Metastasectomy

In oncology, metastasectomy is the surgical removal of metastases, which are secondary cancerous growths that have spread from cancer originating in another organ in the body.

In many cases, metastases are not treated surgically. There are two common reasons for this. Often, even with a successful surgery the patient would have a poor prognosis. If the cancer is widely disseminated, it is likely that after surgical removal of all known metastases, new ones would occur elsewhere. Sometimes, surgery itself would have a low likelihood of success due to the location and/or extensiveness of the cancer. If complete surgical excision is feasible, however, removing both the primary cancer and its metastases may substantially improve the patient's prognosis. Some patients may even be in effect cured.