Surrey, B.C. - With the use of a laser and a microscope, Surrey Memorial is the first hospital in BC offering to remove advanced malignant tumours of the upper aerodigestive tract (larynx, pharynx, oral cavity, and tongue) while avoiding many of the complications of open surgery or irradiation.

Doctor Don Anderson has begun performing the minimally-invasive laser microsurgery at Surrey Memorial Hospital, following training in England and Germany. "It's comparable to open surgery without the problems of open surgery, and comparable to radiation therapy without the problems of radiation therapy."

The advantages of transoral laser microsurgery include shorter hospital stays, the avoidance of tracheostomies, very little adjacent tissue injury, and a reduction in pain.

Statistics show close to 400 British Columbians are diagnosed yearly with cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract. Both smoking and alcohol are independent risk factors for these cancers.

The equipment needed for transoral laser microsurgery was purchased with the help of Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation, which helps fund the hospital's urgently-needed equipment each year. In addition, the Foundation has set a goal of $15-million for its Emergency Centre Campaign, which will be officially launched in the spring of 2007. Those funds will supplement the $30-million the BC government has earmarked for Surrey Memorial Hospital's new Emergency Centre.

-30-

For more information or physician/patient interviews, contact:

Jason Howe
Media Relations Manager
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation
604-585-5666 ext 8284
cell: 604-613-6873
jason.howe[at]fraserhealth.ca