As a nationally recognized leader in cancer treatment, the Karmanos Cancer Center offers a wide variety of treatment options including minimally invasive robotic surgery using the new da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System.

It is considered to be among the most effective, technologically advanced surgical equipment available. The da Vinci® Si™ provides our patients and their surgeons with a state-of-the-art robotic alternative to traditional open surgery and conventional laparoscopy. It is the third generation robotic platform of this surgical system that provides an enhanced ability to remove tumors in a step beyond the original da Vinci.

Patient Benefits
Minimally invasive surgery, also known as MIS, laparoscopic or endoscopic surgery, allows Karmanos physicians to perform many types of surgical procedures through 1 – 2 cm incisions. For most patients, a minimally invasive approach offers substantial benefits including:

• Significantly less pain
• Significantly less blood loss
• Less risk of infection/fewer complications
• Less scarring because of smaller incision
• Shorter hospital stay and faster recovery time
• Minimization or elimination of need for chemo/radiation therapy
• A faster return to normal daily activities
• Superior cosmetic outcomes - no visible scarring or disfigurement
• Better clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, in many cases

Cancers Treated
The da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System is used to treat a wide range of cancers including:

• Colorectal
• Gynecologic
• Nephrologic (kidney)
• Prostate
• Thoracic (lung)
• Thyroid
• Transoral (head and neck)

Enabling Technology
The da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System’s technological advancements provide Karmanos Cancer Center surgeons with enhanced capabilities, including high-definition 3D vision and a magnified view. Our surgeons control the da Vinci® Si™, which translates his or her hand movements into smaller, more precise movements of tiny instruments inside the body.

Of course, advanced equipment is only as good as those who use it. Karmanos physicians who are highly trained and experts in their field who use the da Vinci® Si™ Surgical System, are:

	Michael L. Cher, M.D., member, Genitourinary Oncology multidisciplinary team
	Adam Folbe, M.D., member, Head and Neck Oncology multidisciplinary team
	John Jacobs, M.D., member, Head and Neck Oncology multidisciplinary team
	Ho-Sheng Lin, leader, Head and Neck Oncology multidisciplinary team
	Robert Morris, M.D., leader, Gynecologic Oncology multidisciplinary team
	Leigh Ann Solomon, M.D., member, Gynecologic Oncology multidisciplinary team
	Jeffrey Triest, M.D., member, Genitourinary Oncology multidisciplinary team
	George Yoo, M.D., member, Head and Neck Oncology multidisciplinary team

“Think of it like this: Traditional laparoscopy is like trying to tie a knot with knitting needles. Robotic-assisted surgery is more like tying a knot with your own hands,” said Michael Cher, M.D., chief of Urology at the Karmanos Cancer Center and chairman of the Department of Urology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. “We use the robotic system to remove cancerous tissue while preserving adjacent normal blood vessels and nerves.”

The da Vinci® Si™ cannot be programmed, nor can it make decisions on its own. The robotic system requires that every surgical maneuver be performed with direct input from your surgeon. It has been successfully used in tens of thousands of minimally invasive procedures world wide.

Karmanos surgeon is Michigan’s first to perform transoral robotic surgery

Surgeons who perform procedures to remove head and neck cancers often work for six to eight hours on what is typically major, invasive surgery, which many times comes with facial disfigurement and debilitating side effects for the patient.

Ho-Sheng Lin, M.D., F.A.C.S., leader of the Head and Neck Oncology Multidisciplinary Team at the Karmanos Cancer Center, is the first surgeon in Michigan to use the da Vinci Surgical System© to perform minimally-invasive surgeries on head and neck cancer patients.

Patient Robert Spears, 70, of Detroit, faced cancer of the tonsils, the lymph nodes, the parathyroid and tongue. There was no hesitation on his part when it came to choosing the minimally-invasive method.

“Using the robotic surgery was great because it kept my features intact,” he said. “Robotic surgery was my No. 1 choice.”

“The da Vinci Surgical System© has made major changes in how we operate on head and neck cancer patients,” Dr. Lin said. “In the past, we would be reluctant to operate on many of the patients with cancer involving the back part of the throat and voice box because of the high degree of morbidity associated with this type of surgery. We would typically recommend radiation or chemoradiation as the first line of treatment.”

People who are diagnosed with head and neck cancer, like Spears, typically have to prepare for major, invasive surgery that may require a surgeon to make long incisions through the jaw and throat to gain access to the oral cavity.

In Spears’ case, Dr. Lin would have had to split his chin and break his jaw to perform the radical tonsillectomy, the tumor resection on his tongue, the removal of four teeth and surgery on the roof of his mouth – the sort of surgery that often results in facial disfigurement and difficulty eating, speaking and swallowing.

“With the old way of performing surgery, it’s pretty hard to operate on the patient,” Dr. Lin said.

With da Vinci, the same procedure takes only one or two hours. The da Vinci Surgical System© allows the doctor to perform the surgery through the mouth without the need for any external incision. The tiny robotic surgical instruments placed inside the mouth follow the exact movement of the surgeon’s fingers and hand to execute precise and delicate procedures to remove cancerous tissue.

“I received wonderful service at Karmanos and everyone has been great," Spears said.