Considering Robotic Surgery For Ovarian Cancer
- Robotic surgery is not the best option for all patients, but is more appropriate for early stage ovarian cancer
- Robotic surgery is more expensive than traditional surgery, but postoperative hospital stays will be shorter and reduce costs
- Late stage cancer patients should seek high volume facilities for surgery to make sure resources are available and they will be appropriately monitored after the procedure
“Robotic surgery is an option for us to consider, [but] it’s not the best option for all of our patients,” Dr. Nabila Rasool, a gynecologic oncologist at Ascension Providence Hospital, tells SurvivorNet. “So it’s an individual decision to be made with the surgeon and a discussion with the surgeon.”
Read More On the money standpoint, robotic surgeries are more expensive than traditional surgery due to machinery being used. However, with robotic surgery, patients will spend less time in the hospital which will cut down postoperative hospital stay costs. Dr. Rasool says that robotic surgery is feasible for patients with early stage ovarian cancer, and may be appropriate depending on your case. For people living with late stage ovarian cancer, it’s important to look for a high volume cancer center to ensure oncologists and surgeons have the resources to perform your surgery and take on postoperative complications that may occur.
Developments In Ovarian Cancer Surgery
Ovarian cancer surgery can be time consuming and extremely difficult for patients, but surgery developments have been highly beneficial to patients. Dr. Allan James ("A.J.") White, a gynecologic oncologist at the START Center for Cancer Care in San Antonio, Texas, has been treating women with ovarian cancer for years, and has seen these improvements first hand. According to Dr. White, ovarian cancer surgery almost always involved opening up a woman's abdomen and using scissors and knives to remove all visible cancer in the 60’s. However, with the invention of the da Vinci robot, about half of women with ovarian cancer can undergo minimally-invasive surgery for treatment.“I would say, at this time, we do more than half of our surgical procedures using the robot,” Dr. White tells SurvivorNet. “And the good thing for the surgeon is that we sit down for the majority of that case. We have a talented assistant who assists on this type of procedure, and they’re very good help for us.”
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