LAUSR

Recently, the US FDA cautioned against the use of robotic surgery in cancer operations, stating that ‘‘the use of robotically-assisted surgical devices for any cancer-related surgery has not been granted marketing authorization,’’ and that ‘‘survival benefits to patients when compared to traditional surgery have not been established’’. Several watchdog groups called for a moratorium on robotic cancer surgery. Although the FDA warning was in part prompted by two studies that showed inferior oncologic outcomes for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for early cervical cancer, the expansive nature of the FDA communication included comment on new (and uncommon) innovations, such as robot-assisted mastectomy and robotic cancer surgery writ large.