Unlike most other abdominal procedures, pancreatic resection for malignant tumours is still predominantly performed as open surgery. However, recent published randomised trials suggest that a laparoscopic approach is safe and may offer advantages in the early postoperative period. Likewise, early reports of robot-assisted pancreatic resection suggest advantages. This reveiw describes the current status of minimally invasive pancreatic surgery for malignant tumours, including both laparoscopic and robot-assisted approaches for pancreaticoduodenectomy and distal pancreatectomy.