CHECKING EXTENT OF CANCER BEFORE ATTEMPTING POTENTIALLY CURATIVE SURGERY – REMOVING CANCER

Say you do have a cancer which is in a part of the body that can be safely removed. How can you be as sure as possible, before the operation, that complete removal of the cancer is feasible? Firstly, you should understand that if only the visible cancer growth is removed, without a margin of apparently normal tissue, it is most unlikely that you will be cured. This is because of the ability of cancer cells to grow into the surrounding tissues. They do this in small columns or clumps which are much too tiny to be seen other than through a microscope. Before the operation, then, it is important to know just where the borders of your primary cancer growth appear to be. Your surgeon will then know whether or not it will be possible to remove an adequate margin of the apparently normal tissues surrounding it. Your doctor should check the apparent extent of your primary cancer growth by taking a careful history of your symptoms, examining you clinically and arranging, with your agreement, whatever tests—X-rays, scans, blood tests and so on—are necessary to provide a complete picture.

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