“It’s been a labor of love to get this project off the ground,” says Kristin Bixel, MD, of a new James clinical trial for a minimally invasive surgical technique for cervical cancer that she is leading. Minimally invasive surgery (also called robotic surgery) is being performed on a growing number of different types of cancer. These less invasive surgeries reduce complications and speed up the recovery process for patients. However, the first minimally invasive procedure and clinical trial for cervical cancer resulted in an increased rate of recurrence for patients – and was immediately abandoned. This spurred Bixel to think outside the box and develop a new, different technique in which the cancerous tumor in the cervix wasn’t exposed to the peritoneal cavity. “My mind immediately went to the procedure itself,” Bixel said, adding she could picture the new surgical technique in her mind, as if looking through a scope, and began the long process of creating a clinical trial. The clinical trial began in February 2022 at the James, and several other leading cancer hospitals around the country have joined the trial. “If we can make this procedure safe for our patients that will be huge,” Bixel said. “One hundred percent of our patients want this type of small-incision surgery.”