A proof of concept of the Orlando Health Cancer line on orlandohealth.com and every page it links to, built from our page drafts on the service line, facility and health library templates, with placeholder photos, doctors, locations and articles. It uses no built components and implies no build date. Medical copy is a draft for clinical review.
Every page has one owner. A page another team owns appears here because this line links to it, and changes to it go to that team.
Orlando Health cancer specialists screen for, diagnose and treat all types of cancer, including rare ones, and support you through treatment and after it, at hospitals and offices across Central Florida and Tampa Bay.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (40 to 380 characters; ours, 217). The care in the order a person meets it, with the regions the line serves. The landing page's "all types of cancers, even the rarest" is said in the reader's words. No superlative, no count of locations or doctors.
Keep the designer's text card and put each team's own lockup (Air Care, Winnie Palmer Hospital, Women's Institute, Orlando Health Children's) in its logo slot. Add a photo band only when every team on the page has a real photo of its own people or place.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Our cancer teams care for adults with cancers of the breast, lung, colon, prostate, skin, blood, brain, pancreas and liver, and rarer cancers such as sarcoma. Children are cared for at Orlando Health Children's.
Treatment may include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy including proton therapy, or a bone marrow transplant for some blood cancers. Screening and genetic counseling can find cancer early or show your risk.
Template module · Written block (style guide §11.7: up to five paragraphs, each under 80 words, no lists). Holds the landing page's specialties list, its team paragraph and the screenings page in prose; every cancer and treatment named has a card in the tabs below. Pediatric cancer is Orlando Health Children's (the binding's scope), so it is named once and sent there.
Specialists in medical, radiation and surgical oncology, pathology and genetics plan your treatment together. Nurses, nutritionists, therapists and counselors trained in cancer care join them, and a nurse navigator helps with appointments, tests and questions from your first visit on.
Template module · Image and text, photo left (§11.8: heading up to 50 characters, text up to 600). The landing page's own description of the team, in the reader's terms: specialists trained in your cancer, joined by the people who help you live through treatment. Nurse navigation is a section of the Cancer Institute page (G3 ruling); it is named here as what the reader gets.
Cancer care is offered at Orlando Health hospitals and offices across Central Florida and in the Tampa and St. Petersburg area, so many treatments can happen near where you live. If you were diagnosed somewhere else, our specialists can confirm your diagnosis, review your plan of care and help you decide what to do next.
Template module · Image and text, photo right (§11.8). Two facts from the landing page and the hospital pages that fold here: the institute's expansion into the Tampa and St. Petersburg area so treatment happens nearer home, and its second opinion band. The institute's count of locations is left out because it changes.
Yoga, qigong, music, art, acupuncture and oncology massage can ease stress, pain and fatigue during treatment and after it. The program is open to Orlando Health patients with cancer, survivors and caregivers.
Learn About Integrative MedicineWhen treatment ends, the survivorship program helps with follow-up visits, continued screening, counseling, education and support groups, for anyone who has completed cancer treatment.
See the Cancer InstituteCancer touches everyone close to you. Family members and friends are welcome in our support groups, and our guide helps you find the right words for someone who has cancer.
What to SayIf your parents, siblings or children have had cancer, you may need screening earlier or more often. Genetic counseling looks at your family history and explains what it means for you.
Learn About Genetic CounselingLibrary module · The feature accordion (§11.9: 2 to 5 rows, each a title up to 35 characters, a paragraph up to 350, 0 to 2 buttons, a photo). Rows from sources on disk, each something no other module on this page says. The integrative medicine row is the program page's. The life after treatment row is the survivorship program as the breast cancer center page describes it, which the G3 review ruled a section of the Cancer Institute page. The family row is the support groups page's invitation to anyone concerned about someone with cancer, with the friend guide already drafted. The risk row is the specialty centers index's genetic counseling card.
Prompts for the service line marketer, invented and never to publish as written: a free screening event at a hospital near you · Maggie's story on video · a walk or hike for people in treatment and after it.
Cancer specialists, nurse navigators and support from diagnosis through survivorship, across Central and West Florida.
Learn MoreCancer care with chemotherapy and infusion for breast, lung, colon and prostate cancers, in Land O' Lakes and Zephyrhills.
Learn MoreTemplate module · Fills itself from the care team records, a card for each team on this line, the team leading (§10.7 rule 5). The card wording is each team's Card blurb, written once on its own page.
What renders on this line: Orlando Health Cancer Institute · Florida Medical Clinic Hematology and Medical Oncology. Only the top-level care teams (the 2026-10-28 review call: "from a service line perspective, there's 2 big brands"; Kim, "that's what it should be"). The institute's centers are its programs, listed in its Specialty Centers module and in this page's Programs set; the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center moved there on that call.
Template module · Fills itself. The doctor finder, filtered to oncology. Nothing is supplied. It replaces the landing page's Find a Cancer Physician tile, the physicians lists on the hospital cancer pages and Florida Medical Clinic's breast surgeon list.
Template module · Fills itself. Every hospital and office where cancer care is given, each linking to its page, from the records: today the cancer listings of Dr. P. Phillips, Horizon West, Bayfront and Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands hospitals fold here, with the Cancer Institute's offices and Florida Medical Clinic's oncology offices. Nothing is supplied.
"The trial gave me the opportunity to expand my life."
MaggieCancer Institute patientRead More"Everyone that works there is just fabulous. You couldn't ask for better people."
RowenaCancer Institute patientRead MoreTemplate module · Fills itself from the story records, two cards (§11.20: a quote up to 140 characters, a name, a short title, Read More). ⭐ Maggie's story renders here and on the Cancer Institute page (oh_clinical_trials_in_the_structure.html §3: the trials page's patient story becomes a Testimonials item on both). Her quote is cut to two of its sentences to fit the card, in her published words. The second card is Rowena's, from the landing page's carousel.
Children and teens with cancer are cared for by the pediatric cancer and blood disorders team at Orlando Health Children's.
Learn More About PediatricsBreast care lives with women's care, and breast and gynecologic cancers are treated with the cancer teams.
Learn More About Women's CareMammograms, CT, MRI and other scans find cancer early, guide biopsies and show how treatment is working.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingPlastic surgeons rebuild the breast, head, neck or skin after cancer surgery, often in the same operation.
Learn More About Aesthetic and Reconstructive SurgeryGeneral surgeons remove many tumors of the abdomen, pancreas and esophagus, working with the cancer teams.
Learn More About General SurgeryColon and rectal surgeons treat colon, rectal and anal cancers, and colonoscopy finds polyps before they turn to cancer.
Learn More About Colon and RectalTemplate module · The tabs module: Services, Conditions and Treatments. Services holds service lines only (style guide §10.7 rule 30): the six lines cancer care works alongside, each card's sentence saying how, from oh_cancer_related_service_lines.md. Pediatric cancer is the Pediatrics card (Orlando Health Children's); breast care is the Women's card, where the master routes it. Conditions and Treatments fill themselves from the health library, grouped as the binding groups them.
Colon, rectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Gastrointestinal Cancer CenterYoga, art, music, acupuncture, massage and support groups that ease stress and side effects during and after cancer care.
Learn More About Integrative Medicine ProgramBreast cancer specialists, breast imaging and reconstructive surgery in Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Breast Care CenterLung, esophageal and chest cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Learn More About Rod Taylor Thoracic Care CenterBladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancer care, with robotic surgery, in Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Urologic Cancer CenterProstate cancer diagnosis and treatment, from active surveillance to robotic surgery and precise radiation.
Learn More About Prostate Cancer CenterBrain and spinal cord tumor specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn More About Neuro-Oncology CenterGynecologic oncologists caring for ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Gynecologic Cancer CenterHead and neck cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden, with free screening.
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer CenterFellowship-trained physicians for primary and secondary liver cancer, including histotripsy, in downtown Orlando.
Learn More About Liver Cancer CenterThyroid, adrenal, parathyroid and neuroendocrine cancer specialists in Ocoee, with surgical and nonsurgical care.
Learn More About Endocrine Cancer CenterSpecialists in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaDermatology, surgery and oncology specialists for melanoma and skin cancer in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Melanoma and Skin CancerBone and soft tissue cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn More About SarcomaBone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, with evaluation, treatment and follow-up care in downtown Orlando.
Learn More About Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy ProgramBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerPancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control...
Learn More About Pancreatic CancerChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at...
Learn More About Proton TherapyA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyEach care team books its own visits. The Orlando Health Cancer Institute, the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and Florida Medical Clinic Hematology and Medical Oncology each take requests on their own pages.
