A tumor is an abnormal growth of cells that serves no purpose. A benign tumor is not a malignant tumor, which is cancer. It does not invade nearby tissue or spread to other parts of the body the way cancer can. In most cases, the outlook with benign tumors is very good. But benign tumors can be serious if they press on vital structures such as blood vessels or nerves. Therefore, sometimes they require treatment and other times they do not.
Causes of Benign Tumors
What causes a benign tumor to form? Often the cause is unknown. But the growth of a benign tumor might be linked to:
- Environmental toxins, such as exposure to radiation
- Genetics
- Diet
- Stress
- Local trauma or injury
- Inflammation or infection
Doctors treat some tumors with chemotherapy and/or radiation instead of removing it with a surgery.
Most tumors that require surgery are either solid organ tumors or soft tissue tumors.
Soft tissue tumors include breast cancer and sarcoma, which is a connective tissue cancer. For solid organ tumors, your surgeon needs to remove the part of the organ with the solid tumor in it.
Some organs with solid organ tumors are completely removed including the esophagus, kidney, uterus, ovaries, stomach, colon and appendix.
In other situations, your surgeon only removes the diseased portion of an organ containing a tumor.
For cancers that affect the digestive system such as the colon or esophagus, the surgeon has to reconnect those organs so your normal digestive processes continue.
2. Surgery requires some prep work
Before surgery, your surgeon works with you to assess the risks of your surgery.
They determine if you have any significant health concerns such as smoking, diabetes or heart disease, which impact the risks of surgery.
A surgeon’s job is to look at the patient, the tumor and really balance the risks of the operation with the benefits. With cancer, the benefits are very obvious, but sometimes the risks are very high,”
Your surgeon meets with you to talk about your surgery and the risks.
She also suggests you ask many questions during this meeting so you are comfortable with moving through the process. Patient navigators can help with this as well.
3. Course of treatments can change
Depending on the type of tumor you have and other factors, your treatment could include chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery in any order.
Sometimes your team recommends you remove the tumor first so they can complete a biopsy of the tumor. This helps determine the course of chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatments.
Other times outcomes improve by doing chemotherapy or radiation therapy before a surgery.
4. Managing the risks of surgery
Let us admit that anything can happen during surgery. That is why it is important to meet with your surgeon so you understand the risks and make an informed medical decision.
“Surgery is part of the curative intent.
Common risks include:
- Blood clots
- Bleeding
- Infections
- Leaks from organ connections
- Pneumonia
Advancements such as robotic surgery and outpatient procedures, have minimized complications.
Robotic surgery minimizes big incision complications so patients can go home sooner. Many procedures used to require intensive care, but more procedures are improving and becoming outpatient procedures so patients can leave that day.
