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Robotic vs. transoral laser surgery of malignant oropharyngeal tumors—what is best for the patient?

A contemporary review

Robotische vs. transorale Laserchirurgie maligner oropharyngealer Tumoren – was ist für den Patienten am besten?

Eine aktuelle Übersicht

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Abstract

Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx is a malignancy of increasing prevalence. The oncologic community is currently evaluating the safety and efficacy of de-intensifying treatment without compromising oncologic outcomes. Paramount to these treatment algorithms is primary surgery through transoral approaches. This article reviews the literature and concepts pertaining to transoral surgery and describes the two most common techniques, transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) and transoral robotic surgery (TORS).

Zusammenfassung

Das mit dem humanen Papillomavirus (HPV) assoziierte Plattenepithelkarzinom des Oropharynx ist ein Malignom mit zunehmender Prävalenz. In der onkologischen Fachwelt werden derzeit die Sicherheit und Wirksamkeit deintensivierender Behandlungsansätze ohne Beeinträchtigung der onkologischen Ergebnisse geprüft. Von entscheidender Bedeutung bei diesen Behandlungsalgorithmen ist die primäre Chirurgie über transorale Zugangswege. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein Überblick über die Literatur und Konzepte in Bezug auf die transorale Chirurgie gegeben, und es werden die beiden am meisten verbreiteten Verfahren beschrieben, die transorale Lasermikrochirurgie (TLM) und die transorale robotische Chirurgie (TORS).

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Correspondence to Thomas H. Nagel MD.

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T.H. Nagel, B.A. Chang and M.L. Hinni declare that they have no competing interests.

For this article no studies with human participants or animals were performed by any of the authors. All studies mentioned were in accordance with the ethical standards indicated in each case.

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Nagel, T.H., Chang, B.A. & Hinni, M.L. Robotic vs. transoral laser surgery of malignant oropharyngeal tumors—what is best for the patient?. HNO 70, 371–379 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-022-01165-x

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