Baptist Health Floyd team uses advanced technology for complex cancer surgery
NEW ALBANY, IN (September 30, 2026) - Baptist Health Floyd’s multidisciplinary cancer team recently completed a surgery that required advanced technology, multidisciplinary expertise and innovation.
The surgery was performed by surgeons Biruk Almaz, MD, and Timothy Dawson, MD and gastroenterologist Jonathan Obert, MD.
The patient had previously been treated for a rare, slow-growing cancer found in a small rectal polyp. For two years, scans and follow-up exams looked reassuring. Then a blood test began to change.
The patient’s physicians did not ignore the clue. More specialized imaging revealed a tiny suspicious spot - about the size of a pea - hidden deep in the pelvis. A biopsy confirmed that the cancer had reached a nearby lymph node.
The straightforward option would have been a much larger operation to remove the rectum and surrounding tissue. That approach could carry major long-term consequences. So the team at Baptist Health Floyd asked a simple question: “Can we remove the cancer without removing everything around it?”
The answer was yes.
The case was discussed by a multidisciplinary cancer team at Baptist Health Floyd, with additional input from specialists at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Cleveland Clinic. Together, the team developed a highly targeted plan.
Just before surgery, an advanced endoscopy specialist located the tiny lymph node from inside the rectum. The spot was marked with small clips and a fluorescent dye. During robotic surgery, special imaging made that marker glow, helping guide the surgeon directly to the target.
The tiny abnormal lymph node was carefully separated from the surrounding structures and removed while leaving the rectum in place. The patient's rectum was preserved. A much larger operation was avoided.
Remarkably, she went home the same day.
“For families in southern Indiana and the greater Louisville region, the message is simple: having a complex cancer should not automatically mean traveling hundreds of miles for complex care. Baptist Health Floyd is committed to continuing to bring advanced technology, multidisciplinary expertise and innovative cancer treatment closer to home,” Dr. Almaz said.
The final pathology confirmed that the team had removed the cancerous lymph node completely, with clear margins.
“This story is about more than one operation. It represents the kind of cancer program Baptist Health Floyd is working to build for the community, one where specialists come together, advanced technology is used thoughtfully, and difficult cases can be treated with the same level of creativity and precision patients might expect from a distant major medical center,” Dr. Almaz said. “The care required collaboration across colorectal surgery, advanced gastroenterology, cancer specialists, imaging, pathology and the multidisciplinary tumor board. Robotic surgery, specialized scans, real-time fluorescence imaging and specimen X-ray all played a role - but the most important element was the team working together around one patient.”