New technology-based innovation changes surgical practice and research direction in solid cancers

Excerpt

Without innovation, no progress can be achieved. To improve oncological outcomes and the quality of life (QOL) of patients with rectal cancer and other solid tumors, we should change both surgical and adjuvant treatment. For improving survival and cure rates, more efficient surgery and novel combinations of chemotherapeutic and targeted agents are needed. Moreover, we need new markers for identifying individual responder patients to specific drug combinations. In the field of day-to-day surgical practice, the next generation of the robotic da Vinci surgical system, and in the field of biomarkers and next-generation targeted agents, the latest high-throughput technologies provide exciting scientific promise for the future. Over the coming decade, next-generation DNA sequencing technology for understanding cancer’s origin, progression, and metastasis [1, 2] and a new generation of the da Vinci surgical robotic system for clinical practice [3] are fundamental for changing the management of solid cancers, including rectal cancer. …