Transoral robotic surgery versus nonrobotic resection of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of transoral robotic surgery (TORS) compared to nonrobotic surgery (NRS) on overall survival in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). We performed a retrospective study of patients with HPV+ and HPV- OPSCC undergoing TORS or NRS with neck dissection using the National Cancer Database from the years 2010-2016. Among patients with OPSCC in our cohort, 3167 (58.1%) patients underwent NRS and 2288 (41.9%) underwent TORS. TORS patients demonstrated better overall survival than NRS patients (HPV+ patients: aHR 0.74, p = 0.02; HPV- patients: aHR 0.58, p < 0.01). Subsite analysis showed TORS was correlated with improved survival in base of tongue (BoT) primaries for both HPV+ (aHR 0.46, p = 0.01) and HPV- (aHR 0.42, p = 0.01) OPSCC. Compared to NRS, TORS is associated with improved overall survival for HPV+ and HPV- OPSCC, as well as greater overall survival for BoT primaries.

Automated summary

The study found that in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, those undergoing transoral robotic surgery (TORS) had better overall survival compared to those undergoing nonrobotic surgery (NRS). Specifically, TORS was associated with significantly improved survival rates in patients with base of tongue primaries.