Comparative Effectiveness of Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer

PurposeDespite the potential benefits of minimally invasive hysterectomy for uterine cancer, population-level data describing the procedure’s safety in unselected patients are lacking. We examined the use of minimally invasive surgery and the association between the route of the procedure and long-term survival.MethodsWe used the SEER-Medicare database to identify women with stage I-III uterine cancer who underwent hysterectomy from 2006 to 2011. Patients who underwent abdominal hysterectomy were compared with those who had minimally invasive hysterectomy (laparoscopic and robot-assisted). Perioperative morbidity, use of adjuvant therapy, and long-term survival were examined after propensity score balancing.ResultsWe identified 6,304 patients, including 4,139 (65.7%) who underwent abdominal hysterectomy and 2,165 (34.3%) who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy; performance of minimally invasive hysterectomy increased from 9.3% in 2006 to 61.7% in 2011. Robot-assisted procedures accounted for 62.3% o...