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Ricciardi et al. Mini-invasive Surg 2020;4:1 Mini-invasive Surgery
DOI: 10.20517/2574-1225.2019.50

Review Open Access

Long-term survival of robotic lobectomy for non-

small cell lung cancer: a literature review

Sara Ricciardi , Federico Davini , Carmelina C. Zirafa , Gaetano Romano , Franca M. A. Melfi 2
2
1
2
2
1 Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular, Pathology and Critical Care, University Hospital of
Pisa, Pisa 56124, Italy.
2 Multispecialty Centre for Surgery, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa 56124,
Italy.
Correspondence to: Dr. Sara Ricciardi, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular, Pathology
and Critical Care, University Hospital of Pisa, Via Paradisa 2, Pisa 56124, Italy. E-mail: ricciardi.sara87@gmail.com
How to cite this article: Ricciardi S, Davini F, Zirafa CC, Romano G, Melfi FMA. Long-term survival of robotic lobectomy for
non-small cell lung cancer: a literature review. Mini-invasive Surg 2020;4:1. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1225.2019.50
Received: 8 Nov 2019 First Decision: 27 Nov 2019 Revised: 9 Dec 2019 Accepted: 20 Dec 2019 Published: 6 Jan 2020

Science Editor: Valérie Lacroix Copy Editor: Jing-Wen Zhang Production Editor: Tian Zhang

Abstract
Even though robotic-assisted surgery is increasingly used for resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), data on
long-term oncologic outcomes of robotic surgery are still not well defined. The primary endpoint of this review is to
analyse the long-term results of robotic lobectomy in NSCLC patients. A systematic research was performed using the
PubMed database. Articles published from January 2008 to January 2019 were included. We excluded studies that did
not provide results for the long-term outcomes of robotic lobectomy, studies that had fewer than 50 cases and ones
that focused on results of sub-lobar resections. Therefore, ten eligible studies were included in this analysis. In total,
2873 patients, with a mean age ranging between 66 and 68 years, who underwent robotic lobectomy for NSCLC, were
analysed. Most patients (81%) had early-stage disease. The five-year overall survival for stage I disease fluctuated
between 77% and 100%. The five-year disease-free survival was reported to be near 73%. We can conclude that robotic
assisted lobectomy is an effective minimally-invasive procedure for lung resection. The current literature shows that
robotic lobectomy is associated with long-term survival and lasting disease-free survival, equivalent to those reached by
video-assisted thoracic surgery and open approach.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer, robotic surgery, robotic lobectomy, long-term outcome, minimally invasive
surgery

INTRODUCTION
Surgical resection of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the preferred local treatment modality for
[1]
operable disease and lobectomy remains the gold standard treatment in early-stage lung cancer . Thanks
© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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