Key clinical point: Laparoscopic surgery for low rectal cancer when performed by experienced surgeons yielded short-term pathological outcomes, comparable to open surgery, along with a higher rate of sphincter preservation and a shorter duration of hospitalization.
Major finding: Laparoscopic vs open surgery was associated with similar rates of mesorectal excision (P = .78), negative circumferential resection margin (P = .09), negative distal resection margin (P = .36), postoperative complications (P = .07), and median number of retrieved lymph nodes (P = .39), along with a higher sphincter preservation rate (P = .03) and shorter hospitalization duration (P = .008).
Study details: Findings are from LASRE, a noninferiority randomized clinical trial, including 1039 patients scheduled for curative-intent resection of low rectal cancer who were randomly assigned to undergo laparoscopic (n = 712) or open (n = 358) surgery.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Key Clinical Specialty Discipline Construction Program of the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Jiang WZ et al. Short-term outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted vs open surgery for patients with low rectal cancer: The LASRE randomized clinical trial. JAMA Oncol. 2022 (Sep 15). Doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.4079