 men screened. However, screening subjected men to the risk of getting treatments they didn’t need – and experiencing serious side effects, such as impotence and incontinence.

What Does it Mean for You?
When the studies were released, local TV news stations turned to Leonard Gomella, MD, chair of the Department of Urology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Jefferson is the first hospital in Philadelphia to offer this innovative procedure

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the first in the city to offer robotic esophageal mobilization surgery, using the da Vinci® Robotic System. This procedure is ideal for esophageal cancer patients who require surgery to remove all or part of their esophagus. 

It is a viable alternative to more invasive “open” surgery and will allow the patient to recover faster and leave the hospital sooner. It improves on conventional minimally invasive techniques by decreasing the number of incisions required to perform the procedure.

“It’s exciting to be able to offer this type of procedure to the patients of the Delaware Valley and beyond,” says Benny Weksler, MD, assistant professor, Department of Surgery. “Utilizing this technology not only reduces healing time and hospital stay, it also is significantly less painful, causes less scarring, reduces blood loss and in many cases, provides better clinical outcomes.”

Other surgeons who perform the procedure are Karen A. Chojnacki, MD, and Ernest L. (Gary) Rosato, MD.

A Better Alternative
During the procedure, the Jefferson surgeon uses the da Vinci system as part of the minimally invasive esophagectomy (the surgical removal of all or part of the esophagus). Robotic arms, with tiny cameras, are placed in the patient at the right chest. Four small incisions are used. 

Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have been awarded a Susan G. Komen for the Cure Promise Grant of almost $6.7 million for five years for continued breast cancer research.

The project represents a multidisciplinary team of scientists from a consortium that also includes Walter Reed Army Medical Center and DecisionQ Inc. in Washington D.C., as well as the Windber Research Institute and MDR Global Inc. in Windber, Pa.

The principal investigator, Hallgeir Rui, MD, PhD, is a professor of Cancer Biology and Medical Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. The co-principal investigator and leader of the clinical investigations associated with the project is Edith Mitchell, MD, medical oncologist and clinical professor of Medicine and Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and Associate Director of Diversity Programs for the Kimmel Cancer Center. The team will use the funds to investigate methods to optimize selection of patients for breast cancer treatment.

Read the full news release. You may also wish to visit the Jefferson Breast Care website.