Atlantic Health System Public Relations Department
Luke Margolis
MORRISTOWN, N.J., December 15, 2023 –– Atlantic Health System, a leading provider of health care in New Jersey, today announced its use of CYTALUX®, the only FDA-approved fluorescent imaging technology to light up early-stage lung cancer during surgery — enhancing a surgeon’s ability to visualize cancer in real-time. Federico Steiner, MD, a Thoracic Surgeon at Atlantic Health System and the team at Overlook Medical Center, are the third team in the world to use the imaging agent in the surgical treatment of lung cancer outside of clinical trials and the first ever to use all three imaging modalities offered by the Stryker 1788 Platform in the treatment of lung cancer.
“The adoption of CYTALUX enhances our ability to detect and remove the smallest offenders during surgery in an effort to prevent the spread of cancer,” said Dr. Steiner. “I am proud that Atlantic Health System is among the first to adopt this technology; this is one of the many testaments of our commitment to bring the most advanced and innovative solutions in care to our patients. This type of innovation is important to achieve longer survival rates. We don’t want to be thinking about survival rates in terms of months. I want to see patients living cancer-free with a high quality of life beyond 10-15 years from now.”
Cancer patients undergoing evaluation for a lung nodule, which may indicate the presence of lung cancer, are eligible for the procedure. CYTALUX is especially helpful in patients with smaller lesions, which can be difficult to visualize with traditional methods. CYTALUX is given to these patients before surgery via intravenous (IV) infusion and the solution circulates through the body, passing through non-cancerous tissue while binding to and “lighting up” cancer cells when viewed through a special surgical camera at the time of surgery. Now the surgeon can more easily see the cancerous tissue, making this method more effective in detecting lesions that may not be visible through traditional imaging methods.
The ability to detect and remove these lesions is crucial in preventing cancer from spreading.
During clinical trials, 19% of patients had lesions that their surgeons could not detect without using CYTALUX, and 8% of surgeons identified one or more additional cancerous lesions with this technology. This technology not only enhances the precision of lesion detection but also underscores how the adoption of innovative technology allows physicians at Atlantic Health System to leverage advanced solutions in the fight against cancer.
Visit the Atlantic Health System website to learn more about the variety of cancer care options available today.
About Atlantic Health System
Atlantic Health System is at the forefront of medicine, setting standards for quality health care in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New York metropolitan area. Powered by a workforce of 19,000 team members and 5,440 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities, Atlantic Health System serves more than half of the state of New Jersey including 12 counties and 6.2 million people. The not-for-profit system offers more than 400 sites of care, including its seven hospitals: Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, NJ, Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ, Newton Medical Center in Newton, NJ, Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains, NJ, Hackettstown Medical Center in Hackettstown, NJ, Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ, Atlantic Rehabilitation Institute in Madison, NJ and through its partnership with CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold, NJ.
The system includes Atlantic Medical Group, part of a physician enterprise that makes up one of the largest multispecialty practices in New Jersey with more than 1,600 physicians and advance practice providers. Joined with Atlantic Accountable Care Organization and Optimus Healthcare Partners they form part of Atlantic Alliance, a Clinically Integrated Network of more than 2,500 health care providers throughout northern and central NJ.
Atlantic Health System provides care for the full continuum of health care needs through 24 urgent care centers, Atlantic Visiting Nurse and Atlantic Anywhere Virtual Visits. Facilitating the connection between these services on both land and air is the transportation fleet of Atlantic Mobile Health.
Atlantic Health System leads the Healthcare Transformation Consortium, a partnership of six regional hospitals and health systems dedicated to improving access and affordability and is a founding member of the PIER Consortium – Partners in Innovation, Education, and Research – a streamlined clinical trial system that will expand access to groundbreaking research across five health systems in the region.
Atlantic Health System has a medical school affiliation with Thomas Jefferson University and is home to the regional campus of the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Morristown and Overlook Medical Centers and is the official health care partner of the New York Jets.