Gynecological tumors

In most cases, yes: surgery remains the mainstay of treatment with curative intent. There are important exceptions, such as locally advanced cervical cancer, where the main treatment is chemoradiotherapy and surgery is reserved for tumors that persist or come back.

Yes, that is the usual approach. Surgery is combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or targeted therapies depending on the tumor type, the stage and the molecular profile. The order also varies: in advanced ovarian cancer chemotherapy may be given before surgery, and in other cases surgery comes first.

In selected cases of early stage disease, yes: there are conservative techniques that preserve the uterus and at least one ovary. The decision depends on the tumor type, the stage and the grade, and it requires a joint assessment with oncology and the fertility unit before surgery.

Those of major abdominal or pelvic surgery: bleeding, infection, urinary or bowel complications and thrombosis. Extensive pelvic surgery adds the risk of lymphedema if many lymph nodes are removed. At centers with expert teams these complications are significantly reduced.

Spread through the peritoneum does not rule out surgery. Cytoreduction, with or without HIPEC, offers a proven benefit in carcinomatosis of ovarian origin as long as all visible disease can be removed. This is precisely the setting in which a team with peritoneal experience makes the difference.

Yes, in selected cases: it offers greater precision, less bleeding and a faster recovery. There is one relevant exception worth knowing: in radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer, open surgery is currently preferred, because it offers better oncological results than the minimally invasive approach.

In locally advanced or recurrent tumors that affect several pelvic organs and do not respond to other treatments. It is a major operation, which may include the bladder and rectum, and it is only considered when it can remove all the disease and the patient's general condition allows it.

No. It is indicated in selected cases of ovarian cancer with peritoneal spread. The setting with proven benefit is interval surgery, performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. It always requires complete cytoreduction and prior assessment by the multidisciplinary board.

With a prior assessment by the multidisciplinary board, advanced imaging studies and individual surgical planning. In cases affecting several organs, it is decided in advance which specialists will take part, which resections and reconstructions may be needed and what care the postoperative period will require.

At centers with proven experience in gynecological oncological surgery and enough case volume. It is worth asking how many operations of this kind the team performs each year and whether it has a multidisciplinary board. In advanced ovarian cancer, the surgeon's experience has a direct effect on survival.