Types of Cancer Surgery

As a national leader in cancer surgery, Anton Bilchik performs many different procedures to help diagnose and treat patients. Some of these procedures are minor, while others are quite extensive. Anton Bilchik would like you to know a little more about some of the common surgical procedures he and other cancer surgeons perform.

Preventative Surgery

Preventative surgery spares healthy tissue from cancer. The surgeon removes tissue near the cancerous growth to prevent the cancer from spreading.

Diagnostic Surgery

Surgery sometimes helps doctors determine whether a growth is cancerous or not. In a procedure known as a biopsy, the surgeon removes suspicious tissue and sends it to the laboratory for testing.

Staging Surgery

Staging surgery helps doctors determine whether cancer has spread, and, if it has, how far. A surgeon might use a laparotomy or laparoscopy procedure to stage cancer.

Curative Surgery

Anton Bilchik MD performs curative surgery when he finds cancer in only one location of the body and can remove all of the cancer in one procedure. In some cases, curative surgery is all a patient needs, but other cases require chemotherapy and radiation.

Debulking (Cytoreductive) Surgery

Sometimes a cancer surgeon cannot remove the entire tumor without affecting the function of the organ, so the surgeon removes what he can. This is known as debulking surgery. The patient continues treatment with chemotherapy and radiation.

Palliative Surgery

Palliative surgery makes cancer patients comfortable in the terminal stages of the disease. For example, advanced stages of intestinal cancer can block off the digestive tract, so surgeons perform palliative surgery to clear the obstruction. Palliative care does not cure the patient, but it does improve the quality of her life.

Supportive Surgery

Surgeons perform supportive surgery as an aid to other treatments. For example, the surgeon may insert an in-dwelling catheter into a vein that nurses may use to draw blood or administer intravenous fluids.

Restorative Surgery

Restorative surgery returns form or function after major cancer surgery. Breast reconstruction after mastectomy is a common example of restorative surgery.

Anton Bilchik MD is a pioneer in cancer surgery. Contact Anton Bilchik for more information about the various types of cancer surgery.