Diagnostic: For most types of cancer, a biopsy is the main way to diagnose cancer. During a surgical biopsy, the surgeon makes a cut, called an incision, into the skin. Then, he or she removes some or all of the suspicious tissue.

Staging: Staging surgery is used to find out the size of the tumor and if or where cancer has spread. The doctor often also removes some lymph nodes near cancer to find out if it has spread. Lymph nodes are tiny, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection.

Tumor removal, also called curative or primary surgery: Surgery is most commonly used to remove the tumor and some of the nearby healthy tissue. The tissue around the tumor is called the margin.

Debulking: Sometimes, the surgeon cannot remove the entire tumor. Or removing it might cause too much damage to the body. In these cases, surgery is used to remove as much of the tumor as possible. Other treatments, such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy, may be used after surgery to continue treating cancer. These treatments may also be given before surgery to help shrink the tumor so it can be removed with surgery.

Laser surgery:The doctor uses a narrow beam of high-intensity light to remove cancerous tissue.

Cryosurgery:The doctor uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill abnormal cells.