A surgical oncologist is a surgeon specialized in treating cancer that requires surgery to remove tumors and other cancerous tissues. He performs surgeries for removing tumor or cancerous tissues and also the nearby susceptible tissues. Surgical oncologists also perform certain types of biopsies to help in the diagnosis of cancer. They work in coordination with other doctors, specialists and clinicians to help in reducing the pain, side effects, clinicians and speed up the recovery after the surgery.
A surgical oncologist is usually the first specialist doctor you will see if your primary care physician suspects that you have cancer. Surgical oncologist then performs biopsies by taking a small portion of the tissues so that it can be checked for the presence of cancer.
If the presence of cancerous cells gets confirmed then the surgical oncologist will perform surgery to remove the tumor or cancerous cells and the surrounding tissues. The surgeon will also help you prepare for and recover from any surgical procedure that you have to undergo during your cancer treatment.
Most of the patients have cancer surgery combined with other treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy. Sometimes nonsurgical treatments (also known as neoadjuvant therapy) or post-surgery (also known as adjuvant therapy) to help in the prevention of cancer growth, metastasis or recurrence.