Yes. Our specialists can confirm your diagnosis, review your plan of care and talk with you about your options. You can request a second opinion on the Cancer Institute's page.
Many people come because their doctor sent them, and some insurance plans ask for a referral. Bring your past test results and imaging to your first visit so your team can start from what has already been done.
It depends on your age, your sex, your family history and other risk factors. Each screening page explains the recommendations, and most insurance plans cover screening that follows them. If a parent, sibling or child has had cancer, tell your doctor.
A fever during chemotherapy can be an emergency. Call your care team's after-hours number right away or go to the nearest emergency room. Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing or bleeding that will not stop.
Template module · Written copy (§11.16: four or five questions, each up to 85 characters, each answer up to 350). Entry questions about the line as a whole. The screening answer is the screenings page's insurance and family history paragraphs. The fever answer holds the line's emergency seed (a fever during chemotherapy is never a wait-and-see sign).
A clinical trial can give you access to a new treatment before it is widely available. These are the cancer trials open at Orlando Health now, and Find a Clinical Trial lets you search them by type of cancer.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · Fills itself from the Orlando Health trial list and shows only this line's trials, each linking to its own page under /clinical-trials (oh_clinical_trials_in_the_structure.html §2; wizard §0b). No trial and no trial count is typed here: the trials and their count come from the list, so they are kept in one place for clinical accuracy. The copy is the heading and two sentences; what trials are and how they work is said once, on the corporate clinical trials page.
Template modules · Both fill themselves from the content hub and the resource files, filtered to this line. The institute's content hub page folds here; its articles keep their own addresses (reference/cancer/oh_cancer_source_lists_2026_10_27.md).
Cancer specialists, nurse navigators and support services that care for you from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship, at the Charles Lewis Pavilion downtown and locations across Central and West Florida.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours, 212 characters). The button is Request an Appointment. From the about us page: the team, the main campus and the reach across Central and West Florida. No ranking, no volume.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
Orlando Health Cancer Institute has cared for people with cancer in Central Florida for more than 40 years. Doctors who specialize in your type of cancer plan your care, with a nurse practitioner, a social worker and a dietitian on your team from the start.
Our main campus is the Charles Lewis Pavilion in downtown Orlando. We also treat patients in Clermont, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary, Ocoee, St. Cloud and St. Petersburg, so you can get care closer to home.
Template module · Written copy under Who We Are, then the features (Marketer's Playground, §11.9: 3 to 5 rows on a care team). Who We Are is the about us and treatment philosophy pages in plain words. The rows are the institute's own: nurse navigators (care coordination and the nurse navigators page, whose copy also filled this page's written block until 2026-10-28), second opinions (the request page, its form the row's button), survivorship (the breast cancer center page's passage, the only one that describes the program), the support services page, and the virtual tour (the preparing for your first appointment page and the Ocoee location page: "Virtual tours are now available for Orlando Health facilities"). Integrative medicine moved to the Specialty Centers module, where every program of the institute is listed.
A nurse navigator who focuses on your type of cancer, such as breast, lung, gastrointestinal or blood cancers, explains your diagnosis and treatment, coordinates your appointments and tests so treatment is not delayed, and connects your family with support.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, our specialists can review your case, confirm your diagnosis and explain your treatment options, in person or by video visit. We contact you within one to two business days.
Request a Second OpinionYour care continues after your last treatment. Our survivorship program is open to anyone who has completed cancer treatment, with follow-up visits, continued screening, counseling, education, support groups and social workers.
Licensed counselors offer free counseling and lead support groups. Registered dietitians help with meals and side effects, chaplains offer interfaith spiritual care, and rehabilitation therapists help you regain strength. Ask your care team.
Explore our lobbies, treatment areas and exam rooms in a 3D tour before your first visit, so you know where you are going when you arrive.
Take the TourColon, rectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Gastrointestinal Cancer CenterYoga, art, music, acupuncture, massage and support groups that ease stress and side effects during and after cancer care.
Learn More About Integrative Medicine ProgramBreast cancer specialists, breast imaging and reconstructive surgery in Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Breast Care CenterLung, esophageal and chest cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Learn More About Rod Taylor Thoracic Care CenterBladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancer care, with robotic surgery, in Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Urologic Cancer CenterProstate cancer diagnosis and treatment, from active surveillance to robotic surgery and precise radiation.
Learn More About Prostate Cancer CenterBrain and spinal cord tumor specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn More About Neuro-Oncology CenterGynecologic oncologists caring for ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Gynecologic Cancer CenterHead and neck cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden, with free screening.
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer CenterFellowship-trained physicians for primary and secondary liver cancer, including histotripsy, in downtown Orlando.
Learn More About Liver Cancer CenterThyroid, adrenal, parathyroid and neuroendocrine cancer specialists in Ocoee, with surgical and nonsurgical care.
Learn More About Endocrine Cancer CenterSpecialists in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaDermatology, surgery and oncology specialists for melanoma and skin cancer in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn More About Melanoma and Skin CancerBone and soft tissue cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn More About SarcomaBone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, with evaluation, treatment and follow-up care in downtown Orlando.
Learn More About Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy ProgramTemplate module, added 2026-10-28 · The institute's specialty centers and programs, called out on its own page (the 2026-10-28 review call with the line's leads: "on the institute page, I think we need to make a better call out of our specialties within that institute... those can all be program pages"). A center inside the institute is a program of it, at /care-teams/cancer-institute/[center]. The drafted programs fill first from their own records (the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and the Integrative Medicine Program); the cards below are the centers not yet drafted, each sentence from today's specialty centers index (reference/cancer/live/oh/services_cancer_institute_specialty_centers.txt), and each opens the not-yet-built note. Conditions stay in the health library: breast cancer is a condition page, and the Breast Cancer Center is a program that lists its locations. Each name is the center's own, read from the heading or body of its page on orlandohealth.com (reference/cancer/live/oh/services_cancer_institute_specialty_centers_*.txt); where a page names no center, its heading is the name. Left out: pancreatic cancer care, which is part of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center; the Colon and Rectal Institute and the Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery Institute, which are care teams of their own; radiation therapy, proton therapy and genetic counseling, which are treatments; and pediatric cancer care, which is Orlando Health Children's.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Cancer Institute. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page and every specialty center's /our-team page, the St. Petersburg team page and the clinical trials team page.
Template module · Fills itself from the institute's location records. It replaces today's /locations page, its eight location pages and every specialty center's /locations page. From the saved bodies: the main campus is the Charles Lewis Pavilion in downtown Orlando, main line (321) 841-1869; outpatient infusion centers in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Ocoee, Lake Mary and St. Cloud; St. Petersburg in the Orlando Health Medical Pavilion at Institute Square, 725 6th Ave. S.
The institute's medical, radiation and surgical oncologists care for adults with every kind of cancer.
Learn More About CancerPathologists study your biopsy and tumor tissue to name the cancer and help choose the treatment.
Learn More About PathologyThe institute's specialists read your scans with radiologists to stage the cancer and track your treatment.
Learn More About Radiology and Diagnostic ImagingTemplate modules · Services holds service lines only (§10.7 rule 30), from oh_cancer_related_service_lines.md; Conditions and Treatments fill themselves from the library pages that name this team. Nothing is supplied. The treatments today's about us and transforming cancer care pages describe (proton therapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, bone marrow transplant, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, the robotic Whipple procedure) each have their own library page and reach this page through the Treatments tab.
Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone Scan[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied. Today's billing and insurance assistance link on the patients and families page goes to Patient Financial Resources, which the record links.
Bring your completed new patient forms, your insurance card, a photo ID and a list of every medicine you take, with doses and how often, including herbal supplements and over-the-counter medicines. A friend or relative can come with you for support and to help take notes.
Please arrive 30 minutes early. A first consultation usually lasts about two hours: a team member checks your vital signs, then you meet your doctor for an exam and talk about any tests or treatment you need.
Parking is free in the visitor garage, C Deck, on Underwood Street, just north of the Cancer Institute's main entrance. Valet parking is available for a fee at the Charles Lewis Pavilion entrance. Every other location has free parking right outside.
Transportation may be available within 20 miles of our locations. Call (321) 841-7105 to ask.
Call (321) 841-1869 during regular business hours, or send your care team a message in Orlando Health MyChart. If you have a nurse navigator, you can also email them directly.
Template module · Written copy, from today's preparing for your first appointment, contact us and campus amenities pages.
"The trial gave me the opportunity to expand my life."
