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Surgery serves various roles in cancer care, from diagnosis and determining the stage of cancer, to preventing cancer, removing cancerous tumours, providing symptom relief, and even supporting other treatments such as Systemic Treatment or Radiation Treatment. Keep reading to learn more.
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Why Surgery is Used | Resources
For some types of cancer, surgery is the main form of treatment, if the cancer can all be removed.
If you have a high risk of developing cancer in certain tissues or organs, your doctor may recommend removing those tissues or organs before cancer develops.
Your surgeon can take part or all of a tumour so that the cells can be studied under a microscope to figure out if the tissue is cancerous and what type of cancer it is.
Surgery allows your doctor to evaluate the size of your tumour and determine whether it's travelled to your lymph nodes. Other tests may also be needed.
Sometimes it’s not possible to take out all of the cancer. Your doctor might remove as much as possible, to help make the other treatment (systemic treatment or radiation) work better.
Surgery can sometimes be used to relieve pain or improve your quality of life, rather than treat the cancer itself.
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