Doctors at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn Help Patient with Rare Stomach Cancer Turn His Life Around

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- When severe abdominal pain suddenly overcame Louis Battaglia at his home last October, he thought it might be appendicitis. A trip to the emergency room and months of doctor appointments later, the pain persisted. It took a visit to a specialist at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn to reveal a rare form of stomach cancer.

"I was told this type of cancer doesn't get picked up so easily," says Battaglia, 58. "Many people go years dealing with stomach pain without seeing a doctor, and sometimes it's too late to do anything. I'm so grateful that wasn't the case with me."

At first Battaglia, a Brooklyn native, thought the cancer diagnosis might require months of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but Camilo Correa, MD, told him a single surgery could make him cancer-free.

Battaglia had a stage 4 soft tissue sarcoma of the stomach known as leiomyosarcoma, which accounts for less than one percent of all adult cancers in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Though rare, the cancer is treatable when discovered early.

Correa, a fellowship-trained complex general surgical oncologist at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn and NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center, performed a partial gastrectomy and liver resection to remove the cancerous tissue, using a combination of traditional and minimally invasive robotic surgery to reduce recovery time.

"It was a malignant tumor involving part of the liver," says Correa, who completed a fellowship in complex surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital on rare cancers of the digestive system. "We were able to completely remove the tumor, and he has been recovering exceptionally well without chemotherapy or radiation."

Advances in Complex Cancer Detection

The gastroenterology team at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, led by Adam Goodman, MD, had first discovered and diagnosed Battaglia's cancer following months of visits with other doctors. An endoscopic ultrasound, or EUS, which uses a combination of video imagery and sound waves to pinpoint the size and location of the mass, was used before surgery. EUS can simultaneously obtain tissue samples for biopsy, reducing the number of diagnostic visits for the patient.

"Endoscopy ultrasound is just one of a sophisticated set of tools we use to detect and evaluate gastrointestinal malignancies," says Goodman, section chief of gastroenterology and director of endoscopy and quality at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn. "We also collaborate closely with our fellow colleagues in NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center to determine the most-effective treatments."

Advances in robotic surgery systems have also enabled oncology surgeons to perform complex operations using minimally invasive techniques. "Technological advances have greatly reduced the necessity for major interventions that may cause post-operative complications," says Prashant Sinha, MD, chief of surgery at NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn. "When we do not have to open the abdominal cavity, the small incisions heal quicker and the patient recovers faster."

For Battaglia, who went back to work in retail sales not long after surgery, says his brush with cancer changed his life—for the better. "Dr. Correa told me to take it easy, eat healthier, and quit smoking, so I stopped cold turkey," he says. Battaglia, who once smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day, used NYU Langone's Tobacco Cessation Program at Perlmutter Cancer Center to help get through withdrawal and prevent relapse.

Battaglia, a devout member of St. Ephrem in Dyker Heights, credits prayer, his older sister Rose Mauriello, and the support of his coworkers at P.C. Richard and Son with getting him through to recovery. He now wants to play a bigger role in supporting other cancer patients by telling his story and attending group counseling. "I want to spend more of my time talking to people," he says, recalling a lonesome neighbor who died at 60 from cancer. "The best thing we can do with the time we have left is try to treat each other with kindness and respect."

To learn more about cancer care in Brooklyn, visit the Perlmutter Cancer Center–Sunset Park online, or call 718-907-4880.

Media Inquiries:
Colin DeVries
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SOURCE NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn