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 | Surgery
Surgery is used in both the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Surgery is often used in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation.
Some ways in which surgery is used in cancer diagnosis and treatment include:
- Preventive: this surgery is performed to remove a growth that is not presently cancerous but could become so if left untreated, such as polyps on the colon.
- Diagnostic: this is a surgical procedure done to gather a tissue sample for laboratory testing. It helps physicians confirm a diagnosis and identify the specific cancer.
- Staging: this procedure determines the extent of the disease.
- Curative: this surgery is the removal of a tumor when it appears to be in only one location and there is hope of taking out all of the cancerous tissue.
- Palliative: surgery performed as a treatment of complications in the advanced stages of cancer. It is an effort to help ease the patient's discomfort .
- Reconstructive: this surgery restores the function of an organ or body part, such as breast reconstruction or bone or joint replacements
(This information was adapted from the American Cancer Society.)
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