New Jersey doctors are at the forefront of cancer care with innovative robotic surgeries

Prostate cancer survivors gather for a group shot celebrating New Jersey Center for Prostate Cancer & Urology 2000th surgery.

“Celebrating 2000 lives saved” was the focus of a gathering in East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday November 7th. The event marked the 2000th successful robotic surgery performed by the Doctors of New Jersey Center for Prostate Cancer & Urology (NJCPC&U), Dr. Vincent J. Lanteri, Dr.Michael P. Esposito, Dr. Mutahar Ahmed and Dr. Gregory G. Lovallo. The Doctors of NJCPC&U perform entire surgeries using the da Vinci® Surgical System manufactured by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. The da Vinci® Surgical System was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001 for use in performing urologic, abdominal and thoracic (chest) surgical procedures. This technology has revolutionized the way that surgeries are performed. Compared to a traditional surgery, robotic surgery is minimally-invasive, and therefore has many advantages including a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery, very little to no pain, minimal blood loss and minimal scarring.

Saturday’s event celebrated the lives of local prostate cancer survivors. Prostate cancer is the second most common and the second most fatal type of cancer for men in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates 192,280 new prostate cancer cases and 27,360 prostate cancer related deaths for 2009 alone. Prostatectomy, surgical removal of the prostate gland, is one of the procedures that doctors use to treat prostate cancer patients. The Doctors of NJCPC&U perform the robotic surgeries at Hackensack University Medical Center and at Monmouth Medical Center. Some of the prostate cancer survivors who had undergone robotic surgeries shared their personal stories so that others may learn and hear about their experience with prostate cancer and also hear about innovative treatment options.

Prostate cancer survivor stories:

Michael Yosko of Garfield, NJ was the very first patient of NJCPC&U to undergo minimally-invasive Robotic Prostatectomy. Michael has a family history of prostate cancer. His father was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 78. A yearly Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) screening test is recommended for men over the age of 50, and for those with other risk factors including a family history. Michael has had routine PSA screening for years, and at the age of 55, he was told that he had high PSA levels in his blood. In April of 2003, his doctor performed a biopsy and found 2 tumors in his prostate. When Michael first heard of his diagnoses, his biggest concern was whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. He was relieved to hear that it had not spread but still didn’t know what he was getting into. Michael was referred to Dr. Lanteri who told him that surgery was his best option for treatment. After speaking with Dr. Lanteri, who Michael refers to as a “straight-forward” guy, he was comfortable being the “guinea-pig” to have the entire prostatectomy done with the robotic system. Today, Michael is very thankful for his doctors who helped save his life.

Alvin Brown, a 66 year old was recognized at Saturday’s event as having had the biggest prostate. Alvin jokingly responded by saying “it’s big but it’s out”, which made the crowd burst into laughter. Alvin has had a high PSA level in his blood since 1996 and when a biopsy was done earlier this year, the results came back positive for prostate cancer. Because of the enlarged size of the prostate, surgery was the best option for Mr. Brown. Alvin was referred to Dr. Esposito by his primary physician. He had heard that the Doctors of NJCPC&U have performed thousands of robotic prostatectomies with a zero mortality rate. With the support from his wife and children, Alvin elected to undergo the robotic procedure in August of this year. Prior to Alvin’s surgery, Dr. Esposito has performed a number of surgeries on patients with enlarged prostates, but Alvin’s was the largest Dr. Esposito has ever worked on. Alvin’s surgery went smoothly, lasting only about 4 hours, and Alvin was discharged from the hospital the very next day. Alvin’s son had donated blood in case he needed a blood transfusion but because the very low to no blood loss with the use of the da Vinci® surgical system, the donated blood was not needed. Alvin says that his recovery has been great and his PSA level is now at 0 (a level below 4ng/ml is considered normal in most cases).

Vincent Fay was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006. At the time, Vincent did not personally know of anyone else who had prostate cancer. Upon receiving the news, he immediately did some research online about prostate cancer and read other patient stories to learn more about their experiences dealing with the cancer. He was primarily concerned about the survival rate and whether the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. Mr. Fay and his wife contacted several urologists in the area and elected to undergo robotic surgery with Dr. Esposito. Recovery was good following the surgery but unfortunately, Vincent’s PSA levels has increased again and he is currently being treated with radiation and hormone therapy. Despite the current treatments, Mr. Fay says that he is living a pretty good life now.

Leon A. Klein is an 80 year old retired President & CEO of Nationwide Petroleum Reality Inc. Although retired, Mr. Klein is very healthy and still working and traveling around the world. Three weeks ago, Dr. Ahmed performed a Robotic Cystectomy on Mr. Klein, which is one of the largest operations as his prostate, bladder, and intestines were all removed. The entire operation lasted less than 3 hrs with very minimal to no blood loss. Amazingly, Mr. Klein says he is ready to get back to the gym as his wife nods and says “no, no, you must wait until the doctors tell you that you are ready”.

As these stories illustrate, NJ doctors and healthcare are at the forefront in prostate cancer care. The Doctors at NJCPC&U pride themselves on taking care of each and every individual patient, to provide the very best care. The remarkable dedication and commitment of the Doctors at NJCPC&U to saving the lives of their patients was recognized and appreciated at Saturday’s event.

For more info:
1) The New Jersey Center for Prostate Cancer & Urology (NJCPC&U)

2) National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet: Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Test

3) The da Vinci® Surgical System, Intuitive Surgical, Inc.