• 3/3/2006
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • staff
  • 10NBC HealthWatch (www.nbc10.com)

Treatments for oral cancers can be very difficult and even disfiguring.

But now, local doctors are the first in the world to use robotic surgery for cancerous head and neck tumors. The surgery spares patients the devastating side effects of more traditional surgery.

The revolutionary technique was developed in Philadelphia.

The surgery robot is changing 57-year-old Philip Preston’s life without destroying his appearance.

When Preston was told he had cancer at the base of his tongue, he and his wife, Beverly, felt like they had been slapped.

“I was blown away. I couldn’t believe it,” Beverly Preston said.

The second punch came when they learned what surgery would mean.

“A very big incision, very devastating destructive cuts through a lip, a jaw bone, through the teeth,” said Dr. Robert O’Malley, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Many people end up with facial deformities. They can have trouble speaking and swallowing. They may need reconstructive surgery or a tracheotomy — a tube inserted into the neck to breathe.

But Preston became one of the first people in the world to have another option. Surgeons at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania told him they could remove the cancerous tumor and avoid the traditional side effects.

Surgeons control the robot from a nearby console. The robot gives doctors a 3-D image and lets doctors use miniature surgical instruments that fit directly into the mouth and reach areas that are impossible for their hands and larger scalpels.

“As if we’re climbing inside the mouth and doing the surgery right there,” O’Malley said.

Doctors said that Preston would have no visible incisions, less chance of infection and a shorter hospital stay.

“I can’t tell you, I’m very enthusiastic about this,” said Dr. Gregory Weinstein.

Preston said that he has two things he is looking forward to.

“A 100 percent cure and not so much to go through at the end of it,” Preston said.

The most common symptoms of head and neck cancers are:

-A lump or sore that doesn’t heal
-A sore throat that won’t go away
-Difficulty swallowing
-Hoarseness

The doctors say smoking and drinking are often associated with these cancers, but they are treating more and more people who, like Preston, have never smoked.