What is the difference between a surgical oncologist and a general surgeon? what procedures do they overlap on? do oncology surgeons only deal with cancer related procedures?

A : A surgical oncologist is a general surgeon that specializes or received specialty training in surgical approaches to cancer. In general a surgical oncologist spends an additional two years in fellowship training after general surgery residency. While many general surgeons perform cancer operations, such as colon cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, soft tissue cancers - the difference between the two relate to the focus of the surgical oncologist in utilizing the network of cancer related resources, such as registries, clinical trials, protocols for treatment, multidisciplinary input from other cancer specialists, such as medical and radiation oncologists. Surgical oncologists may specialize in specific areas, such as breast cancer, or skin cancer, or may do a variety of surgical procedures, some of which are general surgery procedures.

It : It depends on if you are asking about board certification or specialty fellowship training. A general surgeon may have some specialty training or interest in oncology surgery, but will also perform many other surgical procedures not related to cancer. A surgical oncologist may have had specialty fellowship training in cancer related surgical procedures, and they might primarily only perform cancer related surgical procedures.

Several things: A surgical oncologist is trained to operate on all sorts of cancers and will often focus their practice on a certain patient population. They also learn how to stage and treat cancer outside of the surgical arena. A general surgeon does a broad array of cases, some (like colon, breast, and stomach) will overlap with oncology surgeons. Many surgical oncologists will do general surgery cases as well.

Additional training: A general surgeon has expertise in many areas including benign disease. A surgical oncologist has additional training in complex cancer operations, rare tumors and usually is part of a multidisciplinary team to take care of patients