Cancer Treatment: The Difference Between an Oncologist and a Surgeon

Cancer: What is the role of the surgeon?

Surgery is the oldest form of cancer treatment and, just a few decades ago, it was the only treatment offered to patients with malignant tumors. Fortunately, today it is complemented by pre-operative (neoadjuvant therapy) and post-operative (adjuvant therapy) chemotherapy treatments, very often allowing the cure of patients with malignant tumors.

Improvements in surgical techniques and a better understanding of how different types of tumors spread now allow for the resection of an increasing number of tumors with an ever-higher success rate.

The development of alternative or combined therapies with surgery (such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy) has also allowed surgeons to perform even smaller interventions than the large resections that were performed a long time ago.

The surgeon plays a central role in the treatment of many cancerous diseases and must interact with various specialists (oncologist, anesthesiologist, cardiologist, internist, nutritionist, and psychologist) in order to provide the cancer patient with excellent, modern, and above all, effective treatment.

Surgeons can assist in the diagnosis and/or treatment of individuals with certain cancers. Many patients meet the surgeon early in their diagnosis and treatment. For example, to take a biopsy that will be evaluated by a pathologist, surgical intervention is often necessary, which in some cases allows the cancer to be removed when it can be successfully removed. In other cases, the surgeon only intervenes at a more advanced stage to relieve symptoms, without being able to eliminate the cancer. In general, surgery alone can only cure certain cancers, and most often at an early stage. Most often, it must be associated with other treatments. However, surgeons work closely with other specialists, oncologists, and radiotherapists to plan treatment.

What is the role of the oncologist?

An oncologist, also called a cancer specialist, is a physician specializing in oncology, the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer.

The oncologist possesses many skills and performs various tasks. For example, they know the pathophysiology of tumors, they are experts in diagnostic techniques useful for the detection and study of neoplasms, they are responsible for planning the most appropriate anti-tumor therapy, they know how to intervene in case of tumor recurrence; they are a profound connoisseur of the compartments that prevent tumors; etc.

The modern oncologist can specialize in different areas: they can become an expert in chemotherapy (medical oncologist), in cancer surgery (surgical oncologist), and in radiation oncology (radiation oncologist).

The main tasks of the oncologist are:

• To evaluate and study the results of a tumor diagnosis in order to establish its severity;
• To plan, based on the characteristics of the tumor and the patient's general health, the most appropriate anti-cancer therapy and to indicate all possible side effects;
• If the tumor is incurable, to plan the palliative therapy best suited to the patient's needs;
• It is the oncologist's duty to establish a strong relationship with the patient: for example, they must explain the result and meaning of the different diagnostic examinations, they must share all information on the different therapeutic options and the reasons why a particular treatment was chosen, they must inform the patient of the side effects of the treatment, they must provide psychological support in the case of terminal tumors;

The oncologist's skills include:

• The pathophysiology of tumors, both benign and malignant. The pathophysiology of tumors refers to the mechanisms by which tumors arise;
• Staging and grading of solid tumors: The staging of a solid tumor is the compilation of all this information, concerning the size of the tumor mass, its infiltrative power, and its metastatic capacity. The grade of a solid tumor, on the other hand, is a description of the difference between tumor cells and the original healthy cells;
• The severity of blood cancers;
• Genetic diseases that predispose to tumors;
• Investigative methods useful for the diagnosis of tumors;
• The therapies to be adopted in the presence of a tumor and/or metastases;
• The prevention of tumors;
• The management of tumor recurrence;

EXPRESS QUOTE

Would you like more information

Oncologist or surgeon: who to contact if you have questions?

It is generally the general practitioner who refers the patient to the medical oncologist after having collected clues suggesting cancer. It is also necessary to consult this specialist after undergoing anti-cancer treatment to monitor the evolution of the treatment and the possible appearance of recurrences. However, even the cancer surgeon can answer the patient's questions and can provide the same care as the medical oncologist before the operation.

The main reasons for which consultation with an oncologist is indicated are:

• Presence of a solid tumor detected on physical examination or by imaging;
• Presence of blood cancer confirmed by a blood test;
• Presence of genetic diseases predisposing to tumors (for example, neurofibromatosis and Lynch syndrome);
• Presence of tumor recurrence;

Very often, the medical oncologist and the surgical oncologist collaborate with other medical professionals; in particular, among these professionals, one can find:

• The pathologist: They collaborate whenever it is necessary to perform a biopsy;
• The radiologist: The oncologist and the radiologist collaborate when additional imaging examinations are needed to study a tumor;
• The neurologist: The oncologist and the neurologist work together when faced with a tumor that interferes with the health and function of nervous structures;
• Surgeons of other specialties. For example, pediatric surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, thoracic surgeon, pulmonologist...;
• The hematologist: The oncologist and the hematologist collaborate in the face of blood cancer;
• The dermatologist: The oncologist and the dermatologist work together when they have to deal with a skin tumor;

[dt_sc_button title="Free Quote" size="medium" style="bordered" icon_type="" link="url:https%3A%2F%2F127.0.0.1/tds%2Fdevis%2F" textcolor="#ffffff" bgcolor="#0c73ba"]