[Anchor Lead]
Throat cancer, which occurs deep in the throat, can often result to a loss of voice after surgery, which involves the removal of the tongue or the larynx. But thanks to robotic surgery, such side effects can be minimized.
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This man in his 70s was diagnosed with pharyngeal cancer when it was already at stage 4. The disease was detected when cancer cells had already spread deep into his pharynx behind the root of his tongue. The patient might have lost his tongue if he had been treated with conventional surgery. Thanks to robotic surgery, the doctors were able to preserve his tongue intact. The larynx and pharynx are located deep in the throat behind the edge of the tongue and are hard to reach. When the two organs become infected with cancer, doctors have no choice but to cut the jawbone and the tongue or remove the pharynx altogether. Oftentimes, patients have a hard time swallowing food or speaking after the surgery. However, thanks to robotic surgery, such side effects can be minimized dramatically. Performed by inserting a thin robotic arm into a patient's throat, this type of surgery allows facial and neck damage to be kept to a minimum. Because surgical robots can magnify the area under operation by a factor of ten, they can accurately remove cancerous cells while keeping normal tissue intact. More than 80 percent of throat cancer patients who have undergone robotic surgery had no problems with swallowing food or vocalization.
[Soundbite] Prof. Kim Se-heon(Severance Hospital) : "Patients who receive robotic surgery have a 20-percent higher five-year survival rate and can lead normal lives because they can swallow and talk without problems."
Recently, a thin cylindrical device consisting of multiple robotic arms has been developed to operate on patients with higher precision.
