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Understanding Cancer SeriesApril 23, 2010, 11:40AM
Cancer care cost the American public $104.1 billion in 2006 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – according to NCI’s newly released Cancer Trends Progress Report-2009/2010 Update. The financial burden of cancer looms even larger, however, when you consider other costs, such as losses in time and economic productivity.
March 19, 2009
Robotic surgery is done in the same fashion as open surgical removal. The difference is that what originally required a large incision (from the belly button down to the pubic bone), now only requires 4 to 6 small incisions, each about 5 mm-12 mm in length. These incisions allow instruments to pass through ports (a hollow cylinder through which instruments can pass), keeping the surgeon’s hands outside the patient.
March 19, 2009
Laparoscopic surgeries, in which a surgeon performs procedures through small incisions in the abdomen wall, have led to less invasive cancer surgeries with decreased pain and faster recovery times for patients. Because of the reduced size of the incisions, hospital stays are often shorter, with some patients even able to go home the same day.