Minimally invasive surgery for endometrial cancer

Purpose of review: To critically appraise the pertinent literature on traditional laparoscopy and robotically assisted laparoscopy for the treatment of endometrial cancer. Recent findings: Multiple retrospective and prospective studies on traditional laparoscopy and retrospective studies on robotically assisted laparoscopy for the treatment of uterine cancers have shown reduced blood loss, shorter length of hospital stay and decreased incidence and severity of postoperative surgical complications compared with laparotomy. Minimally invasive techniques maintain equivalent oncologic results with regard to the number of dissected lymph nodes and overall and disease-free survival rates. Compared with traditional laparoscopy, robotic surgery has a lower rate of conversion to laparotomy, lower blood loss and presents significant ergonomic advantages for the surgeon facilitating execution of complex oncologic procedures. Minimally invasive techniques are particularly advantageous in obese patients, reducing perioperative and postoperative abdominal wound complications. Summary: A thorough review of the literature indicates that minimally invasive approach has a number of established advantages over laparotomy that makes it the surgical treatment option of choice in endometrial carcinoma patients.