Who is a surgical oncologist?

Surgical oncology is the use of an operation to treat cancer, and a surgical oncologist is a doctor who has specialized training in treating cancer. Surgical oncologists not only treat cancer by removing tumors or other cancerous tissue but are also called in to diagnose cancer with a biopsy.

What does a surgical oncologist do?

Surgical oncologists:

• Diagnose and stage cancer.
• Remove whole cancer (tumor/mass).
• Remove some, but not all of the tumor, debulking surgery.
• Ease symptoms caused by cancer, palliative surgery.
• To return/change the body’s condition after surgery. This is called reconstructive or restorative surgery.

What kind of surgeries does surgical oncologist perform?

Surgical oncology procedures:

• Appendectomy: It is surgery done to remove an appendix and is usually an emergency procedure performed when the appendix becomes irritated and inflamed. The condition is called appendicitis and it swells when it becomes blocked by infection, foreign material, cancer, or stool.
• Bowel resection: It is a surgery performed to treat and prevent cancer and other diseases of the colon. It is done by removing part of the large intestine.
• Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC): It is a highly concentrated, heated chemotherapy that is delivered straight to the stomach during surgery. HIPEC delivers chemotherapy directly to cancer cells in the gut.
• Pneumonectomy: It is a surgery performed to remove an entire lung.
• Standard pneumonectomy: Only the diseased lung is removed.
• Extrapleural pneumonectomy: The diseased right or left lung is removed, in addition to portions of the diaphragm, pleura, and the pericardium.
• Robotic surgery: It offers a minimally invasive alternative to both laparoscopy and open surgery as it requires only a few tiny incisions and offers greater vision, precision, and control for the surgeon. Patients can often recover quickly and get back to daily life quicker.
• Thoracotomy: It is a surgical procedure performed to open the chest cavity and is done if the patient has been diagnosed with lung cancer or other cancers, or other diseases of the heart and lungs.
• Thyroidectomy: It is the removal of the thyroid gland.
• Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS): It is a minimally invasive surgical technique used to diagnose and treat symptoms in the chest, including lung cancer.

What are the diseases treated by surgical oncologist?

• Adrenal tumors
• Appendix cancer (appendiceal carcinoma)
• Benign tumor of glandular origin
• Benign tumors of the liver
• Bile duct tumors
• Breast cancer
• Merkel cell carcinoma
• Chordoma
• Colon cancer
• Cysts
• Endocrine tumors
• Esophageal cancer
• Gastric cancer
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Intestinal cancer
• Liver cancer and tumors
• Melanoma
• Neuroendocrine cancer and tumors
• Pancreatic cancer
• Pancreatitis
• Parathyroid cancer
• Parathyroid tumors
• Pseudomyxoma Partioneii
• Renal cancer
• Sarcoma
• Skin cancer
• Thyroid cancer and  tumors

How is surgical oncologist different from a general surgeon?

Though general surgeons are also trained to perform cancer-related surgeries, surgical oncologists are surgeons who have undergone additional specialty training in cancer surgery. Each surgical oncologist focuses on his or her clinical practice on the management of only one or two types of cancer, guaranteeing that patients receive a high degree of specialization and expertise.