Servo - September 2015

ROBOT SURGERY IS A HIT AND MIS In the largest multi-institutional study to date, patients diagnosed with bladder cancer and treated with robot-assisted surgery experienced similar results to those who underwent a traditional open operation, according to research led by scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The study results were recently published in the journal of the European Association of Urology.

“We found that robot-assisted radical cystectomy, an advanced surgical procedure used to treat bladder cancer that has spread to the bladder wall or recurred, despite local treatment in the bladder, provides similar early oncological outcomes while reducing operative blood loss,” says Khurshid Guru, MD, Director of Robotic Surgery in the Department of Urology at RPCI.

The study is a retrospective review of long-term patient outcomes for cystectomies that currently populate the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium, which represents 11 institutions in six countries. Data from 702 patients with clinically localized bladder cancer from 2003 to date were analyzed for five year recurrence-free survival (67%), cancer-specific survival (75%), and overall survival (50%). When compared with traditional open surgery, patients treated with robot-assisted surgery experienced similar long-term survival outcomes.

Robot-assisted surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) that uses surgical robotic equipment that imitates surgical movements. MIS procedures allow surgeons to operate through small ports rather than large incisions. For patients, robot-assisted surgery results in possible shorter recovery times and minimal blood loss.