Since the 1800s, surgery as a medical field has greatly improved. Surgical oncology is a specialized field that deals with surgical treatment of various kinds of tumors. The first reported surgical removal of ovarian tumor was done in 1809 by Ephraim McDowell but there has been evidence of ancient Egyptians performing surgical oncology way back in the 7^th century for the removal of breast tumor.

Surgical oncology as cancer treatment is one of the oldest form of cancer treatment. For patients, this implies a curative plan through which surgeons completely removes the cancer and there are really less chances of cancerous growth again. Before finalizing the surgical procedure, the surgeon will go through complete medical history and conduct a physical examination as well. The surgeon needs to see whether the cancer growth is in a position to be surgically removed or not.

During the surgery, the surgical oncologist not only removes the cancer growth but also some healthy tissues around it, knows as a “clear excision”. Clear excision is done to prevent cancer from growing again in the same area. Also, it may be impossible to remove the whole tumor during the surgery. In such cases, surgeons go for “debulking” process which means that only a certain portion of the tumor is removed in order to relieve symptoms like bleeding, pain and airway obstruction.

Surgical oncology for cancer treatment is undoubtedly a complex procedure and surgeons need to confer with a multi-disciplinary team before, during and after the operation. As part of pre-operative and post-operative care, chemotherapy and radiation therapy is commonly used. Depending on the type of cancer, lymph node excision may be done and upon examination of the lymph nodes can the doctor comment upon further cancer treatment options.

Kind of surgical cancer treatment depends on the development of cancer, location of the tumor and the patient fitness for surgery. Please note that cancer treatment does not end with one surgery because sometimes patients have to undergo reconstructive surgery after the tumor removal. Normally the reconstructive surgery is done if there is a defect spotted after the surgery and which could be physically devastating for the patient. To correct this defect, reconstructive surgery is carried out.

Either the corrective surgery is done immediately, known as “immediate reconstruction” or done weeks afterwards, known as “delayed reconstruction”. If the surgery requires help of a plastic surgeon, it is then known as “oncoplastic surgery”.