“My husband has a cancerous tumor. Would all the cancer be gone once it's removed?”
My husband is going to have surgery to remove the tumor on his testicle. Unfortunately, it's cancerous. The doctors aren't sure that all of the cancerous cells would be gone once it's removed. But is it a possibility?
5 Answers
The best way to think about your question is that all of the cancer known to the surgeon is likely to be removed at the time of surgery. There is always a possibility that microscopic or undetectable disease could have spread to other areas in the body and be present in areas outside of the testicle. That is why it is frequently necessary to add chemotherapy or radiation to the surgery. However it is certainly possible the surgical resection of the testicle can eradicate the entire cancer.
That should be possible and will be decided by final pathology
I do not know the case specifically. If the surgeons can remove the whole thing, then usually they can. Once you remove a cancer, however, even if you remove all of it, it does not mean that it is not in the person's system. There is always a risk that it will come back either in the same location or somewhere else in the body (lymph nodes, liver, lung, etc.) in the next 5-10 years. But if the tumor is localized right now, most often, it can be fully removed.
Shaun McKenzie
Surgical Oncologist
Yes, it is possible, although with testicular cancer, often chemotherapy is added in the event there are cancer cells in his system outside the testicle that can't be seen with tests or imaging. Testicular cancer is very curable with current therapies even when it seems advanced, so stay positive.
Surgery will remove the cancerous mass that the surgeon can see or feel. What we can’t guarantee is removal of cancer cells that we can’t see. A lot of times after surgery, radiation or chemotherapy is added for that reason.
Jovita Oruwari MD FACS
Jovita Oruwari MD FACS
