There are four possible treatment options for cancer and one that is particularly effective is surgery. It can cure the cancer if the cancer can be completely removed, if a border of healthy tissue that is cancer cell free can also be removed with the cancer and if the cancer has not spread before the surgery.
One problem that can arise with surgery is that even though the scans may appear like the cancer is located in only one area, the cancer cells may have traveled to another part of the body as the cells break away from the primary cancer. These secondary cancers could have just been too small to see (called micrometastases). Another occurrence is that the cancer has spread more than the surgeon originally though, causing the operation to take longer or sometimes be impossible.
During the surgery, the main lymphatic nodes and lymph nodes that are closest to the cancer or the organ where the cancer cells are allocated will be removed. This is because these are the places where the cancer is most likely to have spread. Since the cancer may have broken away from the primary source, your surgeon may recommend that you have radiotherapy or chemotherapy after surgery to be sure it is all gone. In some instances, the patient will have radiotherapy or chemotherapy before the surgery to make it smaller and easier to remove.
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