Surgical Oncology

The Department of Oncology at Himalayan Hospital deals with prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of early and advanced cancers that affect various organs, muscles, bones and connective tissue. The oncology team works closely in coordination with colleagues specialized in plastic surgery, gastroenterology, urology, cardiothoracic surgery, radiology, medical genetics, pathology, palliative care, physiotherapy and others to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and help tailor an appropriate and individualized treatment plan.

The surgical oncology team at Himalayan Hospital comprises skilled and experienced surgical oncologists who are capable of managing simple to complex primary and secondary cancers.

Our Team

Surgery in various stages of cancer management :

A surgery or biopsy is considered while diagnosing various cancer types. A biopsy helps oncologists in determining the type, stage and size along with various other parameters related to a particular cancer.
Surgery removes the tumour and tumour-affected lymph nodes and organs and prevents cancer from spreading to other regions.
Surgery might also help reconstruct the body parts that were operated on to treat cancer.
Surgery may also be performed as a part of palliative care to ease the cancer symptoms.

Types of surgeries

Diagnostic surgery

Tumors and masses can be formed in the body. In most cases, these may be benign or harmless. Doctors would like to avoid risks and may want to test the masses before deciding. As a result, a sample of the mass needs to be collected and sent for testing to determine if it is cancerous or not. This procedure is referred to as diagnostic surgery.
Preventive surgery

This is also known as prophylactic surgery and the goal is to prevent cancer. It’s possible that polyps or precancerous tissues are detected during diagnosis. While these are not cancerous tumors, a surgical oncologist may decide to remove these tissues as a preventive measure. Related treatments include mastectomy where the breast is removed in high-risk cases to prevent breast cancer. Similarly, in those who are at risk of developing ovarian cancer, the ovary and fallopian tubes may be surgically removed as a preventive measure.
Staging surgery

This is a surgical procedure done by a surgical oncologist to determine the stage of cancer. Treatment for cancer depends on how much cancer cells have spread. A staging surgery may be done to open up the affected parts and find out the extent of cancer. This may be done using laparoscopy where small incisions are done and a laparoscope inserted to investigate the cancer. This is generally not a very invasive form of surgery.
Curative surgery

This is the actual treatment done by a surgical oncologist. Once the presence of cancer is confirmed and the stage decided, a surgery is done to remove cancer cells and other affected body tissues. Surgery involves removing cancer cells and lymph nodes that are affected. Sometimes a part of an organ or the entire organ may have to be removed as a part of treatment. Surgery can be used along with chemotherapy, where a port and catheter is surgically inserted to allow medicines to be delivered to the blood.
Reconstructive surgery

When surgery is carried out, a part of an organ may be removed. It would be required to reconstruct the body to restore body parts, this is known as reconstructive surgery. For instance, when surgery for head and neck cancer is done, facial reconstruction is needed to reconstruct the face, which otherwise is affected because of removal of tissues. Microvascular surgery is generally used to stitch together small blood vessels to reconstruct body parts.
Palliative surgery

When cancer is at an advanced stage, curing it may not be possible. However, quality of life needs to be improved through various means. Palliative surgery provides relief from the symptoms of cancer. If a tumor is pressing on a nerve and causing pain, then the tumor is removed to provide relief from symptoms, even though the surgery may not treat the cancer.