Oncovascular surgery

Background

Surgical resection remains the cornerstone for the curative treatment of oncological disease. When a tumour mass encases a critical arterial or venous structure, successful symptom relief and long-term oncological control may be achieved through careful preoperative planning within a multi-disciplinary team incorporating oncological and vascular specialists. To highlight the strategic issues pertaining to the vascular management of these patients, this review addresses the principles in planning oncovascular surgery, namely where cancer resection necessitates concurrent ligation or reconstruction of a major vascular structure.

Design

A multiple electronic health database search was performed, including Medline, Embase, and Scopus.

Results

The published outcomes for different malignancies suggest that survival is dependent upon complete clearance of the primary pathology and tumour biology rather than vascular-related complications.

Conlcusion

Major vessel involvement of a tumour mass should not necessarily be considered a barrier to en bloc resection and hence curative surgery. Radical surgical resection may offer the only chance for cure or palliation for these patients. Detailed preoperative planning within an extended multi-disciplinary team that includes vascular specialists is essential for these complex patients.