American Pediatric Surgical Association New Technology Committee review on video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for childhood cancer

Background/Purpose: Although the use of minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques for children with cancer is being practiced by some, its role remains unclearly defined. The purpose of this review was to describe the current literature on MIS for thoracic and mediastinal lesions in children. Methods: We performed a literature search for English studies that evaluated MIS techniques for biopsy or resection in children with suspected or established cancer. Only studies with greater than 20 patients were included in the review. Results: Ten studies were included for review. Each represented institutional retrospective reviews of experience. Seven were single-institution studies, and 3 were multi-institutional. There were no prospective nor randomized identified. Conclusions: Based on primarily retrospective and observational data, the use of MIS for children with cancer who have pulmonary and mediastinal lesions seems to be effective and safe. Ideally, prospective studies are needed to evaluate this further.