Procedure and Surgery Terms

Esophagectomy removes part or all of the esophagus, most often to treat esophageal cancer that has not responded to other therapy alone.

An injection of ethanol (alcohol) through the skin directly into a tumor to kill cancer cells.

A procedure to take a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope.

Excision is the removal of tissue or a body structure by cutting it out during a procedure.

A surgical procedure used to remove moles, cysts, skin cancer, and other skin growths using local anesthesia.

Surgery to look inside the body to help make a diagnosis.

A procedure in which blood is removed from the body and treated with ultraviolet light and drugs that become active when exposed to light.

Surgery to remove a diseased lung, part of the pericardium (membrane covering the heart), part of the diaphragm (muscle between the lungs and the abdomen), and part of the parietal pleura (membrane…

A procedure to destroy tissue (such as a tumor) using an electric current.

Gastrectomy removes all or part of the stomach, most often to treat stomach cancer or certain severe stomach conditions.

The insertion of genetic material into a cell.

Glossectomy removes part or all of the tongue, most often to treat cancer arising from the tongue's tissue.

Gonioscopy is an eye examination that visualizes the drainage angle of the eye, helping distinguish open angle from narrow angle glaucoma.

Surgery for breast cancer in which the breast, chest muscles, and all of the lymph nodes under the arm are removed.

An operation to remove one side of the larynx (voicebox).

Hepatectomy removes part or all of the liver, often performed to treat tumors, donate a liver segment, or address severe injury.

A procedure to deliver chemotherapy directly to the liver.

Sound focused the way a magnifying glass focuses sunlight, burning a target inside the body without cutting the skin.

A procedure in which a warmed solution containing anticancer drugs is used to bathe, or is passed through the blood vessels of, the tissue or organ containing the tumor.

Removing the uterus ends the possibility of pregnancy, but on its own it does not bring on menopause.