Abstract
AIM:
This study aims to determine differences in surgical and survival outcomes for patients undergoing robotic surgeries versus laparotomies for early-stage endometrial cancer (EC).
METHODS:
This study was conducted retrospectively from 1st January 2015 to 30th June 2021 on all patients with stage I or stage II EC (FIGO 2023 Staging), irrespective of histology. Primary objective was to compare 3-year Overall Survival (OS) and Recurrence Free Survival (RFS) between robotic versus laparotomy group.
RESULTS:
In a study of 297 patients, 81.5% underwent robotic surgeries and 18.5% underwent open surgeries. Median age was 47.5 years. Majority (81%) of the patients had Endometroid histology. Seventy percent of the cases had stage I, and 29.6% had stage II EC. Robotic group had significantly shorter hospital stay, blood loss and operative time (p < 0.05). After a median follow-up period of 36 months, 9 deaths occured in robotic group and no deaths in laparotomy group leading to a 3-year OS of 95.4% in robotic group and 100% in laparotomy group. RFS rates of 92.5% and 86.1% in robotic and laparotomy groups, respectively (p = 0.6). However, median time to recurrence was significantly shorter in open group than robotic group (28 versus 38 months respectively, p = 0.01).
CONCLUSION:
No statistically significant differences between both groups were found in RFS and OS. Robotic surgeries have better surgical and equivalent oncological outcomes than open surgeries in stage I and II EC.