Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41738649›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of surgery (London, England)2026

Transoral robotic surgery in head and neck cancer: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.

Chuan-Lu Shen, Zi-Yue Fu, Yan-Qiang Zhang, Shu Wang, Si-Yue Yin, Yun-Xia Ma, Yi-Wei Liu, Liang Zhang, Shan-Wen Chen, Yan-Xun Han and 2 more

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Article in International journal of surgery (London, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Chuan-Lu ShenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Zi-Yue FuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Yan-Qiang ZhangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Shu WangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Si-Yue YinDepartment of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Yun-Xia MaDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Yi-Wei LiuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Liang ZhangDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Shan-Wen ChenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Yan-Xun HanDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.ORCID 0009-0003-6412-2568
Yu-Chen LiuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.ORCID 0000-0002-9189-3021
Kai-Le WuDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.ORCID 0000-0002-6578-5000

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe aim of this umbrella review is to investigate the advantages of primary transoral robotic surgery (TORS) over other treatments such as open surgery (OS), transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) and primary radiotherapy in the diagnosis management of head and neck cancer (HNC). MATERIALS AND

methodsA comprehensive search for meta-analyses of comparisons between TORS of HNC and other treatments such as OS, TLM and primary radiotherapy was conducted in the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. The primary outcomes assessed include oncological outcomes, surgical outcomes, function outcomes and complicates. The AMSTAR-2 tool was used to assess the quality, which consists of 16 entries, with final quality outcomes categorized as "critically low quality," "low quality," "moderate quality," and "high quality."

resultsOf the 1424 articles retrieved, 14 studies were eventually included for the comprehensive umbrella meta-analysis. TORS was superior to OS in terms of survival rate, length of hospital stay, cosmetic outcome, quality of life, surgical efficacy, and recognition of HNC with unknown primary lesion, but no significant difference was seen between them and TLM or radiation therapy.

conclusionThere are few studies on head and neck tumors other than oropharyngeal cancer, and there is a lack of studies on specific tumor stages or HPV status of the population, which does not allow for the provision of personalized treatment recommendations based on the patient's own situation, and there is a need to carry out more randomized controlled trials on the specific type and status of the patient in future.

Indexed as

head and neck carcinomatransoral robotic surgeryumbrella review

Identifiers

PMID41738649
PMCPMC13105643

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.