Breast cancer surgery is a key component of breast cancer treatment that involves removing the cancer with an operation. Breast cancer surgery may be used alone or in combination with other treatments.

For people with a very high risk of breast cancer, breast cancer surgery may be an option to reduce the risk of future breast cancer.

Which breast cancer operation is best for you depends on the size and stage of your cancer, your other treatment options, and your goals and preferences.

 Types

• Breast reconstruction with flap surgery
• Breast reconstruction with implants
• Lumpectomy
• Mastectomy
• Sentinel node biopsy

The goal of breast cancer surgery is to remove cancer cells from your breast. For those who choose breast reconstruction, a procedure to place breast implants or reconstruct a breast from your own tissue (flap surgery) may be done at the same time or in a later operation.

Is the removal of the tumor and some surrounding healthy tissue during an operation. It is often called surgical resection. This is the most common treatment for colorectal cancer. 

In addition to surgical resection, surgical options for colorectal cancer include:

• Laparoscopic surgery. Some patients may be able to have laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery. With this technique, several viewing scopes are passed into the abdomen while a patient is under anesthesia. The incisions are smaller and the recovery time is often shorter than with standard colon surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is as effective as conventional colon surgery in removing the cancer. 

• Colostomy for rectal cancer. A person with rectal cancer may need to have a colostomy. This is a surgical opening, through which the colon is connected to the abdominal surface to provide a pathway for waste to exit the body. This waste is collected in a pouch worn by the patient. Sometimes, the colostomy is only temporary to allow the rectum to heal, but it may be permanent.

A Whipple procedure — also known as a pancreaticoduodenectomy — is a complex operation to remove the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine (duodenum), the gallbladder and the bile duct.

The Whipple procedure is used to treat tumors and other disorders of the pancreas, intestine and bile duct. It is the most often used surgery to treat pancreatic cancer that's confined to the head of the pancreas. After performing the Whipple procedure, your surgeon reconnects the remaining organs to allow you to digest food normally after surgery.

The Whipple procedure is a difficult and demanding operation and can have serious risks. However, this surgery is often lifesaving, particularly for people with cancer.

Skull base surgery is a highly specialized, minimally invasive surgical technique for evaluating, diagnosing and treating benign or cancerous growths located on the underside of the brain, the base of the skull and the upper vertebrae of the spinal column. It can also be advantageous in repairing congenital anomalies and malformations.

Skull base surgeons use special instruments inserted through the skull’s natural openings (e.g., nose, mouth and above the eyes) to operate rather than accessing the brain through a craniotomy (surgical opening of the skull). Prior to the development of skull base surgery it was necessary to remove relatively large portions of the skull and/or facial musculature in order to gain entry into these areas. The benefits of skull base surgery include less risk of infection and damage to cerebral structures and nerves, less risk of disfigurement and a shorter recovery time.

Surgery is an important part of treatment for many people with esophageal cancer,  Our surgeons are experts in minimally invasive techniques. We are very careful to recommend surgery only as part of an overall treatment plan. 

For most patients, surgery is not the first treatment, since esophageal cancer isn’t usually diagnosed until it is advanced. You may first receive a combination treatments to shrink the tumor and make it easier to remove.

Our doctors, nurses, and other experts will monitor you closely after surgery. They are experts in these complications and other side effects. Tell your cancer care team if you have any discomfort after you leave the hospital. Treatments are available to help many of these symptoms.

The esophagus is the narrow tube that connects your mouth to your stomach. If your doctor recommends esophageal surgery to treat your cancer, the doctor may remove all or part of your esophagus. The size and location of the tumor determines how much of the esophagus the doctor will take out. If the esophageal cancer is close to the stomach, the doctor may remove some of the upper stomach during the surgery.

In some cases, the doctor will use a section of your small intestine to replace your esophagus and create a new connection between your mouth and stomach. This is called an intestinal auto-transplant. In this operation, the doctor may perform a type of minimally invasive surgery called vascular microsurgery to ensure a healthy blood supply to the transplanted intestine.

Microvascular head and neck reconstruction is a technique for rebuilding the face and neck using blood vessels, bone and tissue, including muscle and skin from other parts of the body. The technique is one of the most advanced surgical options available for rehabilitating surgical defects that are caused by the removal of head and neck tumors.

This technique involves harvesting flaps of healthy tissue — where the tissue is not as important — with the blood supply from remote sites in the body. The tissue is then transferred to the recipient wound bed, where it is much more useful in reconstructing the affected area of the head and neck. A microscope is used to suture the blood vessels of the flap to blood vessels in the neck, allowing the tissue to live as if it were back in its original location.

