14 DAY TRIAL // Laparoscopic surgery is a very safe and effective way of removing bowel tumors and all patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer should benefit from it, concluded a team of researchers from the University of Leeds.
It seems that patients who have laparoscopic surgery recover faster and spend less time in the hospital, that those undergoing an open surgery.
These are the latest conclusions of the CLASICC trial, funded by the Medical Research Council, and including 400 patients with colon cancer and another 400 with rectal cancer.
The patients were admitted in 27 UK hospitals, and the tissue that was removed from every one of them was analyzed in detail, in order to assess the quality of the procedure.
Previously published results showed that laparoscopic surgery was as safe as normal surgery, and also that there were no chances of the cancer returning in the short-term.
These results were actually what determined the UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and European regulators to support the use of laparoscopic techniques for treating colon and bowel cancers.
But before these final results, there were a few surgeons that were worried that the keyhole surgery would not allow the removal of all cancer cells, and that a few years later, the disease would return.
Now, data published in the November issue of the British Journal of Surgery, confirmed the success of the intervention, after five years of follow-up.
So in the hands of a very good surgeon, not only does the laparoscopic surgery has the same effect, it is also far less traumatizing for the patient.
David Jayne, Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Leeds and lead author of the paper, says that “there is still a body of surgeons who are sceptically about laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery and particularly laparoscopic rectal surgery.
“These long-term follow-up results should now help to convince any remaining skeptics that the minimally invasive technique is safe and effective for most patients with colorectal cancer.
“Patients too should be reassured that any short-term gains from minimally invasive surgery have not been at the expense of compromised long-term outcomes,” he added.
“Where suitable, laparoscopic surgery should now be offered to all patients with colorectal cancer so that they can benefit from the recognized advantages, such as quicker recovery, shorter hospital stay and earlier return to normal function.”
Professor Phil Quirke, Yorkshire Cancer Research Centenary Professor of Pathology at the University of Leeds, and co-author of the paper, reminds that the most effective treatment for bowel cancer is surgery, whether it is laparoscopic or standard surgery, and he encourages further research, and why not the use of robotic surgery in the future.