Laparoscopy for diagnosis and staging of malignancy

The use of minimally invasive surgery for abdominal pathology, including ma lignancy, has increased significantly within the past decade. Despite the a dvances in radiographic imaging, the use of laparoscopy for diagnosing and staging abdominal malignancy has become an important tool in the overall ca re of these patients. A review of published series for a variety of abdomin al malignancies is presented. With the growing experience in this technique , some preliminary conclusions and ongoing issues are discussed. (C) 1999 W iley-Liss, Inc.