Minimally Invasive Surgery for Malignancies of the Gastrointestinal Tract: Colon - Contra Position

Background: Presentation of the current situation regarding studies comparing open versus laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer. Methods: Selective literature review and data from the Erlangen Registry of Colorectal Carcinomas. Results: With appropriate expertise of the surgeon and appropriate selection, laparoscopic resection of colon cancer can be performed with the same oncological results as compared to open surgery. Conclusions: In the future, the terms 'expert' and 'selection' must be defined more precisely in order to minimize the rate of conversions associated with poorer oncological results. Basically, the quality of laparoscopic surgery must be based on that of the optimized open procedure.