Surgery

Surgery is a procedure to remove or repair a part of the body. For example, removing a tumour.

What is surgery?

Surgery involves making a cut in your body to remove tissue. Surgery can be done:

To remove a tumour.
To take a sample of tissue from your body. This is called a biopsy and it’s used to help to diagnose cancer.
To repair or reconstruct an area of your body after surgery to remove a tumour.

Surgery to remove a tumour

Surgery during cancer aims to remove the cancer from your body. If the cancer is only in one place, surgery can often cure it. In general, the earlier a cancer is found, the easier it is to remove.

As well as the tumour, your surgeon will remove some tissue around it, in case any cancer cells have spread there. The area around the tumour is called the margin. Your surgeon may also remove lymph nodes around the tumour area. This is because they may contain cancer cells if the cancer has started to spread.

The cells from the margin and/or lymph nodes will be examined after surgery to see if they have cancer cells in them. If they do, you may have other treatments, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

Treatment before surgery

Sometimes you will have treatment before surgery to shrink the cancer so it’s easier to remove. For example, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. This is called neo-adjuvant treatment.

Why might I have surgery?

Surgery to remove a tumour is used for most cancers that haven’t spread. The type of surgery depends on the cancer type, as well as where the cancer is and your general health. To find out more about how surgery is done, look up your own cancer type.

Other reasons you might have surgery after a cancer diagnosis:

To reconstruct or repair an area

You may have more surgery to reconstruct or repair damage to your body. For example:

If your breast is removed you might have surgery to make a new breast. We have more about breast reconstruction.
With head and neck and skin cancers you may need a skin flap to replace skin that has been removed
For head and neck or sarcoma cancers you may have a prosthesis fitted to replace bones that have been removed.

Surgery to rejoin the 2 ends of your bowel so that you don’t need a stoma (stoma reversal) is common after bowel cancer. Read more about stoma reversal.

To reduce the risk of you getting cancer

Sometimes a part of your body may be removed if you are a high risk of getting cancer there. For example, if you are at high risk of breast cancer, you may have your breasts removed to try to prevent it. This is called prophylactic surgery.

To help with symptoms

Cancer can sometimes cause symptoms that can be helped by surgery. For example, a blockage caused by prostate cancer can cause urinary problems and a blockage in your digestive system can make it hard to swallow or eat. Cancer pressing on a nerve can cause pain and nerve damage. Surgery to remove the tumour, reduce its size or bypass the blockage can improve symptoms.

What are the different types of surgery?

There are different types of surgery. Your medical team will choose the best type for your case.

Open surgery is the most common type of surgery. This involves the surgeon making a large cut (incision) in the skin and tissues so that they have a full view of the structures or organs involved. Staples or stiches are used to close the incision.
Keyhole surgery is done through very small incisions in a patient's skin with the use of a fine tube with a light on the end. The surgeon carries out the operation by using special instruments inserted through the tube. Keyhole surgery causes less pain for the patient than open surgery and recovery is quicker. It is used for an increasing number of conditions.
Laparoscopic surgery is like keyhole surgery but refers specifically to operations performed inside the abdomen (tummy area) and in the peritoneum (the lining of the abdomen).
Laser surgery is a type of surgery that uses special light beams instead of instruments for surgical procedures. LASER stands for 'Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation'.
Robotic surgery, also known as robot-assisted surgery, involves a camera arm and mechanical arms with surgical instruments attached to them. The surgeon controls the arms while seated at a control centre, called a console, near the operating table. The surgeon sees a magnified, high-definition, 3D view of the surgical site. Robotic surgery is often performed through tiny incisions. But sometimes it is used in open surgeries.

Minimally invasive surgery

Minimally invasive surgery is any surgery that does not require a large cut (incision). This approach allows the patient to recover faster with less pain.

Examples of minimally invasive surgery include laparoscopic surgery and many types of robotic surgery.

Not all conditions are suitable for minimally invasive surgery. Your medical team will advise you if you are suitable for this.

Will I have an anaesthetic?

Depending on the type of surgery you need, you may have:

A general anaesthetic, which puts you to sleep
A local anaesthetic, which numbs the area

Will I have to stay overnight in hospital?

It depends on the type of surgery. For some surgeries you will go home the same day. For others, you may have to spend a night or a few nights in hospital. For example, if you have surgery to your digestive system, you may stay in hospital until you can eat normally again.

Talk to a Cancer Nurse

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