Transoral robotic surgery adoption and safety in treatment of oropharyngeal cancers

Background Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for the treatment of oropharyngeal cancers (oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma [OPSCC]). This study investigated the adoption and safety of TORS. Methods All patients who underwent TORS for OPSCC in the National Cancer Data Base from 2010 to 2016 were selected. Trends in the positive margin rate (PMR), 30‐day unplanned readmission, and early postoperative mortality were evaluated. Outcomes after TORS, nonrobotic surgery (NRS), and nonsurgical treatment were compared with matched‐pair survival analyses. Results From 2010 to 2016, among 73,661 patients with OPSCC, 50,643 were treated nonsurgically, 18,024 were treated with NRS, and 4994 were treated with TORS. TORS utilization increased every year from 2010 (n = 363; 4.2%) to 2016 (n = 994; 8.3%). The TORS PMR for base of tongue malignancies decreased significantly over the study period (21.6% in 2010‐2011 vs 15.8% in 2015‐2016; P = .03). The TORS PMR at high‐volume centers (≥10 cases per year; 11.2%) was almost half that of low‐volume centers (