The Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University is increasing its capacity to treat cancers of the urinary system by adding three new team members -- two doctors and a state-of-the-art da Vinci Surgical System.

Joining the Center in August are Lance J. Hampton, a urologist who has performed 300 robotic surgeries with the da Vinci system, and physician-researcher Georgi Guruli, a native of Georgia in the former USSR, whose research focuses on the mechanisms of prostate cancer and dendritic cells, or immune cells.

"Not every prostate cancer is the same, so we offer a wide variety of state-of-the-art treatment options," said Mitchell Anscher, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. "Dr. Hampton and Dr. Guruli will be tremendous assets to our National Cancer Institute-designated center, adding robotic surgery to our vast array of treatment options, and integrating more clinical trials into our menu."

Putting the surgeon’s hands at the controls of a state-of-the-art robotic platform, da Vinci enables surgeons to offer a minimally invasive option for complex and delicate surgical procedures. Unique dual scopes provide the surgeon sitting at the controls with a three-dimensional view of the surgical site. Patient benefits include less pain, less blood loss and scarring, shorter recovery times, a faster return to normal activities, and better clinical outcomes.

The da Vinci system can make very small incisions with greater precision, thus offering the most-effective, least-invasive surgical treatment option available. More.