Mesothelioma Law

Surgery for Mesothelioma and other Types of Cancer

Certainly the oldest form of cancer treatment, surgery is used to physically remove the cancerous tissue from the body or reduce the size of tumors and their ability to impair any number of bodily functions. There are quite a few different types of surgery that doctors employ for cancer treatment which include:

• Palliative Surgery – This surgery is performed to relieve pain and restore function to areas of the body which are impaired by a tumor’s growth or the destruction of tissue. As an example, a doctor might perform palliative surgery on a tumor that is pressing on an optic nerve and reducing vision from an eye.
• Supportive Surgery – Supportive surgery is often performed to facilitate other types of treatment. A doctor might perform supportive surgery to implant an immunotherapy device to assist with that treatment or a catheter for fluid evacuation or delivery.
• Reconstructive Surgery – Also called restorative surgery, reconstructive surgery occurs after cancer surgery to restore physical appearance or organ function. Breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy has been performed is a an example of restorative surgery.
• Debulking Surgery – Debulking surgery is performed when doctors wish to reduce the size of a cancerous tumor when removal is not an option. If a tumor is in or very close to a major organ and complete removal would threaten that organ’s ability to function and/or the patient’s life, doctors would perform debulking surgery to remove what they can without further endangering the patient
• Curative Surgery – Usually performed when a tumor is small or hasn’t spread to other areas, curative surgery can be the main cancer treatment option or be part of other therapies such as multimodality therapy or as preparation for radiation therapy. If curative surgery is performed concurrently with radiation therapy, the proper term is intraoperative radiation therapy.
• Staging Surgery – Staging surgery is performed to determine a cancer’s development when non-invasive techniques have failed to produce conclusive results. In staging surgery, doctors assess the cancer’s stage and whether or not the cancer has spread to other areas.
• Diagnostic Surgery – Often performed to obtain a tissue sample so that a pathologist can determine what type of cancer is present or whether the cancer exists, diagnostic surgery can be either invasive with traditional incisions or minimally-invasive with newer tools such as a laparoscope.
• Preventative Surgery – Preventative surgery is performed when doctors suspect that a tumor or other kind of tissue may become malignant and spread or as a precautionary measure if a family’s medical history leads them to believe that the patient is at risk.

Within these broad categories of cancer treatment surgery, there may be many different subcategories of surgery with descriptive names that doctors may use to describe a particular procedure with greater accuracy. Along with the aforementioned laparoscope, there are a wide array of surgical tools that surgeons may use that allow patients to undergo a procedure on an outpatient basis with far fewer complications and faster recovery times. As more and more of these tools are developed and doctors become more adept at performing surgeries without harming other tissue, cancer patients may experience recovery times unthinkable in years past.