[Editorial] The promise of telesurgery in oncology
Summary
In early 2026, 62-year-old Gibraltar resident Paul Buxton had a successful robotic prostatectomy to treat his prostate cancer. His surgeon was 2400 km away in London, UK. In mid-2025, a surgeon in Florida, USA, performed the same surgery on a patient in Angola, Africa—the longest distance telesurgery recorded to date. Once the realm of science fiction, telesurgery is rapidly transforming surgical oncology, with the…
In early 2026, 62-year-old Gibraltar resident Paul Buxton had a successful robotic prostatectomy to treat his prostate cancer. His surgeon was 2400 km away in London, UK. In mid-2025, a surgeon in Florida, USA, performed the same surgery on a patient in Angola, Africa—the longest distance telesurgery recorded to date. Once the realm of science fiction, telesurgery is rapidly transforming surgical oncology, with the potential to bridge health equity gaps and overcome health-system barriers, facilitating access to high-quality surgical care in remote and underserved regions and relieving global workforce shortages.