Oncology (Tumor surgery)
Board certified general pediatric surgeons are trained in the area of tumor, cancer, or
"oncology" surgery. This is different than in the field of adult general
surgery, where specialist within that field do only oncology surgery. General pediatric
surgeons are trained to care for all aspects of tumor surgery in infants, children, and
teenagers. The only exception to this is when the tumor involves a specific area of the
body requiring other expertise. This would be limited to bone tumors, which require the
expertise of orthopedic surgeons, and brain tumors, which require the expertise of
neurosurgeons.
The general pediatric surgeon may be helpful in many different aspects of care for
children with tumors. This may be from the initial evaluation and ordering of tests or
x-rays for a child with a "lump" or "mass" anywhere in the body, to
actually performing the surgery to remove the tumor. The general pediatric surgeon works
closely with the pediatric medical oncologist (pediatric tumor specialist) in assessing
the stage of a tumor (or how far it has spread), in planning the appropriate therapy
(chemotherapy or radiation), and the proper timing of surgery. Therefore, the pediatric
surgeons and pediatric oncologists meet weekly ("Tumor Board") to plan proper
treatments for children with tumors.
In addition to planning treatments and performing surgery to remove tumors, general
surgeons also perform biopsies of suspicious "lumps", lymph nodes (glands), or
"masses" as an initial step in making the diagnosis of a tumor or reassuring the
family and pediatrician that a lump is not a cancer. The general pediatric surgeon also
performs surgery on children with tumors and leukemias to place "central venous
lines", or "ports", devices implanted under the skin to be able to give
chemotherapy to children in a less painful and more effective way.
Examples of who a general pediatric surgeon would be asked to see for evaluation would
include a child with:
· abdominal mass (lump or swelling in the belly)
· a mass seen on the chest or seen on chest x-ray
· a lump or swollen gland in the neck, axilla (armpit), groin or elsewhere
· a swollen testicle
· a thyroid nodule
Examples of tumors that a general pediatric surgeon would be asked to remove or biopsy
(remove a small piece for evaluation or diagnosis) would include:
· tumors in the neck (thyroid gland tumors, lymphoma, sarcoma, benign tumors like
hygroma, etc.)
· tumors in the chest (nodules in the lung, tumors of the thymus/thymoma, mediastinal
tumors or lymphomas, neuroblastoma)
· tumors of the chest wall (sarcoma of the ribs or muscles)
· liver tumors (hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangioma,
hemangioendothelioma, mesenchymal hamartoma)
· other abdominal tumors (neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, lymphoma, tumors of the
intestinal tract)
· kidney tumors (Wilm's tumor, renal cell carcinoma, etc.)
· tumors of the testicle (germ cell tumor, seminoma, etc.)
· endocrine tumors (glands that make hormones: thyroid tumors, parathyroid adenomas,
thymomas, adrenal gland tumors-pheochromocytoma, etc)
· tumors of the newborn (sacrococcygeal teratoma, hemangioma, hygroma, etc.)
· tumors of the ovary, vagina, or breast (teratoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, fibroadenoma, etc.)
