Who can have surgery for cancer?

Surgery is often the main treatment for cancer. You might have it on its own or together with other treatments.

But surgery isn't suitable for all types of cancer, or for all situations. Whether surgery is a treatment option for you depends on many factors.

They include:

• Your cancer type
• The size of your cancer, and whether it has spread (stage)
• Where the cancer is in your body
• Your general health

Cancer types

Surgery is not a treatment option for some types of cancer. These include cancers of the blood system (leukaemia), or lymphatic system (lymphoma). This is because these cancers have often spread throughout the body. Surgery won’t get rid of all the cancer if it is in many different parts of the body.

Where the cancer is in your body

Sometimes surgery is not possible because the cancer is near to very delicate tissues, or a vital body part. For example, the cancer might be very close to major blood vessels. This means the surgeon cannot remove all of the cancer. In this situation, you might have other treatments instead.

Whether your cancer has spread

Surgery might not be the best treatment for you if your cancer has spread. It may be better to have a treatment that reaches all parts of your body. For example, chemotherapy, targeted cancer drugs or hormone therapy. You might also have radiotherapy Open a glossary item to shrink the tumour and help control symptoms.