This article highlights the individual merits and weaknesses of laparoscopic as compared with open surgery as the primary treatment of colorectal cancer. Although results clearly suggest that laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer results in an earlier postoperative recovery, it is more difficult to comment on rarer complications. To date, results from laparoscopic colorectal resections suggest that the resected specimen is oncologically comparable that obtained with open surgery, but more long-term data on cancer recurrence and survival at 3 and 5 years postoperatively are eagerly awaited.