A study looking at robotic surgery for ovarian cancer (MIRRORS)

Cancer type:

Ovarian cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Pilot

This study was done to see whether it would be possible to run a larger trial looking at robotic surgery for advanced ovarian cancer.

It was open for people to join between 2020 and 2021. The team published the results in 2024.

More about this trial

This trial was for women with ovarian cancer that had spread into the tummy (abdomen), to the lymph nodes Open a glossary item or to another part of the body. This is stage 3c or stage 4 ovarian cancer. They were having chemotherapy. They were due to have surgery to remove their cancer, followed by more chemotherapy.

When this trial was done, people usually had open surgery. This involves making a large cut in the abdomen to remove the cancer.

Researchers wanted to find out if it would be useful to use robotic surgery (keyhole surgery). This involves having several much smaller cuts in the abdomen. The surgeon puts a thin tube with a light and camera through one cut. And the instruments to remove the cancer through the others.

Robotic surgery was already being used for other operations. Research had shown that it can be less painful, improve recovery and reduce the time people spend in hospital.

Researchers want to find out if robotic surgery is a good option for ovarian cancer. First, they needed to run a small study to find out if a larger trial would be possible. This is called a feasibility study.

The main aims of this feasibility study were to find out:

whether women would be willing to take part
how robotic surgery affected people’s quality of life
if there was any effect on hospital stay and other factors

Summary of results

The research team asked 24 women if they’d like to join this study, and 23 agreed (96%).

The surgeons decided that 20 of the women would be able to have robotic surgery. And 3 of the women would need open surgery. This was because of the size and position of their cancer.

The results showed that the women who had robotic surgery:

had less blood loss during the operation
had a shorter stay in hospital after the operation
started chemotherapy after their surgery sooner

The trial team concluded that it would be possible to run a trial to look at this.

They are now doing a randomised trial called Mirror-RCT Pilot. This is a pilot study Open a glossary item to see whether it would be possible to run a larger trial like this throughout the UK.

More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the references below.

Please note, the information we link to here is not in plain English. It has been written for healthcare professionals and researchers.

MIRRORS: a prospective cohort study assessing the feasibility of robotic interval debulking surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer
C Uwins and others
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, published online April 2024.

Mirrors study: a prospective cohort study assessing the feasibility of robotic interval cytoreductive surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer
C Uwins and others
Abstract at 2022 ESGO conference
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, October 2022. Volume 32, supplement 2.

Mirrors study: a prospective cohort study assessing the feasibility of robotic interval cytoreductive surgery for advanced-stage ovarian cancer
C Uwins and others
Abstract at 2022 IGCS conference
International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, December 2022. Volume 32, supplement 3.

Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on the information in the articles above. These have been reviewed by independent specialists peer reviewed Open a glossary item and published in medical journals. We have not analysed the data ourselves.