Laparoscopic surgery in gynecologic oncology

Panoramic retroperitoneal pelviscopy, introduced in 1987 was the first of the laparaoscopic operations used in the field of gyneceologic oncology. It was divised in order to enable the assessment of the pelvic lymph nodes prior to decision making in the management of patients with early cervical cancer. Starting from 1992, laparaoscopic surgery to all fields of gynecologic oncology and all the operations of the classical repertoire were transcribed in the new repertoire. This evolution is not without danger. Direct manipulation of an organ harboring a malignant tumor increases the chances of diffusion of malignant cells. Working with micro-instruments under CO(2) insufflation is likely to favor chances of dissemination. The true place of laparoscopic surgery is, as it has assuredly been since the beginning of its use, in the assessment of tumor surroundings and not in direct manipulation of the organ harboring the tumor. In the cases where imaging clearly shows regional and/or distal spread, it would be better to avoid laparoscopic dissection and retrieval. The most difficult problem in laparaoscopic onco-surgery is not the surgery itself, but in determining in which cases is can be used and in which it cannot.