By Monica J. Smith
Atlanta—The COST (Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Therapy) trial, published in 2004, demonstrated oncologic equivalency between laparoscopic and open operations for colorectal cancer, and paved the way for numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that confirmed those findings.
New research suggests publication of the landmark study (N Engl J Med 2004;350:2050-2059) also had a significant effect on surgeon adoption of laparoscopic colectomy, which now