Although our findings may be considered preliminary, our data indicate that laparoscopic surgery for EGC yields good short- and long-term oncologic outcomes.

The use of the surgical robot might reduce surgery-related complications, leading to further improvement in short-term postoperative courses following minimally invasive radical gastrectomy.

No abstract

The standard lymph node dissection for advanced gastric cancer is a D2 dissection. Although D2 laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy with distal pancreatosplenectomy has been reported, no studies have reported a completely intra-abdominal laparoscopic approach, because of the technical difficulty of the procedure. We successfully performed this novel procedure in two patients with advanced gastric cancer located in the upper portion of the stomach. In fact, this surgery is technically feasible, and has a potential curability comparable with that of open surgery.

Robot-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy with total mediastinal lymphadenectomy is feasible and safe. This method shows promise in preventing RLNP.

Background Robotic gastrectomy (RG) for gastric cancer (GC) has been increasingly performed for a decade; however, evidence for its use as a standard treatment has not yet been established. The present study aimed to determine the safety, feasibility, and effectiveness of RG for GC. Methods This multi-institutional, single-arm prospective study, which included 330 patients from 15 institutions, was designed to compare morbidity rate of RG with that of a historical control (conventional laparoscopic gastrectomy, LG). This trial was approved for Advanced Medical Technology ("Senshiniryo") B. The included patients were operable patients with cStage I/II GC. The primary endpoint was morbidity (Clavien-Dindo Grade ≥ IIIa). The specific hypothesis was that RG could reduce the morbidity rate to less than half of that with LG (6.4%). A sample size of 330 was considered sufficient (one-sided alpha 0.05, power 80%). Results Among the 330 study patients, the protocol treatment was suspended in 4 patients. Thus, 326 patients fully enrolled and completed the study. The median patient age and BMI were 66 years and 22.4 kg/m 2 , respectively. Distal gastrectomy was performed in 253 (77.6%) patients. The median operative time and estimated blood loss were 313 min and 20 mL, respectively. No 30-day mortality was seen, and morbidity showed a significant reduction to 2.45% with RG (p = 0.0018). Conclusions RG for cStage I/II GC is safe and feasible. It may be effective in reducing morbidity with LG.

This study suggests that laparoscopic D2 gastrectomy provides reasonable oncologic outcomes with acceptable morbidity and low mortality rates. Although operation time is currently long, this approach is associated with several advantages of laparoscopic surgery, including quick recovery of bowel function and short hospital stay. Laparoscopic D2 gastrectomy may offer a favorable alternative to open D2 gastrectomy for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Our novel robotic approach for D2 nodal dissection in gastric cancer is feasible and safe.