MaggieCancer Institute patientRead More"Everyone that works there is just fabulous. You couldn't ask for better people."
RowenaCancer Institute patientRead MoreTemplate modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Awards come from the awards record, which holds what today's awards and accreditations page lists; no ranking or designation is typed onto this page. Testimonials: Maggie's story from today's clinical trials page (design §3: on this page and the Cancer line page), and the patient stories on today's about us page. Patient Resources: the appointment, treatment and survivorship guides, the NOURISH recipe collection and the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library. Articles: content hub articles tagged to the institute, where a new study or milestone is published (design §4).
Clinical trials can give you early access to new treatments. Your doctor can tell you whether a trial fits your diagnosis, and Find a Clinical Trial lists every trial open at the Cancer Institute.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to the Cancer Institute's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: "we don't necessarily need individual tiles of feeds. We need just a banner"). No trial and no trial count is typed here. What today's clinical trials page says about trials in general moves to the corporate page; its team goes to Meet Our Doctors and Maggie's story to Testimonials.
Doctors in training learn here alongside our cancer specialists. Residencies and Fellowships lists the Cancer Institute's programs.
Residencies and FellowshipsTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Residencies and Fellowships, narrowed to the Cancer Institute's programs. No program is named here; the list fills itself from the graduate medical education record. The live institute menu lists Residency & Fellowships under Research & Education (read 2026-10-29).
Request an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentMedical oncology care for breast, lung, colon, prostate and other cancers, with chemotherapy and infusion close to home, at offices in Land O' Lakes and Zephyrhills.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours, 165 characters). The button is Request an Appointment. The cancers are the medical oncology page's solid tumors; the places are its two offices.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The medical oncology team at Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health diagnoses and treats cancer and other diseases, with a focus on precision medicine. Our board-certified medical oncologist sees patients in Land O' Lakes and Zephyrhills. Meet the team below.
We care for people with solid tumors, including breast, lung, colon and prostate cancers. Your oncologist builds a plan for you that brings together prevention, early detection and care from several specialists, and we stay beside you at each step.
Template module · Who We Are, from FMC's medical oncology page and Dr. Reza's pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): chemotherapy and infusion, palliative care through the FMC network and prompt consultations, each stated on FMC's pages. Clinical studies are the Clinical Trials section's.
Your oncologist chooses your chemotherapy by your type of cancer, your tumor's makeup and how you have responded before. Our infusion nurses give your treatment, and your record is open to all of your Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health doctors.
We work with doctors across the Florida Medical Clinic network to offer palliative care, including pain management, so you can feel as well as possible during treatment.
New patients can be scheduled promptly for a treatment consultation. Call (813) 780-2642 to book.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to FMC's medical oncology department. Nothing is supplied. FMC's saved pages name one physician, Samina Reza, MD. Whether each doctor is accepting new patients shows on the doctor's own card from the doctor records, never in copy.
Template module · Fills itself from FMC's office records: Land O' Lakes, 2100 Via Bella Blvd, Suite 207, North Entrance, Land O' Lakes, FL 34639; Zephyrhills, 36763 Eiland Blvd, Suite 202, Zephyrhills, FL 33542 (the building is shared with Palliative Care). Phone (813) 780-2642, fax (813) 355-5053.
Florida Medical Clinic's oncologists bring chemotherapy, infusion and cancer care to Pasco County.
Learn More About CancerTemplate modules · Services holds service lines only (§10.7 rule 30), from oh_cancer_related_service_lines.md. Conditions and Treatments fill themselves from the library pages that name this team. Nothing is supplied.
Anal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT Scan[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself; FMC's page filters doctors by insurance today. Nothing is supplied.
Call (813) 780-2642 to schedule a treatment consultation.
We care for people with solid tumors, including breast, lung, colon and prostate cancers. We treat all forms of colon and lung cancer, from adenocarcinoma to small cell and squamous cell lung cancer.
Your oncologist looks at your type of cancer, the makeup of your tumor and how you have responded to any earlier chemotherapy, then explains the plan and what to expect.
Yes. Your chemotherapy record can be seen by all of your Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health doctors, so your care stays connected.
Template module · Written copy, from FMC's medical oncology, chemotherapy, colon cancer and lung cancer treatment pages.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied.
