Dr. Hellmann on the Utility of Minimally Invasive Surgery in Cervical Cancer

Mira Hellmann, MD, gynecologic oncologist and assistant professor, John Theurer Cancer Center, Hackensack University Medical Center, discusses the utility of minimally invasive surgery in cervical cancer.

In November 2018, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that demonstrated a lower rate of disease-free survival and overall survival with minimally invasive surgery versus open abdominal radical hysterectomy in women with early-stage cervical cancer.

Prior to that study, minimally invasive approaches including laparoscopic surgery and robot-assisted surgery were used frequently for patients with cervical cancer, explains Hellman.

Based on these data, abdominal radical hysterectomy and staging have become the optimal surgical approach, she concludes.