Surgical oncology is the branch of surgery which focuses on the surgical management of malignant neoplasms (cancer). Whether surgical oncology constitutes a medical specialty per se is the topic of a heated debate.
Today, some would agree that it is simply impossible for any one surgeon to be competent in the surgical management of all malignant disease. While many general surgeons are actively involved in treating patients with malignant neoplasms, the designation of "surgical oncologist" is generally reserved for those surgeons who have completed one of the approved fellowship programs. However, this is a matter of semantics, as many surgeons who are thoroughly involved in treating cancer patients may consider themselves to be surgical oncologists.
Most often, surgical oncologist refers to a general surgical oncologist (General Surgery), but thoracic surgical oncologists, gynecologic oncologists and so forth can all be considered surgeons who specialize in treating cancer patients.
