Int J Colorectal Dis (2008) 23:669–673 prospectively, the data were not derived from a larger case series and this study was not randomized controlled. The third is that the mean follow-up period was too short to evaluate the oncological outcomes (15.9 months; range 1– 40 months). We think that large-scale prospective con- trolled trials and long-term analysis are mandatory to overcome these limitations and confirm the oncological safety of laparoscopic transverse colon cancer surgery. We are going to report a long-term analysis after a long-term follow-up involving more cases prospectively. Conclusions The results of this study show no significant differences with regard to surgical outcomes and oncological quality by pathologic outcomes between patients in the OSCC and TCC groups. Further investigations with large-scale prospective studies and long-term analysis of laparoscopic surgery for transverse colon cancer are mandatory to establish the oncological safety of laparoscopic surgery for transverse colon cancer. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which per- mits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. References 1. Jacobs M, Verdeja JC, Goldstein HS (1991) Minimally invasive colon resection (laparoscopic colecotomy). Surg Laparosc Endosc 1:144–150 2. Stage JG, Schulze S, Moller P, Overgaard H, Andersen M, Rebsdorf-Pedersen VB, Nielsen HJ (1997) Prospective randomized study of laparoscopic versus open colonic resection for adeno- carcinoma. Br J Surg 84:391–396 3. Milsom JW, Bohm B, Hammerhofer KA, Fazio V, Steiqer E, Elson P (1998) A prospective randomized trial comparing laparoscopic versus conventional techniques in colorectal cancer surgery: a preliminary report. J Am Coll Surg 187:46–54 4. Leung KL, Kwok SP, Lam SC, Lee JF, Yiu RY, Ng SS, Lai PB, Lau WY (2004) Laparoscopic resection of rectosigmoid carcino- ma: prospective randomized trial. Lancet 363:1187–1192 673 5. Guillou PJ, Quirke P, Thorpe H, Walker J, Jayne DG, Smith AM, Heath RM, Brown JM, MRC CLASICC Trial Group (2005) Short-term endpoints of conventional versus laparoscopic assis- ted surgery in patients with colorectal cancer (MRC CLASICC trial): multicentre, randomized controlled study. Lancet 365: 1718–1726 6. The Colon Cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection Study Group (2005) Laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery for colon cancer: short-term outcomes of a randomized trial. Lancet Oncol 6:477–484 7. The Clinical Outcomes of Surgical Therapy Study Group (2004) A comparison of laparoscopically assisted and open colectomy for colon cancer. N Engl J Med 350:2050–2059 8. Abraham NS, Byrne CM, Young JM, Solomon MJ (2007) Meta- analysis of non-randomized comparative studies of the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer. ANZ J Surg 77:508–516 9. Kamyar K, Margherita C, Forough F, Mehran A (2007) Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer: a systemic review. Can J Surg 50:48–57 10. Tjandra JJ, Chan MKY (2006) Systemic review on the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic resection for colon and rectosigmoid cancer. Colorectal Dis 8:375–388 11. Breukink S, Pierie J, Wiggers T (2006) Laparoscpic versus open total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 18:CD005200 12. Abraham NS, Young JM, Solomon MJ (2004) Meta-analysis of short-term outcomes after laparoscopic resection for colorectal cancer. Br J Surg 91:1111–1124 13. Jackson TD, Kaplan GG, Arena G, Page JH, Rogers SO Jr (2007) Laparoscopic versus open resection for colorectal cancer: a meta- analysis of oncologic outcomes. J Am Coll Surg 204:439–446 14. Feingold DL, Addona T, Forde KA, Arnell TD, Carter JJ, Huang EH, Whelan RL (2004) Safety and reliability of tattooing colorectal neoplasm prior to laparoscopic resection. J Gastrointest Surg 8:543–546 15. Fennerty MB, Sampliner RE, Hixson LJ, Garewal HS (1992) Effectiveness of India ink as a long-term colonic mucosal marker. Am J Gastroenterol 87:79–81 16. Fujita J, Uyama I, Suqioka A, Komori Y, Matsui H, Hasumi A (2001) Laparoscopic right hemicolectomy with radical lymph node dissection using the no-touch isolation technique for advanced colon cancer. Surg Today 31:93–96 17. Baca I, Perko Z, Bokan I, Mimica Z, Petricevic A, Druijanic N, Situm M (2005) Technique and survival after laparoscopically assisted right hemicolectomy. Surg Endosc 19:650–655 18. Ichihara T, Takada M, Fukumoto S, Kuroda Y (2004) Lympha- denectomy along the middle colic artery in laparoscopic resection of transverse colon. Hepatogastroenterology 51:455–456 19. Ignjatovic D, Stimec B, Finjor T, Bergamaschi R (2004) Venous anatomy of the right colon: three-dimensional topographic map- ping of the gastrocolic trunk of Henle. Tech Coloproctol 8:19–22 20. Schlachta CM, Mamazza J, Poulin EC (2006) Are transverse colon cancers suitable for laparoscopic resection. Surg Endosc 21:396–399 2007