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Biotech / Medical : CYTO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (7880)	6/30/2000 2:05:45 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8116

OT- Just Parking this info: A modified surgical method allows safe treatment of prostate cancer. * THE STUDY AND RESULTS The standard treatment for prostate cancer is removal of the prostate through open surgery. A new laparoscopic surgery is also being used. In an effort to reduce bleeding, pain and recovery time, doctors make several small incisions and thread a tiny camera and instruments into the body to remove the prostate. The procedure is done commonly in France; in the United States, it is performed regularly only at the Cleveland Clinic. In this study, French researchers checked and validated the steps involved in laparoscopic surgery for 260 consecutive operations. The purpose was not a direct comparison with standard surgery, but instead an evaluation of the laparoscopic technique to determine how it was best performed. The French surgeons could do the operation in three hours with an average blood loss of 250 milliliters. Less than 1 percent of the patients required transfusions. The patients could go home after three days without the need for catheters in urinating. In general, the standard surgery lasts from 1 1/2 to 4 hours and the patient uses a catheter for 10 to 21 days. Previous studies have suggested that the laparoscopic surgery is effective at removing the cancer, the researchers report. * WHAT'S NEW This study reports on the largest number of laparoscopic surgeries performed. The researchers attempted to standardize procedures for reproducible treatment of prostate cancer and found that the method offered some advantages, such as less post-operative pain, transfusions and shorter time using a catheter. * CAVEATS The results of this study need to be confirmed in large random trials of open surgery vs. the laparoscopic method; more rigorous studies to determine whether this new method is successful at removing all the cancer are also needed. Techniques are still being developed to preserve nerves near the prostate so patients do not become impotent or incontinent. * BOTTOM LINE Laparoscopic surgery for prostate cancer is safe and may reduce bleeding, pain and recovery time. * FIND THIS STUDY June issue of The Journal of Urology; abstract online at jurology.com.