We take part in clinical studies for people treated by our medical oncologists. Ask your oncologist whether one fits you.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · Fills itself from the Orlando Health trial list and shows only this team's studies, each linking to its own page under /clinical-trials, with their count from the list (oh_clinical_trials_in_the_structure.html §2). No study and no count is typed here. FMC's page says the department conducts clinical studies for medical oncology patients.
Request an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentMedical, surgical and radiation oncologists who plan your care together for cancers of the colon, rectum, liver, pancreas and stomach, in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours, 190 characters). The button is Request an Appointment. The cancers are the treatments page's; the places are the locations page's. No superlative, no "nationally recognized" without a source on disk.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Gastrointestinal Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Medical, surgical and radiation oncologists work together to plan your treatment around your diagnosis, the stage of your cancer and your own preferences, so you can keep the best quality of life you can during treatment.
We care for cancers of the colon and rectum, the liver and bile ducts, the pancreas, and the stomach, including cancer where the stomach meets the esophagus. A support team stays with you through every step of treatment and recovery.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatments pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): surgery through small incisions, care when cancer has spread, the GI nurse navigators and the support around treatment, each stated on today's pages. The robotic colorectal training claim is the treatments page's, without its trademark.
Our surgeons operate through small incisions when they can, some with robotic help, which can mean a shorter recovery. They use robotic help for the Whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer, and surgeons from across the country train here in robotic colon and rectal surgery.
When cancer has spread within the abdomen, some people can have HIPEC: surgery to remove the visible tumor, then heated chemotherapy placed in the abdomen. When it has spread to the liver, our team has treatments that remove or destroy the tumors there.
A nurse navigator who focuses on gastrointestinal cancers coordinates your appointments and tests, explains each step and connects you and your family with support, from your first visit through treatment.
Integrative medicine, registered dietitians, free counseling and the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center are open to you and your family while you are treated with us.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations pages of this center and the pancreatic cancer center. From the saved bodies, one phone, (321) 841-1838, at 1400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32806 (the only place the pancreatic cancer page lists); 7472 Docs Grove Cir., Orlando, FL 32819 (Dr. Phillips); 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; and 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team pages of this center and the pancreatic cancer center.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1838 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
Not always. Your team recommends the combination of treatments that fits you best, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or other therapies, based on your diagnosis, the stage of your cancer and your preferences.
When it fits your diagnosis, your doctor may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. Find a Clinical Trial, further down this page, lists the trials open here.
Your family can use the integrative medicine program, counseling and support groups, and the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center, which lends books and videos about cancer and its treatment.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments and resources pages and the institute's request an appointment page.
A clinical trial can offer you a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page names the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center and the institute's genetic counseling, nutrition, oncology massage and counseling services, each reached from its own record.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-27.
The center's specialists plan care for cancers of the stomach, pancreas, liver and other digestive organs.
Learn More About CancerDigestive specialists find many of these cancers with endoscopy and help manage eating and digestion during treatment.
Learn More About Digestive HealthSurgeons remove digestive tumors, often robotically, as part of the plan the center makes with you.
Learn More About General SurgeryFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Barrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentClasses, support groups and hands-on therapies that ease stress, pain and fatigue during cancer treatment and after it, for Orlando Health patients with cancer, survivors and the people who care for them.
Template module · Written copy (40 to 380 characters; ours, 204). Who it is for and what it eases, from the program page's own words: physical, emotional and social health, for patients, survivors and caregivers.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Integrative Medicine Program at the Orlando Health Cancer Institute helps your physical, emotional and social health, so you can keep the best quality of life possible through treatment and into survivorship. Everything it offers works alongside the care your doctors give you.
The program is open to any Orlando Health patient with cancer, to survivors and to caregivers. You can try whatever appeals to you, whether you are in the hospital, visiting our clinics or joining from home by phone or video.
Template module · Written block (§11.7). The program page's goal and its open door, said once. "Complements" is the program's own framing: these services go alongside medical treatment and never replace it.
Movement and breath. Yoga, gentle yoga, laughter yoga and qigong, which combines movement, breath and thought to ease stress, help you sleep and relieve pain. No experience is needed, and the movements can be adapted to your ability, even if you need a chair.
Art and music. Arts in Medicine workshops in creative writing, painting and photography, an open art studio, a jewelry class, a writing group, and music and relaxation classes that help calm the body and mind. Patients can also make art while they receive infusion treatment.
