Objective: This study aims to compare the oncological outcomes between robot-assisted esophagectomy and minimally invasive conventional thoracoscopic esophagectomy.~Study design: Randomized controlled parallel-group superiority trial Study population: Patients (age >= 18 and <= 75 years) with histologically proven surgically resectable (cT1b-3, N0-2, M0) squamous cell carcinoma of the intrathoracic esophagus with European Clinical Oncology Group performance status 0, 1 or 2.~Intervention: 360 patients will be randomly allocated to either A) robot-assisted esophagectomy (n=180) or B) conventional thoracoscopic esophagectomy (n=180).~Patients will receive the following interventions:~Group A. robot assisted esophagectomy, with gastric conduit formation. Group B. conventional thoracoscopic esophagectomy, with gastric conduit formation.~Main study parameters/endpoints: Primary outcome is 5-year overall survival rate.~Secondary outcomes are 5-year disease free survival, 3-year overall survival rate, 3-year disease free survival, (in hospital) mortality within 30 and 60 days, R0 resections, operation related events, postoperative recovery, lymph nodes status, quality of life.~Follow-up: 60 months after discharge of the last randomized patient.
This is the first randomized controlled study to compare the robot-assisted esophagectomy (RAE) to minimally invasive conventional thoracoscopic esophagectomy (CTE). The aim of this trial is to evaluate the safety, risks of the robot-assisted esophagectomy, and to compare the short-term operative outcomes and long-term oncological outcomes between the two surgical treatments.