Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) for Neck Tumors
November 19, 2013 | Terry Sharrer
Former President Ulysses Grant died in July 1885 from a squamous cell carcinoma at the base of his tongue. In 2003, a panel of pathologists reviewed the preserved biopsy (at the National Museum of Health & Medicine, Bethesda, MD) and then read the 1885 report describing the tumor. They concluded there was nothing they could add to that report, 118 years later. Today, similar tumors discovered at a late stage have about a 15% survival rate; so, early detection is the best hope for a good outcome. This piece describes how surgical oncologists at the University of Pittsburgh are using a robot to take throat and tongue biopsies of patients who present HPV infections, resulting in longer survival times. MORE