The Goal of Cancer Surgery

Knowing that you need cancer surgery can be scary, and it is natural to be anxious about the procedure. But learning more about the surgery can help you feel more at ease. Here are the details if you want to know more about the goal of cancer surgery.

Reasons for going through cancer surgery

This procedure is essential for treating or helping to diagnose cancer. The patient’s doctor will strongly advise it for many reasons. There could be a short discussion about it, and the patient's family could also be involved in the decision to move forward with it. Here are the main reasons for agreeing to cancer surgery:

• It is helpful in diagnosing the type of cancer; taking all or part of the tumor out will allow the doctor to study it under a microscope, and this will determine if the tumor is either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous)
• It may help prevent cancer if the patient has a high risk of developing tumors in certain organs or tissues, and the doctor may recommend removing the organs or tissues before cancer cells start to appear
• It can help the doctor stage the diagnosed cancer; they can look at the size of the tumor and see if it has already spread to the lymph nodes, and more tests may be necessary to help determine the stage of cancer
• It can treat cancer; many patients rely on surgery to get rid of the cancer, and this is most  effective in patients whose cancer has not spread yet.
• It relieves side effects or symptoms to improve the patient’s quality of life, as the doctor could remove a tumor that is blocking the intestine or pinching a nerve
• It can help take away most of the tumor; this can help radiation therapy or chemotherapy be more effective

Using cancer surgery to treat cancer

The goal of the first cancer surgery is to remove the tumor or cancer. It may be the only treatment that the patient needs, especially if the cancer is in its early stages. The surgery could target a tumor that has not spread to other parts of the body yet. Cancer surgery may include biological therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or radiation therapy.

This procedure may also remove a few of the lymph nodes near the tumor. The doctor can examine the tissue from these nodes. Doing so can help them see if the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body. Specific types of surgery can help specific types of cancer. Here are a few examples:

• Breast-conserving surgery can prevent the removal of the whole breast; one example of this surgery is lumpectomy, which involves removing the breast tumor and keeps most of the breast tissue intact
• Robot-assisted surgery is a minimally invasive procedure; it targets the tumors and speeds up the patient’s recovery
• Transoral laser microsurgery is a technique that hails from Europe; this minimally invasive procedure is for neck and head cancers, and through this procedure, the doctor can remove the tumors in the neck and head through the mouth, as this route prevents incisions through the muscles and skin of the neck and enables the patient to recover faster

Traditional cancer surgery techniques

The aim of this procedure is to remove the entire tumor from the body. The doctor will cut into the patient’s body and remove the cancer and some of the surrounding healthy tissue. This will ensure that all the cancerous tissue is extracted. Removing lymph nodes in that part of the body can determine if the cancer has already spread and help the doctor figure out the patient’s chances of being cured. It can also help the doctor decide if the patient needs more treatment.

Other cancer surgery techniques

New methods of this type of surgery continue to be developed. Electrosurgery uses electrical currents to kill cancer cells on the skin or in the mouth. Cryosurgery uses intense cold to freeze and then destroy the cancerous cells. Laser surgery uses beams of intense light to vaporize or reduce the size of cancer cells.

Cancer surgery aims to remove the cancerous tissues or help other treatments

Having this serious diagnosis is never easy. Learning that you need cancer surgery is also stressful, but it can help you recover. The surgery may also help other cancer treatments become more effective. Discussing your procedure with your doctor can help prepare you for it.

Get more information about Lindenberg Cancer & Hematology Center in Marlton at https://lindenbergcancer.com.

Check out what others are saying about our services on Yelp: Cancer Surgery in Marlton, NJ.