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| lymph glands, tissues, and even organs when the surgeon has evidence that the cancer has spread locally or regionally. Sometimes surgery is used palliatively in advanced stages of cancer when a tumor may be interfering with a healthy organ. In other cases, surgery may be performed preventively to remove growths that are considered precancerous. |
| Advances in surgery include a move toward less radical operations for some cancers. For example, in early-stage breast cancer, a lumpectomy is now done more frequently than a mastectomy. Studies have shown that, at least in the case of early-stage breast cancer, the long-term survival rate is just as good. |
| Types of Cancer Surgery |
| Specific surgery removes the discrete visible tumor plus some of the adjacent normal-appearing tissueto ensure removal of any cancer cells that might have made their way from the minor and could cause recurrence. |
| Radical surgery removes the cancer, adjacent tissues, and also nearby organs or lymph nodes that might have been invaded by cancer cells. |
| Palliative surgery treats the complications of the cancer to help relieve pain or pressure and also to remove hormone-secreting glands, such as the ovaries or prostate. |
| Less common surgical techniques used to treat cancer include electrosurgery (which uses electric current), cryosurgery (which uses applications of liquid nitrogen), and laser surgery (which uses laser beams). |
| Herbal and nutritional protocols for maximizing the effectiveness of surgery are discussed in chapter 11. |
| Radiation Therapy |
| Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, is a local treament that uses high-energy rays to damage cancer cells and destroy their ability to grow and divide. It is administered either externally (by machine) or internally (either by implanting small containers of radioactive material near or directly into the cancer or by giving radioactive material orally or by injection). Radiotherapy is used in the following ways: |
| 1. As an adjunct to surgery or chemotherapy in order to eliminate cancer cells that might remain in the area where the tumor once was. |
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