Advances in Laparoscopic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Strategies in Gastrointestinal Cancer

Dear Colleagues,

During the last decade, minimally invasive surgery has become the standard of care for various pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. In specialized centers, even complex procedures for gastrointestinal malignancies are routinely caried out laparoscopically. The recent addition of robotic assisting systems to the surgical arsenal facilitates this development, and they will potentially replace conventional laparoscopy in the future. The popularity of minimally invasive resection of gastrointestinal tumors is explained mainly by the enhanced patient recovery, including a shortened hospital stay and faster return to society, while several studies also hint at oncological advantages possibly due to improved visualization. A continuous improvement of the technical equipment available for the execution of minimally invasive operations over recent years has made the operations faster, safer and easier to perform. However, digitalization and artificial intelligence have just recently started being added to the mix and will potentially completely alter the way we perform minimally invasive surgery today.

While various different minimally invasive approaches for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies are routinely used in clinical practice, only limited scientific evidence supports the application of those techniques. Further studies are urgently needed to compare the results of different minimally invasive approaches and to investigate the benefits of those techniques on the quality of life and overall survival of patients suffering from gastrointestinal cancer.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue titled “Advances in Laparoscopic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Strategies in Gastrointestinal Cancer”. Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694) is an international, peer-reviewed open access journal on oncology. This Special Issue aims to give an overview of the utilization of different minimally invasive techniques in gastrointestinal cancer treatment with a focus on original studies providing substantial evidence for the application of laparoscopic or robotically assisted techniques for various gastrointestinal malignancies. Additionally, we welcome reports of innovative strategies employing digital models or artificial intelligence. As a unique feature of this journal, we accept studies showing meaningful but negative results. This Special Issue also aims to illustrate the technical, oncological and socioeconomic limitations of minimally invasive surgery today and to propose possible solutions.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: laparoscopic and robotically assisted techniques for resection of hepatobiliary, pancreatic, esophageal, gastric and colorectal malignancies, digital assisting systems, artificial intelligence in minimally invasive surgery, innovative techniques with potential impact on minimally invasive cancer surgery including NOTES/NOSE techniques, studies comparing overall survival and quality of life after different minimally invasive approaches as well as studies on socioeconomic aspects of minimally invasive surgery.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Torben Glatz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• minimally invasive surgery

• laparoscopic surgery
• robotic surgery
• gastrointestinal cancer
• local ablative therapy
• intraperitoneal chemotherapy
• quality of life
• overall survival