Advances in surgery are improving cancer treatment while easing the physical and mental impacts of procedures on patients. “I came to Ohio State about seven years ago, and I’ve loved it. It's really been a transformative journey,” says Tim Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH, the surgeon-in-chief at The James and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Over that time, we have been very purposeful in trying to build a number of our cancer programs in the department of surgery, and I think we've had some really great success.” Pawlik and his colleagues perform a wide variety of cancer surgeries at the OSUCCC – James, including the latest robotic procedures, while working to improve quality of life for each patient. “Our true north is what’s best for the patient — I’m a surgeon, but really I’m a care provider,” Pawlik says. Read on as Pawlik shares details on some of the groundbreaking surgical techniques available to Ohio State cancer patients, and watch the video player above or listen on SoundCloud as he goes into more depth on our Cancer-Free World Podcast. A comprehensive cancer care component “It is important that, when seeking cancer care, people think about a Comprehensive Cancer Center like The James, because it will require not only a surgeon, but a medical oncologist, perhaps a radiation oncologist, or nurse practitioners or physician assistants, nutritionists, dietitians — it's really a 360 approach to cancer. “Cancer is a complex problem, and it's going to require a complex solution and also a very skilled team. A surgeon is a very important member of that team.” Click to learn more about comprehensive cancer care at The Ohio State University World-class robotic surgery for pancreatic and liver cancers “Because of Doctors Mary Dillhoff, Jordan Cloyd and our entire hepatopancreatobiliary group, our robotic Whipple (pancreatic surgery) program has allowed more patients to recover and leave the hospital more quickly. Our team does many complex, robotic pancreatic and liver resections for cancer through small incisions. Over a course of five or six years, we’ve become one of the busiest robotic, minimally-invasive pancreas and liver programs in the country.” Click to learn more about the robotic Whipple procedure. Reducing the impact of lung cancer surgery “We have the busiest robotic, thoracic lung cancer program in the state under Dr. Robert Merritt’s leadership. That's been a real focus of growing surgical programs in cancer — we want to minimize the stress of the operation as much as possible. While all patients may not be candidates for minimally-invasive or robotic surgeries, there are many who will. I'm really proud that we've been able to build that program at The James, and we’re now really one of the premier institutes in the country offering complex surgery through minimally-invasive robotic approaches.” Click for details about lung cancer, including risks, symptoms, and treatment and research at the OSUCCC – James. Radiofrequency for thyroid cancer “We were the first center in all of Ohio to do radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules. In the past, if someone had a thyroid nodule, you'd have to make an incision and operate — put the patient to sleep and remove part of the thyroid. Now here at Ohio State, we're able to place a probe percutaneously through the skin. Then, this probe is hooked up to a generator that basically generates energy and heat and then destroys the nodule in a very precise manner.” Click for details on thyroid cancer care at Ohio State. New tech for cancer in the abdomen “Under Dr. Alex Kim's leadership, we've really grown our peritoneal cancer and arterial infusion programs. When patients have cancer that's spread throughout their abdomen, it can be a very challenging situation. This is a very specific operation that requires considerable expertise to remove the cancer and then administer chemotherapy directly into the abdomen, not through an IV, which is the traditional way. “Dr. Kim also has really led the way for our pump program. What that is, is unlike putting the chemotherapy actually into the abdomen, or in an IV, sometimes we'll place a pump — it almost like looks like a hockey puck underneath their skin — and then load that with chemotherapy. This allows us to give higher doses of chemotherapy to the liver while minimizing systemic side effects.” Click for more information on peritoneal cancer treatment at Ohio State.