Findings show minimally-invasive surgery offers benefits

The benefits of minimally-invasive treatment of uterine cancer is the subject of a study co-authored by Dr. Joan Walker, a gynecologic oncologist with the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center, and published in this month’s Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center enrolled a substantial number of the patients in this important clinical trial funded by the National Cancer Institute.  

The study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of both laparoscopy and laparotomy in the treatment of uterine cancer. Laparoscopy is a surgical technique that allows a surgeon to operate through small incisions as opposed to the larger incisions required for laparotomy or open surgery.

Uterine cancer affects more than 47,000 women and claims the lives of about 8,000 women in the United States each year.

Research previously had shown clear advantages for uterine cancer patients who undergo laparoscopy versus laparotomy for the removal and staging of their cancer.

“We knew there were benefits of minimally invasive surgery to the patient in terms of less time in the hospital and a faster recovery, but we did not yet know if the long-term outcomes would be as good in terms of recurrence of the cancer and survival.  That is where this study comes in,” Walker said.

Despite new treatments, lung cancer continues to prove a deadly disease.  

Only 15 percent of patients survive.

But researchers at the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center hope to change that with a new approach that utilizes special targeted nanoparticles.