The common methods in practice for the treatment of cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Surgery is often the first treatment option if the tumor can be taken out of the body. Sometimes only part of the tumor can be removed. Radiation, chemotherapy, or both might be used to shrink the tumor before or after surgery. Surgery also plays a key role in diagnosing cancer and finding out how far it may have spread. The details are discussed in subsequent sections
Surgery is used to prevent, diagnose, stage, and treat cancer. Surgery can also relieve (palliate) discomfort or problems related to cancer. Sometimes, one surgery can take care of more than one of these goals.