In Spain there are, approximately, only twenty oncological surgeons. This fact stands out because, at present, between 50 and 60% of the cancers that are cured have been treated by surgery. If the cancer has been treated only with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the percentage of cured cases drops to 10%.
Oncological surgeons such as the center of medical excellence International Advanced Surgery Barcelona, a member of Top Doctors, have managed to increase by 20% the survival of patients affected by breast, gastric, colorectal, ovarian, sarcoma or melanoma cancer.
The President of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), Santiago González-Moreno, says that ideally there should be at least one specialized surgical oncology unit in every tertiary hospital in Spain. However, this specialty as such does not exist in Spain but, even so, there are around 20-25 oncologic surgeons practicing. Gonzalez-Moreno emphasizes that the countries that have this specialty “benefit from it” because they are surgeons who are dedicated almost exclusively to cancer, which provides the patient with individualized treatment.
González-Moreno reminds us that it is not always necessary to operate on a cancer patient as soon as it is detected, since on many occasions the patient needs a plan that does not begin with surgery or needs to undergo treatment in preparation for the operation.