Surgery is the oldest cancer treatment and is still an excellent cancer therapy option. Besides removing the cancerous mass, surgery can also help to confirm a diagnosis and identify the cancer stage — how advanced it is. While surgery is an effective cancer treatment for many types of cancer, the location of the cancer and its growth pattern will determine whether surgery is the most effective approach.
Cancer Surgery: The Basics
The goal of cancer surgery is straightforward: to cut out the tumor. But this simple approach only works for tumors that are easy to get to; in other words, the surgeon can reach them and the tumors aren't too close to vital organs, blood vessels, or nerves that could be damaged. Surgery is also the best option for cancers that are localized in just one area, rather than spread throughout the body. Cancer surgery also allows the surgeon to see how extensive the cancer is.
Cancer Surgery: Approaches
There are different types of surgery used for cancer treatment, including:
- Curative surgery. This is performed when the whole tumor can be removed. This approach works best on cancers that haven't spread to other areas of the body, with the tumor located in one area that's easy to reach. This may be the only cancer treatment needed for some types of cancer, but radiation or chemotherapy may also be administered to be sure that all the cancer cells are destroyed.
- Debulking surgery. This is surgery that removes only part of the tumor — it is performed when removing the entire tumor would damage organs and tissues surrounding it. Another treatment, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, is then used to try to destroy the rest of the tumor.
- Palliative surgery. This cancer surgery isn't intended to cure cancer. Rather, the goal is to destroy a tumor that's causing pain or other symptoms, and restore comfort and quality of life for someone whose cancer cannot be cured.
Cancer Surgery: Techniques
Today, doctors use more than just a scalpel to perform surgery to treat cancer. Here are some of the surgical techniques available:
- Laser surgery. The surgeon uses energy beams instead of a knife to excise, or cut out, a tumor.
- Cryosurgery. Instruments are chilled to below-freezing temperatures and used to remove or destroy a tumor.
- Microscopic surgery. With this surgery, the surgeon uses special tools to remove tiny, delicate layers of cells, which are then examined for cancer.
- Electrosurgery. Currents of electricity are used to destroy a tumor.
Cancer Surgery: Preparation
Typically, a number of tests may be required before you can have surgery, including blood tests, an electrocardiogram, and testing of lung function. In some cases, you may receive another type of cancer treatment before surgery: Your doctor may want to try radiation therapy or chemotherapy to shrink a tumor first, making it easier to remove.
Cancer Surgery: Side Effects
As with any type of surgery, cancer surgery offers its own potential risks and side effects, depending on your type of cancer, your type of surgery, and where the surgery is performed. There are some general risks that go along with any surgery, including bleeding, infection, and reaction to anesthesia. Following any surgery, it’s common to experience some pain, but this can be managed with medication and a period of rest, relaxation, and recovery.
You may want to get a second opinion before you undergo surgery, just to be sure that it's the most effective method of treating your particular form of cancer. And before you go ahead with it, ask all the questions necessary to make sure you understand how you might feel afterward and what the prognosis will be when surgery is the treatment course suggested for you.