Cytoreductive (debulking) surgery
Cytoreductive surgery, also called debulking, removes as much of a tumor as possible when taking it out completely is not feasible. Reducing the amount of cancer can make subsequent chemotherapy or radiation therapy more effective, relieve symptoms, and in some situations help patients live longer. It has an established role in advanced ovarian cancer, where an operation to remove as much tumor as possible is typically followed by chemotherapy.
How it works
The National Cancer Institute defines debulking as the surgical removal of as much of a tumor as possible. When cancer has spread within a body cavity — most typically the abdomen and pelvis in ovarian cancer — a single clean resection is often impossible, so the surgeon instead removes the visible tumor deposits; this may involve removing the uterus, the ovaries and fallopian tubes, the omentum (a fold of fatty tissue in the abdomen), and affected lymph nodes.
The reasoning is that other treatments work better against less disease: after cytoreduction, chemotherapy has fewer cancer cells left to destroy. This is major surgery with the usual operative risks, such as bleeding and infection, and the treatment plan — including the order of surgery and chemotherapy — is decided individually by the treating team.
Used in
Ovary & Fallopian Tube
C56-C57
maximal cytoreduction is the cornerstone of treatment