Theoretically if the tumor is removed completed from the affected body by surgery, then cancer could be cured, but unfortunately in reality this is not the case. For example if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body before the surgery then it becomes almost impossible to cure the disease by surgery. According to cancer progression in the Halstedian model, the tumor first grows locally, then metastasizes by spreading to the lymph nodes and then finally to the other parts of the body. Due to this surgery became popular for the small cancers, but these small tumors are being now recognized as metastatic.

Prostatectomy (Prostate cancer) and mastectomy (breast cancer) are some examples of surgery. The major aim during a surgical procedure is to eradicate either the entire organ or just the tumor. Being invisible to the human eye, even one cancer cell can multiply to grow into a tumor. This process is known as recurrence. Due to this reason doctors ask for a pathological report of the specimen to find out if there are some healthy tissues present, there by reducing the chances of the cancer cell being left behind in the patient’s body.