Gynecologic laparoscopy is an alternative to open surgery. It uses a laparoscope to look inside your pelvic area. Open surgery often requires a large incision. Laparoscopy generally has a shorter healing time than open surgery. It also leaves smaller scars.

Laparoscopy can be used to remove ovaian cysts or tumors, reproductive cnacer and other conditions.

Traditionally, kidney surgery required large incisions with lengthy hospitalization and recovery. Minimally invasive surgery, also often known as laparoscopic or keyhole surgery, has recently been developed in the field of urologic surgery with the advancement of engineering and computer technologies.

During laparoscopic surgery your physician makes a series of small incisions in your lower abdomen and inserts a tiny tube with a light and a camera to access the kidney. Once in place, your doctor can visualize tissue, biopsy suspicious regions, remove tumors, or even remove the kidney with a cutting instrument and tissue retrieval apparatus that is also part of the laparoscope.

Like all surgeries, the success of laparoscopic surgery is related to doctor's experience with the technique. With the wealth of experience in laparoscopic kidney surgery you can be assured that you will receive the reliable, quality care that is essential when you are facing cancer.

This minimally invasive surgery may not be an appropriate option to every patient.

The introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test for prostate cancer created a dramatic shift or stage migration, which led to the diagnosis of prostate cancer in earlier stages of the disease. As a result, more patients are now undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, exercising many different treatment options.

With a more frequently lower stage at the time of diagnosis has come a decrease in the need for pelvic lymphadenectomy in staging patients with prostate cancer. Nevertheless, pelvic lymphadenectomy remains an important piece of the cancer armamentarium for urologic surgeons.

For patients with advanced rectal cancers, surgery that includes total mesorectal excision (TME) often provides the best possible patient outcomes and survival.

The mesorectum is a fatty tissue directly adjacent to the rectum that contains blood vessels and lymph nodes. When rectal cancers recur, it is often in these lymph nodes. In a TME surgery, surgeons carefully remove the entire mesorectum and lymph nodes, leading to a very low risk that cancer will recur in the local region.

TME surgery sometimes impairs rectum function and results in patients needing a permanent colostomy. Although the risk is never eliminated, having your surgery performed by an experienced physician such as those at the Cancer Center can make this outcome less likely.

Thymomas are malignant tumors that arise in the thymus gland, typically in the anterior mediastinum. Although considered malignant, most thymomas grow slowly and tend to spread only locally. There is therefore often a very good chance of curing thymomas by either surgery alone or surgery followed by treatments.

Whenever possible, surgeons aim to preserve sphincter function in rectal cancer patients. The sphincter is the round muscle in the anus that opens and closes to control bowel function. Our experienced colorectal cancer surgeons are trained in advanced transanal excision surgery that spares the sphincter and can greatly improve your quality of life following surgery.

For tumors higher up in the rectum, a similar sphincter-sparing surgery called transcoccygeal surgery may be an option. In this surgery, doctors reach the tumors by going through the tailbone.

Colectomy is a surgical procedure to remove all or part of your colon. Your colon, also called your large intestine, is a long tubelike organ at the end of your digestive tract. Colectomy may be necessary to treat or prevent diseases and conditions that affect your colon.

Colectomy surgery usually requires other procedures to reattach the remaining portions of your digestive system and permit waste to leave your body.

Cystectomy is a surgery to remove the urinary bladder.

In men, removing the entire bladder (radical cystectomy) typically includes removal of the prostate and seminal vesicles. In women, radical cystectomy also involves removal of the uterus, ovaries and part of the vagina.

After having your bladder removed, your surgeon also needs to create a urinary diversion — a new way to store urine and have it leave your body. There are multiple ways that urine can be stored and eliminated after bladder removal. Your doctor can help you decide which method is best for you.

Often, cystectomy is performed to treat invasive or recurrent noninvasive bladder cancer.

Gastrectomy is the removal of part or all of the stomach.

Removing your stomach doesn’t take away your ability to digest liquids and foods. However, you may need to make several lifestyle changes after the procedure.

Gastrectomy is used to treat stomach problems that aren’t helped by other treatments. Your doctor may recommend a gastrectomy to treat stomach cancer.

Hepatectomy is the surgical resection or the complete removal of the liver. While this procedure can also be performed to “harvest” healthy liver tissue, it is mostly performed to remove diseased parts of the organ to treat certain conditions such as benign hepatic neoplasms and cancer.

An abdominal hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes your uterus through an incision in your lower abdomen. A partial hysterectomy removes just the uterus, leaving the cervix intact. A total hysterectomy removes the uterus and the cervix.

