William C. Huang, MD, associate professor, department of Urology, co-director, Robotics Program, Chief Urology Service, Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Health, discusses misconceptions regarding robotic-assisted bladder surgery.

The removal of the bladder whether done through a robotic incision or an open incision is not the main source of morbidity or complications from this type of surgery; it’s the reconstruction that’s done afterwards.

The majority of robotic cystectomies are done with an eventual conversion to an open urinary construction. The great barrier to a widespread adoption of the robotic removal of the bladder is consistent procedures. Until a clear benefit in the robotic reconstruction is established, patients won’t go from an open reconstruction to a robotic urinary reconstruction.

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Dr. Huang on the Widespread Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Bladder Surgery

William C. Huang, MD, associate professor, department of Urology, co-director, Robotics Program, Chief Urology Service, Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Health, discusses robotic surgery in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Huang says that a lot of the application of the robotic techniques used for bladder cancer were adopted from the prostate cancer. For example, the lymphadenectomy—which was already being used in prostate cancer&mdash;is now used in the treatment of bladder cancer, but is done through robotic surgery.

Since the removal of the bladder requires the removal of the prostate as well, bladder cancer surgery was already familiar to the robotic surgeons working with prostate cancer, explains Huang. This makes the transition from robotic surgery in prostate cancer to robotic surgery in bladder cancer smoother and less intimidating.

William C. Huang, MD, associate professor, department of Urology, co-director, Robotics Program, Chief Urology Service, Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Health, discusses robotic surgery in the treatment of bladder cancer.
 

Dr. Huang Discusses Robotic Surgery for Bladder Cancer

William C. Huang, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Urology at New York University Langone Medical Center, discusses findings from a SEER database analysis that compared surveillance to surgical resection in elderly patients with small renal masses.

Huang notes that a majority of small kidney tumors (<4 cm) are incidental findings, which may not pose a threat to patients. For these patients, surveillance may be a reasonable alternative to treatment, since cardiovascular issues are common following surgical resection.

In the population-based study, 8317 patients were examined who were treated with surgery (78%) and surveillance (22%). Â The risk of dying due to kidney cancer was not significantly different between the two arms, Huang explains. Moreover, surveillance was associated with a much lower risk of developing a cardiovascular event compared to surgery (HR = 0.51; 95% CI, 0.44 — 0.60; 

View coverage from the 2013 GU Cancers Symposium

William C. Huang, MD, from the New York University Langone Medical Center, discusses findings from a SEER database analysis that compared surveillance to surgical resection in elderly patients with small renal masses.

William C. Huang, MD

Articles

Dr. Huang on the Widespread Adoption of Robotic Surgery for Bladder Surgery

Dr. Huang Discusses Robotic Surgery for Bladder Cancer

Dr. Huang Compares Surveillance and Treatment in Kidney Cancer