The surgeon removed all visible tumor from her abdomen and, despite extensive surgery, was able to avoid a colostomy.
He found that 19 percent of the women who received standard therapy, cisplatin and cytoxan, had no visible tumors in their abdomens six months later.
There are no longer any visible tumors, but he would still be checked periodically.
The cycle is repeated, with a safety margin of curettage of normal skin around the visible tumor.
A small scalpel is utilized to cut around the visible tumor.
In traditional treatment for advanced cancer of the esophagus, the surgeon chips away at visible tumor using a heat laser scalpel.
First, all visible tumor is removed by a surgeon.
In 1984, he began testing it on hundreds of patients with advanced melanoma who first had visible tumors removed by surgery.
However, even when all of the visible tumor is removed it is possible for microscopic cancer cells to still remain.
Because these tumors are histologically benign, it may be possible to remove all the visible tumor resulting in long-term disease control.