Sometimes a hysterectomy includes removal of one or both ovaries and fallopian tubes, a procedure called a total hysterectomy with salpingo-oophorectomy.

The larynx, also called the voice box, has a number of functions. Its main function is a conduit for air to enter your lungs. Also, the larynx works to prevent food, liquids and saliva from falling into your lungs and causing pneumonia. Finally, the larynx is responsible for creating voice. The larynx is part of the throat. It is located below the oropharynx and in front of the hypopharynx.

From a cancer perspective, the larynx is divided into three subsites: the supraglottis, glottis and subglottis. Cancer of the larynx starts in one of these subsites, but it can grow into another subsite.

A laryngectomy is the removal of some or all of the voice box—partial versus total laryngectomy.

If you have a lung disease, a type of surgery called a lobectomy is one treatment option your doctor may suggest.

Your lungs are made up of five sections called lobes. You have three in your right lung and two in your left. A lobectomy removes one of these lobes. After the surgery, your healthy tissue makes up for the missing section, so your lungs should work as well or better than they did before.

It’s usually the main treatment for people with the early stages of lung cancer, when there’s a tumor in just one part of the lung. In that case, a lobectomy offers the best chance for a cure and may be the only treatment you need. But it doesn't help when cancer has spread to your whole lung or to other parts of your body.

When you have the damaged lobe removed, other parts of your lungs expand, making it easier to breathe.

A mastectomy is surgery to remove all breast tissue from a breast as a way to treat or prevent breast cancer.

For those with early-stage breast cancer, a mastectomy may be one treatment option. Breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy), in which only the tumor is removed from the breast, may be another option.

Deciding between a mastectomy and lumpectomy can be difficult. Both procedures are equally effective for preventing a recurrence of breast cancer. But a lumpectomy isn't an option for everyone with breast cancer, and others prefer to undergo a mastectomy.

Newer mastectomy techniques can preserve breast skin and allow for a more natural breast appearance following the procedure. This is also known as skin-sparing mastectomy.

Surgery to restore shape to your breast — called breast reconstruction — may be done at the same time as your mastectomy or during a second operation at a later date.

Nephrectomy (nephro = kidney, ectomy = removal) is the surgical removal of a kidney. The procedure is done to treat kidney cancer as well as other kidney diseases and injuries. Nephrectomy is also done to remove a healthy kidney from a donor (either living or deceased) for transplantation.

Surgery to remove your food pipe is called an oesophagectomy.  There are different types of oesophagectomy. The type you have depends on the stage and position of your cancer. 

 You might have:

• an oesophagectomy – your surgeon removes the part of the oesophagus containing the cancer
• a total oesophagectomy - your surgeon removes your whole oesophagus
• an oesophago-gastrectomy – your surgeon removes the top of your stomach and the part of the oesophagus containing cancer

Your surgeon also removes some of the nearby lymph nodes. This helps to reduce the risk of cancer coming back.

A pneumonectomy is a type of surgery to remove one of your lungs because of cancer, trauma, or some other condition.

You have two lungs: a right lung and a left lung. These lungs connect to your mouth through a series of tubes. Through these tubes, the lungs bring oxygen into the body and remove carbon dioxide from the body. Oxygen is necessary for all functions of your body. Carbon dioxide is a waste product that the body needs to get rid of. Most people can get by with only one lung instead of two, if needed. Usually, one lung can provide enough oxygen and remove enough carbon dioxide, unless the other lung is damaged.

A prostatectomy is a surgical procedure for the partial or complete removal of the prostate. It may be performed to treat prostate cancer or benign prostatic hyperplasia.

A common surgical approach to prostatectomy includes making a surgical incision and removing the prostate gland (or part of it). This may be accomplished with either of two methods, the retropubic or suprapubic incision (lower abdomen), or a perineum incision (through the skin between the scrotum and the rectum).

Prior to having a prostatectomy, it's often necessary to have a prostate biopsy.

Thyroidectomy is the removal of all or part of your thyroid gland. Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of your neck. It produces hormones that regulate every aspect of your metabolism, from your heart rate to how quickly you burn calories.

Thyroidectomy is used to treat thyroid disorders, such as cancer, noncancerous enlargement of the thyroid (goiter) and overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism).

How much of your thyroid gland is removed during thyroidectomy depends on the reason for surgery. If only a portion is removed (partial thyroidectomy), your thyroid may be able to function normally after surgery. If your entire thyroid is removed (total thyroidectomy), you need daily treatment with thyroid hormone to replace your thyroid's natural function.

A vulvectomy is the removal of part or all of the vulva. The vulva is the outer portion of a woman’s genitals. It can be used in the treatment of some cases of vulvar cancer.