Response to Letter to the Editor: Author's Reply

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We thank Rebecca C. Falik for her comment on our article “Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Staging for Early Ovarian Cancer: A Case-matched Control Study” that was recently published in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology [ 1 Gallotta V. Cicero C. Conte C. et al. Robotic versus laparoscopic staging for early ovarian cancer: a case-matched control study. J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2016; 24: 293-298 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (31) Google Scholar ]. In the last few years, great enthusiasm has been fueled by the development of a robotic platform for pelvic dissection and multiple-quadrant abdominal surgical procedures that could offer an innovative alternative to the laparoscopic and laparotomic approach in gynecologic malignancies. Nevertheless, the use of the minimally invasive approach for surgical staging of early ovarian cancer (EOC) remains controversial. Recently, we published an article that shows that laparoscopy is associated with equivalent oncologic outcomes compared with the conventional abdominal approach in the surgical treatment of EOC [ 2 Gallotta V. Ghezzi F. Vizza E. et al. Laparoscopic staging of apparent early stage ovarian cancer: results of a large, retrospective, multi-institutional series. Gynecol Oncol. 2014; 135: 428-434 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (54) Google Scholar ]. Regarding “Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Staging for Early Ovarian Cancer: A Case-matched Control Study”Journal of Minimally Invasive GynecologyVol. 24Issue 6PreviewI read with interest the recent article by Gallotta et al titled “Robotic Versus Laparoscopic Staging for Early Ovarian Cancer: A Case-matched Control Study” [1]. The article states that to Gallotta et al's knowledge, before their submission in September 2016, there had been 2 previous studies [2,3] on the comparison of robotic versus the conventional laparoscopic approach for the staging of early ovarian cancer. I wonder what criteria the authors used in their literature search that led to the omission of an article published in the March 2014 issue of the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer titled “Comparison of Perioperative Outcomes and Complication Rates Between Conventional Versus Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopy in the Evaluation and Management of Early, Advanced, and Recurrent Stage Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, and Primary Peritoneal Cancer” [4]. Full-Text PDF