Module 3 - Chapter 10 - Surgery

Question 1

What is definitive treatment of cancers that do not spread beyond the limits of surgical excision.

Answer 1

Surgery is often the definitive treatment

Question 2

List the many roles that surgery have in the care of individuals with cancer.

Answer 2

1. often the definitive treatment of cancers that do not spread beyond the limits of surgical excision.
2. indicated for the relief of symptoms,
3. surgery also plays a role in the prevention of cancer (e.g. individuals with germline mutations of the APC gen - 100 lifetime risk of colon cancer, BRCA1/2 mutations)

Question 3

What are key principles that apply specifically to cancer surgery?

Answer 3

• obtaining adequate surgical margins during a resection to prevent local recurrences
• placing needle tracks and biopsy incision scars (that may be contaminated with cancer cells) carefully so they can be removed in subsequent incisions
• avoiding the spread of cancer cells during surgical procedures through careful technique
• paying attention to obtaining adequate tissue specimens during biopsies so that the pathologist can be confident of the diagnosis.
• the surgeon provides critical staging information by inspection, sampling, and removal of local and regional lymph nodes during procedures.