Challenges in improving the minimal invasiveness of the surgical treatment for gastric cancer using robotic technology.

The number of operations performed using the da Vinci Surgical System (DVSS) has been increasing worldwide in the past decade. We introduced robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC) in January 2009 to overcome the disadvantage of conventional laparoscopic gastrectomy. Initially, we experienced some troubles in the technical aspect and cost of robotic surgery.