Study Finds Robotic Surgery is as Effective as Open Surgery for Bladder Cancer

Photo courtesy Loyola University Medical Center

CANCER DIGEST – July 14, 2018 – Robotic assisted surgery has been shown to be as effective as conventional open surgery for the treatment of bladder cancer according to a new multi-center study published in the June 23, 2018 The Lancet.

The study at 15 cancer centers nationwide involved 350 patients randomly assigned to treatment of their bladder cancer with either traditional open surgery or a robot-assisted procedure. After two years, there was no significant difference between the two groups in survival without disease progression.

In the study, patients treated with the robotic system had no more complications than those treated with traditional surgery and there was no effect on later quality of life measures. After two years of follow-up 72.3 percent patients in the robotic surgery group survived, compared to 71.6 percent of the open surgery group. Adverse effects occurred in 67 percent of the robotic surgery patients compared to 69 percent of the open surgery group. Patients in the robotic surgery groups stayed an average of 6 days in the hospital after surgery compared with 7 days for the open surgery group.

Robotic surgery is conducted through small incisions using imaging guidance and robotic tools controlled by a surgeon that allow for manipulations that are extremely difficult or impossible for human hands. The advantages of such surgery is less blood loss and shorter hospital and recovery times. On the other hand robotic-assisted surgeries often take longer to complete resulting in longer exposures to anesthesia and the potential for infection.