Current Releases
Jefferson Surgeon Elected President of Association of Program Directors for Colon and Rectal Surgery
(Published 6-9-2008) Gerald A. Isenberg, M.D., Director of Undergraduate Education in the Department of Surgery, and Associate
Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University has been elected president of the Association
of Program Directors for Colon and Rectal Surgery. He will serve a three-year term.
Traditional Herbal Medicine Kills Pancreatic Cancer Cells, Jefferson Researchers Report
(Published 5-19-2008) An herb used in traditional medicine by many Middle Eastern countries may help in the fight against
pancreatic cancer, one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer at Jefferson in Philadelphia
have found that thymoquinone, an extract of nigella sativa seed oil, blocked pancreatic cancer cell growth and killed the
cells by enhancing the process of programmed cell death.
Surgeons at Jefferson Hospital Set to Perform Minimally Invasive Aortic Aneurysm Repair Broadcast LIVE on the Web (Published 5-15-2008) Each year more than 20,000 patients in the United States are diagnosed with aortic aneurysm. Surgeons
can now repair this type of aneurysm with a minimally invasive procedure reducing the amount of post-operative discomfort
and recovery time for patients. Surgeons at Jefferson Hospital will broadcast – in real time – a minimally invasive aortic
aneurysm repair on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. The public is invited to log on to
www.JeffersonHospital.org/webcast (Replay version available starting May 21) to see how this procedure is performed as the doctor does it. A narrator will
assist in explaining the elements of the procedure.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Designated Live Donor Liver Transplant Center by UNOS
(Published 4-23-2008) Thomas Jefferson University Hospital has been designated a Live Donor Liver Transplant Center by the
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization that administers the nation's policies on organ transplantation
and procurement. The designation makes Jefferson's one of only three adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT)
programs in the Delaware Valley.
Blood Pressure Drugs Halt Pancreatic Cancer Cell Growth, Jefferson Researchers Find
(Published 4-14-2008) Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia are inching
closer to understanding how common blood pressure medications might help prevent the spread of pancreatic cancer. They have
found in the laboratory that one type of pressure-lowering drug called an angiotensin receptor blocker inhibits pancreatic
cancer cell growth and causes cell death.
Jefferson Scientists’ Discovery May Help Explain Smoking-Pancreatic Cancer Link
(Published 4-13-2008) If lung cancer and heart disease aren't bad enough, cigarette smokers are also at higher risk for developing,
among other things, pancreatic cancer. Now, researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have preliminary
evidence indicating one possible reason why. Data being presented April 13, 2008 during the Annual Meeting of the American
Association for Cancer Research shows that they have found that nicotine in cigarettes increases the production of a protein
that is known to promote cancer cell survival, invasion and spread.
Jefferson, PanCAN Holding Program April 5 to Help Patients, Families and Public Learn More About Pancreatic Cancer (Published 4-2-2008) New imaging techniques, improved early detection and screening of high-risk groups, and new therapies
on the horizon have begun to change the way pancreatic cancer is viewed. It's against this background that Thomas Jefferson
University, Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), a national advocacy organization,
are sponsoring a pancreatic cancer symposium on Saturday, April 5, 2008 on the Jefferson campus. The program will be held
in the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building, 1001 Locust Street, beginning at 9 a.m. It is free to the public.
Jefferson Hosts Program to Help Patients and Families Learn More About Living with Cancer April 2 (Published 4-1-2008) The Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia is holding a program on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
for patients, families and caregivers whose lives have been touched by cancer.
Jefferson Transplant Specialist Cataldo Doria, M.D., Ph.D., Elected to American College of Surgeons
(Published 2-12-2008) Cataldo Doria, M.D, Ph.D., director of the Division of Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital, and associate professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, has become a Fellow
of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Convocation ceremonies took place at the College’s 93rd annual Clinical Congress,
which were held last fall in New Orleans.
Featured in the MediaJefferson Specialists Perform High Tech Surgery to Safely Remove up to 75 Percent of Cancerous Livers
New surgical tools spare transfusion, cut recovery time in half
(Published 1-10-07) Transplant surgeons at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) are using a new method called “bloodless”
liver resection to safely remove up to 75 percent of the largest organ inside the human body. The technique is improving
patients’ odds and cutting recovery time in half.
Cataldo Doria, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Transplantation at TJUH, and associate professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, has performed hundreds of liver procedures. But
his two newest surgical tools are making an amazing difference for patients with localized liver cancer and other liver diseases.
Dr. Doria removed 60 percent of patient Beng Lin's liver using the new technique. Lin was up and walking around 24 hours
after surgery.
"I guess I consider myself one of the lucky ones," Lin says.
Doctors say he had such a speedy recovery because he lost virtually no blood during the procedure. Instead of using a scalpel
to cut the liver tissue, Dr. Doria is now using a new device called a cavitational ultrasonic surgical aspirator, or CUSA,
to aspirate or suck out diseased liver cells. Another surgeon follows immediately with a second tool called a TissueLink.
Hot, sterile water flows through the tip of this probe and seals the blood vessels upon contact.
Six months after surgery, Lin is cancer-free and feeling better than ever.
Click on the links below for more information on the procedure and new surgical tools being used at Jefferson.
Watch the video
Media Coverage
Ivanhoe Broadcast News
WPTV-TV (West Palm Beach, FL)
MSNBC.com
USAToday Online
News 8 Austin
Jefferson Vascular Surgeon Heads National Trial for Torn Aorta Repair
(Published 12-7-2007) Jefferson Vascular Surgeon Heads National Trial for Torn Aorta Repair Possible Alternative to Open Chest
Surgery. Tears in the aorta which affect thousands of people each year coast to coast, may soon be treated with a much less
invasive technique that could dramatically improve patients’ chances of survival. A national study being directed by a vascular
surgeon at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is exploring a new minimally invasive method that could spare patients the
trauma and risk of open chest surgery.
In September 2007,
Cataldo Doria, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Transplantation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, was the only representative of the
United States to speak at the 9th International Symposium on Albumin Dialysis (ISAD). The conference brought the most highly
esteemed liver transplant specialists from around the world to Rostock- Warnemunde, Germany to focus on liver support therapies
and transplantation.
Dr. Doria lectured on the topic of “Liver support for acute liver failure: indications, contraindications and results” and
helped lead a panel discussion about “Liver support studies - What is expected, needed, realistic?” Albumin dialysis is a
leading-edge support therapy (similar to kidney dialysis) that is broadening treatment options for patients with liver disease.
Jefferson Scientist’s Patent Dramatically Improves DNA Analysis(Published 7-16-2007) A basic scientist in the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center
at Jefferson has shared a patent on what may someday be a ubiquitous tool in DNA analysis. The discovery could have a range
of applications, from forensics to cloning to bioterrorism.
