Oncology Surgery

Surgery is one of the main ways to treat cancer, and at Mediclinic it's carried out within our cancer centres. Our surgical oncology teams treat solid cancers, with subspecialists who each focus on a particular type of cancer. Every operation is planned as part of your wider treatment, not on its own.

What is oncology surgery?

Oncology surgery, also called surgical oncology, is the surgery that removes solid cancers. A cancer surgeon takes a tissue sample to confirm the diagnosis, then removes the tumour and any lymph nodes it has reached. The surgeon usually stays involved through recovery and follow-up. Surgery is often one part of a plan that also includes chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Those treatments belong to medical and radiation oncology, so the surgeon works alongside them rather than giving them.

Who is referred for cancer surgery?

You don't usually come to a cancer surgeon first. Most people are referred after a cancer has already been found, through screening, a scan or tests arranged by another doctor. Some cancers are found early through screening, before there are any symptoms. A hospital cancer team then looks at each case together and decides whether surgery is the right step, and when.

Surgery suits some cancers more than others. It works best for solid tumours that sit in one area and can be removed. Before recommending an operation, the team weighs the type of cancer, its stage and your general health. Being referred for surgery doesn't always mean an operation is the only treatment, or the first one. If you've been told you have a cancer that may need an operation, your oncologist or surgeon will explain what that would involve.

What to expect

At your first appointment, the surgeon goes through your scans and biopsy results, examines you and explains what an operation would aim to do. You may need more tests first, such as imaging to show the size of the cancer and whether it has spread. Blood tests and a check of your fitness for anaesthetic are common before a bigger operation. The surgeon also talks through the likely benefits and risks.

Some operations use keyhole surgery, through a few small cuts. Others need open surgery through a larger one. The surgeon removes the tumour with a margin of healthy tissue and any nearby lymph nodes. It may be combined with other treatments the oncology team plans. After you recover, regular check-ups watch for any sign the cancer returns. Your surgeon agrees each next step with you.

Oncology surgery at Mediclinic

We bring cancer surgery together with the rest of cancer care at our cancer centres. You'll find them at Mediclinic City Hospital in Dubai and Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The teams cover breast, gynaecological and digestive-system cancers, among others.

Our surgeons use surgery to diagnose, stage and remove cancer. Before an operation, each new cancer diagnosis is discussed by a multidisciplinary team, sometimes called a tumour board. Surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and pathologists look at it together. Where a cancer can be removed through keyhole surgery, our surgeons offer it. Surgery here also works alongside the medical treatments and radiotherapy that other cancer teams provide, and specialist nurses support you through recovery.