[[{"@type":["BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/#BlogPosting","@context":{"@vocab":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","kg":"http:\/\/g.co\/kg"},"url":["https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/","https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/"],"publisher":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/"}],"author":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/#BlogPosting_author_Organization","name":"Regional Cancer Care Associates"}],"inLanguage":"en-US","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/#BlogPosting_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Surgery.jpg"}],"headline":"Why Is Surgery the Only Available Diagnostic for Cancer?","dateModified":"2021-11-11T13:09:27+00:00","datePublished":"2019-05-28T05:09:30+00:00","description":"While signs and symptoms can indicate someone has cancer, diagnostic surgery is sometimes the only way to tell for certain. If you want to learn more, visit the RCCA website or get in touch with your doctor.","articleBody":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 28, 2019\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\nA physical exam, lab test or scan can indicate that a patient might have cancer. However, these results alone are usually not enough to confirm a diagnosis. In many situations, only diagnostic surgery can tell for certain. While cancer surgery may be frightening or dangerous, the surgeons at Regional Cancer Care Associates are highly skilled and use the latest technology to help you get the care you deserve.\nMethods of Diagnosing Cancer\nBefore diagnosing cancer, doctors conduct a comprehensive evaluation. They\u2019ll look at your complete medical history and family medical history and will likely perform a physical exam. It\u2019s also common for them to order lab tests to check for abnormalities and to order CT scans, ultrasounds, MRIs, X-rays and\/or other scans. After reviewing the results from this evaluation, doctors will be able to draw conclusions about a probable diagnosis. But for most types of cancer, doctors must perform diagnostic surgery \u2013 also known as a biopsy \u2013 in order to fully understand what\u2019s going on.\nConducting Diagnostic Surgery\nA biopsy is a procedure in which doctors remove suspicious tissue from the body for testing. Sometimes all of the tissue is removed, such as a suspicious mole on the skin, while other times only a portion is taken. In some cases, nearby lymph nodes are also removed to see if the cells have spread.\nAfter that, the tissue is examined under a microscope by a pathologist. This can reveal many characteristics about the abnormal tissue, such as:\nWhether it\u2019s benign (noncancerous) or malignant (cancerous)The type of cancerThe stage of cancer\nFrom this information, the oncologist will be able to not only confirm a diagnosis, but offer a prognosis and even start developing a treatment plan to target these specific cancer cells. So while an X-ray or MRI might be able to show the presence of an abnormal mass or growth inside the body, it doesn\u2019t provide the vital information doctors need to make a diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan.\nLuckily, most biopsies are not considered major surgery. Some can even be done on an outpatient basis. Local or general anesthesia may be used. For more information about diagnostic surgery for cancer, call the RCCA office nearest you to set up an appointment with one of our expert board-certified oncologists.\nwe are here for you\nFor more information or to schedule an appointment, call 844-346-7222. You can also schedule an appointment by calling the RCCA location nearest you.\nRELATED ARTICLES\nRegional Cancer Care Associates is one of fewer than 200 medical practices in the country selected to participate in the Oncology Care Model (OCM); a recent Medicare initiative aimed at improving care coordination and access to and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy treatment.\n\u00a9 2022 Regional Cancer Care Associates. All rights reserved.","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/"},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"LocalBusiness","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Corporate Office 25 Main Street, Suite 601","postalCode":"07601","addressRegion":"NJ","addressLocality":"Hackensack","addressCountry":"USA","name":"Postal Address","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/#PostalAddress"},"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"1024","height":"468","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/themes\/rccah\/dist\/images\/RCCA_logo.jpg"},"contactPoint":[{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactOption":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#ContactPointOption","availableLanguage":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_language","areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey"],"contactType":"customer support","telephone":"+1 (844) 346-7222","email":"info@regionalcancercare.org","description":"Corporate Office Regional Cancer Care Associates 25 Main Street, Suite 601 Hackensack, NJ 07601 info@regionalcancercare.org Phone: (844) 346-7222","name":"Contact Corporate Office","image":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/RCCA_logo-300x137.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#CorporateOffice"},{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactOption":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#ContactPointOption","availableLanguage":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/English_language","areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey"],"contactType":"customer support","telephone":"+1 (201) 510-0922","email":"msalvemini@regionalcancercare.org","description":"Media Inquiries: Mary Lou Salvemini Regional Cancer Care Associates Phone: (201) 510-0922 Email: msalvemini@regionalcancercare.org","name":"Contact Media Inquiries","image":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/RCCA_logo-300x137.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/contact\/#MediaInquiries"}],"areaServed":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hackensack,_New_Jersey","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/New_Jersey"],"additionalType":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Treatment_of_cancer","alternateName":"RCCA","description":"Leaders in Advanced Compassionate Cancer Care. Fight cancer with leading-edge treatments, experienced skill and local caring\/convenience from one of the nation's largest networks of cancer specialists.","email":"info@regionalcancercare.org","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/","url":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/rgnlcancercare","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/regionalcancercareassoc","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/10059183","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCFlVzU4UvZcyXBCe9ZSvAUQ"],"telephone":"+1 (844) 346-7222","name":"Regional Cancer Care Associates","@id":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/"}],{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Is Surgery the Only Available Diagnostic for Cancer?","item":"https:\/\/www.regionalcancercare.org\/news\/why-is-surgery-the-only-available-diagnostic-for-cancer\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]