Discover Your Best Options for Cancer Surgery in Arizona
Surgery to remove all or part of a diseased body area is often the first treatment used to cure or improve symptoms of cancer. Oftentimes, surgery is the best chance to cure cancer, especially early stage cancers.
If you would like to learn more about surgery for cancer in Arizona, call (602) 406-8222 or Find a Doctor at Dignity Health to get started. In addition to comprehensive cancer care, we provide an experienced team of nurse navigators as well as dieticians, pharmacists, social workers, and spiritual care experts. You can trust your full care to our local experts.
Why We Offer Surgery for Cancer
The ideal goal of cancer surgery is to remove all cancer cells from your body. Your doctor at Dignity Health may recommend surgery to help other treatments, such as radiation therapy, better attack cancer cells. The rate of success for surgery depends on the type of cancer you have, along with your age, overall health, and other factors.
Other reasons for cancer surgery include:
- Prevention: Some people without a cancer diagnosis choose to remove an organ or body tissues because they are at high risk for developing cancer in the future. This is called prophylactic cancer treatment or surgery.
- Diagnosis: In some cases, a doctor confirms a tumor as cancerous or noncancerous only after surgically removing it.
- Staging: Surgery can reveal the stage (s)pread of your cancer. It can determine the size of a tumor, the presence of blood vessels, or whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of your body.
- Palliative care: Your doctor may recommend surgery to reduce symptoms of advanced cancer, such as pain from a tumor pressing on a nerve.
What to Expect
In general, a surgeon who specializes in specific types of cancer will perform your surgery. At Dignity Health, our highly trained oncologists have a variety of specialities.
Your cancer surgery will take place in one of our hospitals. The type and size of the cancer determines how invasive the procedure will be. Minimally invasive surgery may be an option for a small tumor or early cancers. If you have large or many tumors or need to have a lot of tissue removed, you will require a more traditional open procedure with a larger incision. Regardless of the surgical approach, your surgeon, oncologist, and nurses will help you through the entire process.
Recovery After Surgery for Cancer at Dignity Health
Your recovery after cancer surgery depends on the type of surgery and whether you need other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Your surgery may be an outpatient procedure — which allows you to recover at home — or you may need several days in our hospital to safely recover before returning home.
Your surgeon and oncologist will give you specific instructions for follow-up appointments to determine the success of surgery and long-term screening for cancer recurrence.
Dignity Health offers reliable surgery to treat cancer across Arizona.
