NH ENG _Mac2022

SPECIAL FEATURE
8 TYPES OF SURGERY
FOR CANCER TREATMENT
Each year, more than 23,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed in Malaysia. To combat this
debilitating disease, cancer treatment may require one or a combination of the following:
surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy (which includes chemotherapy, targeted therapy,
endocrine therapy, and immunotherapy).
According to the American Cancer Society, surgery
is used to prevent, diagnose, stage, and treat cancer
as well as relieve (palliate) discomfort or problems
related to cancer. In this article, let’s look at the
different types of cancer surgery.
1. Curative Surgery
Example: early-stage breast cancer
Surgery is one of the most critical components of
cancer care, and its role has expanded to more than
just curative surgery (surgery to remove all cancer
cells with the intent for cure). Curative surgery is
usually recommended as the primary treatment
when the cancer is still confined to only one part
of the body. However, it may be used with other
treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy
before or after the operation. An example is earlystage
breast cancer, in which the curative surgery to
remove the tumour, part of the breast or the whole
breast together with some surrounding lymph
nodes is done.
2. Diagnostic Surgery
Before someone is diagnosed with cancer, surgery
is one of the methods to help diagnose cancer. In
most cases, the only way to know if a person has
cancer, and type of cancer, is by taking out a small
32 Natural Health * March 2022 VOL 126