Da Vinci Surgical System a benefit for HPV-related Oral Cancer

A study of robotic surgery conducted with the da Vinci Surgical System, and made through patients' mouths reveals it provides excellent results in removing squamous cell carcinoma at the back of the throat, especially in patients with HPV. The study followed 66 patients with Oropharyngeal Cancer who underwent transoral robotic surgery. Every few months, the patients had imaging studies, scans and exams to determine if the cancer was recurring. After two years, researchers found that patients' survival rate was greater than 92 percent, as good as rates for some other surgical and nonsurgical treatments for Oropharyngeal Cancer. Because traditional surgery techniques to remove throat tumors can be traumatic, requiring cutting and reconstructing the jawbone, neck and tongue, researchers were also interested in patients' healing after robotic surgery. With transoral robotic surgery 96 percent of patients could swallow a normal diet within three weeks of treatment, says lead author Eric Moore, a head and neck surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Less than 4 percent required a gastrostomy tube. See: "Long-term Functional and Oncologic Results of Transoral Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma" Mayo Clin Proc. March 2012;87(3):219-225 doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2011.10.007