Comparison of laparoscopic and robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery with sentinel lymph node navigation in low-risk endometrial cancer: a retrospective analysis

摘要

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the perioperative and oncologic outcomes of laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgeries in patients with low-risk endometrial cancer who underwent minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for complete surgical staging, including sentinel lymph node mapping. METHODS: A retrospective study included 190 patients diagnosed with low-risk endometrial cancer who underwent MIS combined with sentinel lymph node navigation surgery (SNNS) between December 2016 and December 2021. Among these patients, 66 underwent laparoscopic surgery, while 124 underwent robotic-assisted surgery. The analysis focused on patient characteristics, perioperative outcomes, and prognostic factors, including recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Statistical analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and appropriate comparative tests for outcome evaluation. RESULTS: The median operative time and estimated blood loss were significantly longer and greater in the robotic surgery group than in the laparoscopic group (209.5 vs. 157.5 min, 20 vs. 5 mL, respectively). The identification rates of sentinel nodes were 97% and 95.2% in the laparoscopic and robotic groups, respectively, with no significant difference between the 2. Recurrence was observed in two and three cases in the laparoscopic robotic surgery groups, respectively. The 3-year RFS rates were 97.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.8482-0.9769) and 93.9% (95% CI=0.9277-0.9922) for the robotic and laparoscopic groups, respectively, while the 3-year OS rates were 99.2% (95% CI=0.8561-0.9902) and 96.1% (95% CI=0.9450-0.9989), respectively, with no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION: MIS combined with SNNS is a highly effective approach for managing low-risk endometrial cancer, providing comparable oncologic outcomes to laparoscopy while enhancing the quality of life of patients.