Cancer is a leading cause of death and main contributor for disease burden globally. To treat the majority of cancer types, surgery is the only curable strategy for patients at an earlier stage; it also can be used for palliative care when patients are at a later stage.
Video-assisted surgery (VAS) has been introduced for decades, as a safe and effective method to treat diseases, including cancer. Compared to open surgery, the traditional type of surgery, VAS allows resection to be minimally invasive, contributing to better intra- and post-operative patient outcomes, especially for faster recovery. With the benefits, a higher utilization of healthcare services to the public can be achieved, including a shorter hospitalization for the patients.
Because of the safety and effectiveness proven by the previously well-established studies, the use of VAS has been substantially increasing as a routine practice in the surgical team. At the same time, the indications of applying VAS have been kept expending for different cancer types. Also, more advanced techniques have been introduced and applied, such as tubeless surgery, uni-portal surgery, (glasses-free) 3D surgery, surgery guided by technologies for localization. Along with the above techniques, robotic-assisted surgery has been introduced and started to challenge the benefits from VAS, in terms of patient outcomes. Of note, all of the above VAS techniques have been well applied in high-performance settings rather than the settings/areas with lower resources; the utilization of VAS, and the quality of practicing VAS should be investigated in lower-resource settings/areas, given the increasing burden from cancer especially in low- and middle-income countries.
This Research Topic provides an open forum for transdisciplinary evidence of VAS, based on patient and/or healthcare outcomes, for any cancer type, in any setting/region. We welcome research articles, (systematic) reviews, meta-analyses, editorials and commentaries which present and discuss the evidence in a rigorous manner. The submissions should focus on, but not be limited to, the following:
• New/updated results on applying VAS (e.g., patient/healthcare outcomes on VAS, prognostic factors, staging, education program, learning curve);
• Comparison between VAS and open surgery/robotic-assisted surgery/radiotherapy;
• New/advanced techniques for VAS;
• New therapeutic strategies with VAS for new indications or better outcomes (e.g., adjuvant/neoadjuvant therapies, new cancer (sub-)types);
• Follow-up/survivorship care after VAS;
• Social disparities in the access to and outcomes of VAS;
• Health services research on VAS (e.g., health policies, cost-effectiveness, utilization, quality of care, time to treatment, impact of Covid-19);
• Issues in study design and methodology.
Important Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Cancer is a leading cause of death and main contributor for disease burden globally. To treat the majority of cancer types, surgery is the only curable strategy for patients at an earlier stage; it also can be used for palliative care when patients are at a later stage.
Video-assisted surgery (VAS) has been introduced for decades, as a safe and effective method to treat diseases, including cancer. Compared to open surgery, the traditional type of surgery, VAS allows resection to be minimally invasive, contributing to better intra- and post-operative patient outcomes, especially for faster recovery. With the benefits, a higher utilization of healthcare services to the public can be achieved, including a shorter hospitalization for the patients.
Because of the safety and effectiveness proven by the previously well-established studies, the use of VAS has been substantially increasing as a routine practice in the surgical team. At the same time, the indications of applying VAS have been kept expending for different cancer types. Also, more advanced techniques have been introduced and applied, such as tubeless surgery, uni-portal surgery, (glasses-free) 3D surgery, surgery guided by technologies for localization. Along with the above techniques, robotic-assisted surgery has been introduced and started to challenge the benefits from VAS, in terms of patient outcomes. Of note, all of the above VAS techniques have been well applied in high-performance settings rather than the settings/areas with lower resources; the utilization of VAS, and the quality of practicing VAS should be investigated in lower-resource settings/areas, given the increasing burden from cancer especially in low- and middle-income countries.
This Research Topic provides an open forum for transdisciplinary evidence of VAS, based on patient and/or healthcare outcomes, for any cancer type, in any setting/region. We welcome research articles, (systematic) reviews, meta-analyses, editorials and commentaries which present and discuss the evidence in a rigorous manner. The submissions should focus on, but not be limited to, the following:
• New/updated results on applying VAS (e.g., patient/healthcare outcomes on VAS, prognostic factors, staging, education program, learning curve);
• Comparison between VAS and open surgery/robotic-assisted surgery/radiotherapy;
• New/advanced techniques for VAS;
• New therapeutic strategies with VAS for new indications or better outcomes (e.g., adjuvant/neoadjuvant therapies, new cancer (sub-)types);
• Follow-up/survivorship care after VAS;
• Social disparities in the access to and outcomes of VAS;
• Health services research on VAS (e.g., health policies, cost-effectiveness, utilization, quality of care, time to treatment, impact of Covid-19);
• Issues in study design and methodology.
Important Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.