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Robots steady breast cancer surgeon's hands in first human trial
It is hoped delicate procedure to divert 0.3mm vessels could benefit more patients
Doctors have used a robot to perform extremely delicate surgical operations on breast cancer patients in the first human trial of the technology.
Eight women had the robot-assisted procedure at Maastricht University Medical Center, in the Netherlands, to alleviate a common complication of breast cancer surgery.
The robot helped a specialist surgeon divert thread-like lymphatic vessels, as narrow as 0.3mm, around scar tissue in the patients' armpits, and connect them to nearby blood vessels.
The operation, which requires immense care and precision, is offered to some breast cancer patients to reduce swelling in the arms that builds up when the lymphatic system cannot drain properly. Because the vessels are so small, surgeons need exceptionally steady hands to perform the operation well.
"This is the first time in the world that such an operation has been performed with a robot," said Tom van Mulken, a consultant plastic surgeon at the hospital. "It's a very delicate and tricky procedure."
Breast cancer-related lymphedema, as the condition is known, affects about one-third of breast cancer survivors within two years of having surgery to remove their tumours. The problem can arise when surgeons remove lymph nodes from the armpit to investigate whether the cancer has spread. In some cases, scar tissue forms and blocks the lymphatic system, the network of vessels that carries immune cells around the body and drains away its cellular waste.
Writing in Nature Communications, researchers in Maastricht and at Eindhoven University of Technology describe a pilot trial in which a specialist s
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