Abstract. Background Laparoscopy-assisted surgery (LAS) for colorectal cancer (CRC) was first described in 1991 (1) and has since been widely applied by surgeons to treat patients with CRC. Several randomized trials and meta-analyses described that LAS for colon cancer results in smaller surgical incisions, reducing intraoperative blood loss, shorter recovery and hospital stays, and similarity of morbidity rate in the shortterm, and is oncologically equivalent in the long-term, compared to open surgery (OS) (2, 3). The application of LAS for rectal cancer was controversial in the previous Medical Research Council Conventional versus Laparoscopic-Assisted Surgery In Colorectal Cancer (MRC CLASICC) trial (4). In 2013, the MRC CLASICC indicated that long-term results continue to support the use of LAS for both colonic and rectal cancer (5). In several randomized trials and our meta-analysis, LAS for rectal cancer is described to have the benefits of reducing intraoperative blood loss, earlier resumption of oral intake, and shorter duration of hospital stay in the short-term, and equivalent long-term outcomes, with comparison to OS (6, 7). However, LAS for rectal cancer has technical disadvantages such as inadequate two-dimensional view with a movable video camera, a limited range for maneuver of the long, straight and rigid laparoscopic instruments in the narrow pelvic cavity, and a reduction in tactile sense.Robot-assisted surgery (RAS) for rectal cancer was introduced to compensate for these disadvantages of LAS. Several studies describe safety and feasibility of RAS for rectal cancer after RAS for CRC was first reported in 2002 (8). The advantages of RAS are a stable 3-dimensional view, an increased dexterity for maneuvering instruments with excellent ergonomics, and physiologic tremor filtering. RAS for rectal cancer may be of use to manipulate instruments in the narrow pelvic cavity.The value of RAS for rectal cancer has remained controversial because the short-and long-term outcomes have not been clarified. To accurately evaluate the efficacy of RAS for rectal cancer, the short-and long-term outcomes of RAS for rectal cancer must be compared to those of LAS. However, there were few randomized controlled trials comparing RAS with LAS for rectal cancer. The methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) is a valid instrument for assessing the methodological quality of non-randomized studies, especially for the purposes of 611 This article is freely accessible online.Correspondence to: Hiroshi Ohtani,