surgical oncology

Advances in the field of medical and radiation oncology have offered potential cures to most solid cancers. Despite these advances, surgery is still the mainstay treatment for most cancers.

Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery applied to oncology. This focuses on the surgical management of tumors, especially cancerous tumors. They focus on surgical interventions to diagnose and stage cancer, relieve its symptoms, and prevent its spreading or recurrence. It also focuses on surgeries to control pain, increase a patient’s comfort level, and manage cancer-related symptoms (palliative surgeries).

Depending upon the purpose of the surgery, the following are some of the types of surgery used in cancer treatment:

• Curative Surgery: When the cancerous tumor growth is more localized in the body, this type is performed to remove it from that specific area.
• Preventive Surgery: Though the nearby tissue of the cancerous cells isn’t affected, it will be removed to prevent the malignancy of the tumor-affected cells.
• Diagnostic Surgery: To rule out or conclude, if the specific tissues are cancerous or not, the tissue sample is removed for examination in the pathological lab. This helps in the diagnosis and detection of cancer type or stage.
• Staging Surgery: This type of surgery is performed to know to what extent cancer has affected the body. Laparoscopy is one of the tools to perform Staging surgery.
• Debulking Surgery: This type of surgery removes a part of the tumor, so as not to damage the affected organ.

Other types include palliative, supportive, and restorative surgeries.

Depending on the type of cancer, its location, and the size of the tumor, surgical oncology offers the following services:

• Complex cancer surgeries involve surgical treatments and multidisciplinary care of rare or uncommon cancers or complex presentations.
• Laparoscopic cancer surgeries for gastric and gynecological cancers.
• Sentinel node biopsies for staging and management of breast cancers.
• Reconstructive cancer surgeries to repair the changes that occur in your body from cancer surgeries.
• Video-Assisted Thoracic Cancer Surgeries (VATS) is mainly for the effective management of thoracic cancers.
• Sphincter preserving rectal cancer surgeries and organ preservation for the management of various gastrointestinal cancers.
• Chemo port placement (Adult & Pediatric) for easy withdrawal of blood and the administration of intravenous fluids, blood transfusions, or drugs such as chemotherapy.
• Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) - An effective palliative therapy for people with malignant ascites, or an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen.
• Organ Conservative Surgeries- An effective surgical alternative for advanced-stage cancers providing better oncological control and minimal complications.

Breast Oncoplasty or Oncoplastic Breast Reconstruction - A new surgical approach combining principles of cancer surgery and plastic surgery to remove cancer by maintaining the shape and symmetry of the breast.