Surgery
Cancer surgery and surgeons play a key role in many areas of cancer care. In Ontario, over 80 hospitals provide some type of cancer surgery services. Your exact treatment plan and whether or not you need any surgical treatment will be determined based on your type and stage of cancer.
If you are scheduled to have surgery and you smoke, quitting smoking can reduce the chance of complications. It also can reduce the chance of your cancer coming back or getting another form of cancer. For more information and resources, view Benefits of Quitting Smoking for People with Cancer.
About Surgery
Cancer surgery procedures are carried out by a wide variety of surgeons. Some may specialize only in cancer, but more often cancer surgery is performed by surgeons who also treat non-cancer illnesses.
Surgery is used to treat a number of cancer types, including:
- gastrointestinal: colon, rectal, stomach
- hepatobiliary: liver, biliary, pancreas
- thoracic: lung, esophagus
- breast
- thyroid
- genitourinary: kidney, bladder, testis, adrenal gland
- prostate
- gynecology: endometrium, cervical, ovarian, vulvar
- ophthalmic
- head and neck
- sarcoma: bone, soft tissue
- neurology: brain, spinal
- skin (including melanoma)
Community Services Locator
Use the community services locator available at the Canadian Cancer Society website to find cancer-related services in a specific area.
Cancer Surgery Centres
Designated cancer surgery centres meet certain safety and quality standards for a particular procedure or type of care.
Types
There are many surgical procedures used at different points during the diagnosis and treatment of cancer:
- Diagnosis – Surgical procedures can be used to determine whether a growth in the body is cancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign). Surgical removal of tissue from a tumour for diagnosis is called a biopsy. Radiological investigations, such as CT scans, MRI scans and other radiological tests, may also be used to assist with diagnosis.
- Staging – Surgical staging procedures are used to determine the extent and size of a tumour. The type of procedure performed will depend on your type of cancer.
- Curative – Surgery is used to remove the entire cancerous tumour or growth from the body.
- Palliative – Surgery is used to treat cancer when it is incurable. The goal is to relieve discomfort, manage symptoms or increase effectiveness of other cancer treatments.
- Reconstruction and Rehabilitation – Following curative surgery a patient’s appearance or body function may be altered. Reconstructive surgery restores appearance or function. Some examples include head and neck microvascular surgery, and breast, bladder or rectal reconstruction surgery.
Guidelines & Advice
Find guidelines and advice that cover care standards for different types of surgical treatment.
Surgical Oncology Program
Learn more about the focus of the program and their quality improvement initiatives.
Quality Improvement Resources
Disease-specific resources assist with discussion among healthcare professionals for continuous improvement.
Breast Reconstruction Surgery
Learn about reconstruction after breast cancer, including when and how it is done, and the follow-up care required.
Smoking Cessation Info for Healthcare Providers
Quitting smoking can help cancer treatment work better. Find out how healthcare providers can help people with cancer quit smoking.