Long-term survival of robotic lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer: a literature review

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