surgical oncology
About Surgical Oncology
It is a branch of surgical speciality which deals with diagnosing, staging and treating cancer with an intent to cure or to provide palliative care.
Palliative surgeries intend to control pain, improve an individual’s quality of life and also to address cancer related symptoms and side effects.
Complex tumor removals require surgeries to be performed by highly skilled and specialised surgical oncologists who have expertise in tissue identification, tissue handling and making critical on table decisions.
Specialized surgeries like skull base surgeries, commando operation, liver resections, microvascular reconstruction of flaps, removal of complex liver and lung tumors, limb conserving surgery in bone tumors, laparoscopic surgery for staging and diagnosis are performed with great skill and expertise.
The eligibility of an individual for cancer surgery is dependent on the type, size, location, grade and stage of the tumor including his physical fitness and previous medical conditions.
Oncological procedures are performed either by open methods if the invasion is more or by minimally invasive techniques like laparoscopy or robotic surgery.
The surgical oncologist is the leader of cancer care, cancer research and cancer teaching in the academic surgical community.
ADVANCES IN SURGICAL ONCOLOGY
- Minimal invasive cancer surgery – Laparoscopy, NOTES, Transanal endoscopic microsurgery.
- Better criteria to get better results.
- Sentinel lymph node biopsy.
- Organ preservation strategies.
- Robotic surgery.
- Intraoperative chemotherapy along with radiotherapy.
- Reconstructive surgeries after debilitating morbid surgeries.
- Cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC.
- Isolated limb perfusion.