How can surgery be used as a treatment for cancer

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Stem Cell Transplant. Targeted Therapy. Steps to Find a Clinical Trial. Help With Clinical Trials Search. What Are Clinical Trials? Where Trials Take Place. Types of Clinical Trials. Phases of Clinical Trials. Use of Placebos. Research Team Members. Paying for Clinical Trials. Staging surgery is done to learn how large the tumor is, if it has spread, and if so, where.

Your doctor may remove the entire tumor or take a sample. They may also take some lymph nodes near the cancer to learn if it has spread. Surgical removal of lymph nodes is also called a lymphadenectomy. Your lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection.

They are often the first place a cancer spreads. As imaging scans get more advanced, more and more staging is done using imaging studies like ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs, and X-rays. A pathologist will look at the tissue and talk with your oncologist about what they find.

The results of staging surgery and other tests help you and your doctor decide on treatment. The results can also help predict your chance of recovery. Tumor removal. Removing a tumor is a common type of cancer surgery. This may also be called a "resection" or "excision. The tissue around the tumor is called the margin. Tumor removal generally requires a larger incision, or cut, than a biopsy.

Sometimes, there are less invasive surgical options for tumor removal, like laparoscopic surgery or robotic surgery. These use small instruments and incisions. With a less invasive surgery, you usually have less pain and recover faster. Surgery may be the only cancer treatment needed. Or, you might also have additional treatments, like chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

Debulking is a surgery that removes part, but not all, of a tumor. Your doctor may not always be able to remove the entire tumor. It might damage other parts of your body or it might be too large. Debulking removes as much of the tumor as possible. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other treatments might be given before or after this type of surgery. This can help shrink the tumor and treat the cancer.

Palliative surgery. The goal of palliative surgery is to relieve side effects caused by a tumor. It can improve your quality of life if you have advanced cancer. Examples are operations that can:. Put in a feeding tube or port for medication. Reconstructive surgery. Treating cancer can change the way you look or how your body works.

Reconstructive surgery can help with the effects of cancer treatment. Sometimes, reconstructive surgery is done at the same time the tumor is removed. Or you might wait until you have healed or had other treatments. Examples of reconstructive surgery include breast reconstruction after a mastectomy and surgery to restore appearance and function after head and neck surgery.

Learn more about reconstructive surgery. In: Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed April 30, Preventing and treating blood clots. What is cancer surgery? Townsend CM Jr, et al. Emerging technology in surgery: Informatics, robotics, electronics. What to expect when having surgery. Side effects of surgery. Einarsson JI. Overview of electrosurgery. See also Adjuvant therapy for cancer After a flood, are food and medicines safe to use?

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Reprint Permissions A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. This varies widely and depends on the type of cancer you have. But for some cancers, when the disease is diagnosed in the earliest stages, surgery is considered to be a cure. However, in other cases your treatment team may recommend additional therapy, such as radiation or chemotherapy, to eradicate those cells. Pathology reports and other information will help your doctor determine whether you need additional treatment.

In many ways cancer surgery is like any other surgery. For cancer surgery, you will need to follow up with your cancer care team and follow any recommendations about continued monitoring to catch any recurrence early.

Yale Medicine surgical oncologists and Yale Cancer Center providers are dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients through clinical practice and research endeavors. According to Dr. For surgery, in particular, we are careful to answer all of their questions about the surgery and other treatments they will undergo as part of their multidisciplinary cancer treatment plan. Kahn says. Skip to Main Content. Print Share Download.

What is cancer? What role does surgery play in cancer care? Some important roles are as follows: Prevention: Some people know usually through genetic testing that they are at high risk for developing certain cancers.