Laparoscopy is selectively adopted for the management of apparently early stage disease, defined as organ-confined cancer with no evidence of gross metastatic disease, and based upon preoperative imaging studies or laparoscopic inspection. Since the introduction of the laparoscope by Jacobaeus in 1910, its usefulness in the surgical arena has been met with skepticism by traditional surgeons. The first case of laparoscopic staging of ovarian cancer was reported in 1975. Subsequently many others used the laparoscope as a diagnostic tool in second-look operations. The slow integration of laparoscopy into gynecology oncology, other than as a diagnostic tool, was because of the belief that radical surgery could not be performed adequately or safely. Currently, advanced laparoscopic techniques are used to evaluate and treat cervical, endometrial and ovarian malignancies.