2023-06-29 12:06:46
Oncology medicine is experiencing its particular leap into the future in the Canary Islands with the implementation of new knowledge, procedures and technologies, among which immunotherapy and robotic surgery stand out, which have initiated a growth process to improve the quality and life expectancy of the patients
Robotic surgery for vaginal prolapse at Hospital Quirónsalud Tenerife/Courtesy photo
Important changes are taking place in three basic orders: prevention, diagnosis and treatment, explained to EFE the gynecologist at Hospital Quirónsalud Tenerife, José Antonio Pérez Álvarez, who has been working closely with cancer for years from the most innovative approaches, to the point of having been accredited in the use of robotic surgery.
“Robotic surgery, which is a type of minimally invasive surgery assisted by a robot that provides us with precision, also provides us with stability, there is no fatigue, and also offers better image quality, greater vision capacity that even reaches three-dimensional ”, has indicated the specialist.
A robotic technology that has a name to match its work, Da Vinci Surgical System, and of which there are four units in the main public hospitals in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, to which is added the one under the command of Álvarez Pérez at the Quirónsalud private clinic.
“The surgical robot is a device that has four arms, we insufflate carbon dioxide into the abdomen to distend it and introduce a series of tubes through small holes, which we use to operate a camera and forceps. That is to say, we perform the operation inside the abdomen, but without opening the belly ”, he pointed out.
He adds that this procedure is accompanied by innovations in other areas, such as the new classification of tumors using molecular criteria, which makes it increasingly easier to determine the histological and pathological characteristics of each case and to carry out treatments directed at each of the patients. in a personalized way, in a more conservative way.
Immunotherapy
Advances that are taking place at an accelerated pace that open up a world of great possibilities in the next five to ten years, explained José Antonio Pérez, with treatments based on immunotherapy for more and more tumors, as well as for ovarian cancer, one of the highest mortality rates, but also for breast and endometrial cancer, the most common on the islands.
Specifically, endometrial cancer is widespread among the Canaries because it is “associated with obesity and overweight in general, diabetes and high blood pressure”, explained the surgeon, who also highlighted that these pathologies in the Canary Islands are “fairly common”, among other factors due to the “low social levels that exist”.
“Right now we are able to help our immune system and tell it that there are tumor cells in the body that are escaping its defense mechanisms, which helps it to identify and destroy them. This is happening a lot, for example, with some types of leukemia, with lung tumors and with some gynecological tumors”, he reported.
Impossible stories a few years ago
Thanks to these new approaches, she has come to witness stories that were impossible a few years ago, such as the case of “a 35-year-old girl facing a terminal phase of a tumor” who is capable of “showing signs of disease remission.”
Or that of adult men who undergo “prostate surgery” and are able to “maintain their sexual potency and avoid incontinence problems”, which means “incredible improvements in quality of life”, emphasized Pérez Álvarez.
However, the future of oncological medicine involves a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses all areas of treatment and patient follow-up, for which specialized units have been created in hospitals and clinics, such as the Quirónsalud Tenerifewhere a specific one for breast cancer is already operating, under the direction of Dr. Lucía Almeida.
And to which from next November will be added that of advanced ovarian cancer.
Robotics and immunotherapy represent the leap into the future of cancer medicine in the Canary Islands.
Dr. José Antonio Pérez Álvarez/EFE
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