Multispecialty Care

World-leading Surgical Care

Our Multispecialty Care Clinic, located on the second floor of the Cancer Center, provides clinical expertise and world-leading surgical care by physicians from Brigham and Women’s and South Shore Hospital.

Many cancer patients will undergo some type of surgery as part of their treatment plan. In some cases, surgery is the only treatment required or it may also be combined with chemotherapy or radiation as part of an overall treatment plan. Patients may need surgery for a variety of reasons, including to: remove or shrink a solid tumor, ease pain, remove obstructions caused by cancer, and repair an area of the body damaged by cancer.

Preventative surgery is also known as prophylactic surgery. It is used to keep cancer from occurring. Many colon cancers can be prevented by removing precancerous polyps before they become malignant. Other patients at high risk of genetic mutations may have preventative procedures to help prevent cancer from occurring.

Often used on localized cancers that haven’t spread to other parts of the body, curative surgery involves removal of a cancerous tumor.

Staging surgery determines the extent of cancer. This type of surgery can sometimes be done without an incision by using an endoscope to view the suspicious area and take a tissue sample. For abdominal tumors, a laparoscope is used to view the area, a procedure that involves a small incision in the abdominal cavity done under general anesthesia.

Used to help with other cancer treatments. For example, some chemotherapy devices require a port (connecting device) to be inserted under the skin.

Returns the body to normal or near-normal appearance or function following cancer treatment. The most common is breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy (breast removal).

Uses advanced technology to target tumors with precision through tiny incisions, sometimes performed through the detail of robotic arms controlled by the surgeon.