Massage, acupuncture and healing touch. Licensed massage therapists trained in oncology massage, lymphatic drainage and scar tissue release help with pain, fatigue and anxiety. Acupuncture, including ear acupuncture, tui na and gua sha, and healing touch care for mind and body together. Acupuncture and massage are paid services that insurance does not usually cover.
Support groups. A weekly cancer support group, led by licensed mental health professionals, is open to anyone newly diagnosed, in remission, facing a recurrence, making a treatment decision or worried about someone with cancer. Most meetings are by phone.
Template module · The program template's written sections with bold lead-ins (§11.7: up to five paragraphs, each under 80 words). Every service is named on the program page or its Groups and Massage Services pages; the descriptions are theirs, shortened. Acupuncture and oncology massage are marked as paid services, as the program page marks them. Named as a written block so it holds its place under either template order the builder reads.
On the fourth floor terrace of the Charles Lewis Pavilion, a labyrinth modeled on the one at Chartres Cathedral offers a walking meditation and a quiet place to breathe. It is open on weekdays to patients, families, team members and neighbors.
Massage can ease pain, fatigue and anxiety and help with the side effects of chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and lymphedema, for patients in treatment, survivors and family members. It is offered in downtown Orlando and in Ocoee. Button: Request Information → #request
Classes, groups and workshops change each month, and the calendar marks each one as in person, by phone or online. Ask for it by email or pick one up at the program's classroom. Button: Request Information → #request
Library module · The feature accordion (§11.9: 2 to 5 rows, each a title up to 35 characters, a paragraph up to 350, 0 to 2 buttons, a photo). The labyrinth row is the program page's; its hours are left to the record. The massage row is the Massage Services page's, its places from that page's location list. The calendar row is the Groups page's. Prompts for the marketer, invented and never to publish as written: an Arts in Medicine showcase of patients' work · a short gentle yoga video with one of the instructors · a caregiver's story about the support group.
Template module · Fills itself from the program's location records: the program's classroom and office at 1720 S. Orange Ave., third floor, Orlando; and the massage locations at 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, and 83 W. Miller St., Orlando (the Massage Services page). Nothing else is supplied.
Any Orlando Health patient with cancer, anyone who has finished cancer treatment, and the family members and friends who care for them.
Classes and support groups are offered as part of your care. Acupuncture and oncology massage are paid services that insurance does not usually cover, and the program team can tell you the current price before you book.
Yes. Most support groups meet by phone, so you simply dial in, and some meet by secure video. The monthly calendar shows how each class and group is offered.
Call (321) 841-5056 or email IntegrativeMedicine@OrlandoHealth.com for this month's calendar. To receive the newsletter, complete the program's sign-up form. To book acupuncture, call (321) 841-8393.
Template module · Written copy (§11.16: four or five questions, each up to 85 characters, each answer up to 350). The phone numbers and email are the program page's.
The program works alongside your cancer treatment and stays open to you as a survivor.
Learn More About CancerLicensed counselors lead the support groups, and relaxation and music classes help with stress and worry.
Learn More About Behavioral HealthAcupuncture, oncology massage and qigong can help ease pain alongside the care your doctors give.
Learn More About Pain ManagementGentle yoga and oncology massage help you rebuild strength and manage lymphedema during and after treatment.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyOncologists, breast imaging specialists, pathologists and reconstructive surgeons who plan your care together, from your diagnosis through recovery, in downtown Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Dr. Phillips.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team is the center page's own list (oncologists, imaging, pathologists, reconstructive surgeons); the places are the locations page's. No superlative: the page's "world-class", "pioneers" and its survival figure stay out.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Breast Care Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Medical, surgical and radiation oncologists, a specialized breast imaging team, pathologists, reconstructive plastic surgeons and rehabilitation specialists work together to build a treatment plan around your type of cancer, your lifestyle and your goals. Our center has been accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers since 2013.
We care for every form of breast cancer, including ductal and lobular cancers, triple negative and inflammatory breast cancer, cancer that has spread, cancer that has come back, and breast cancer in men. A nurse navigator guides you through each phase of care, so you always know what comes next.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatments pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): imaging and biopsy, surgery and reconstruction (with the wire-free lumpectomy from the SCOUT page, named without its trademark), treatment planned together, the breast health and risk review (the prevention pages' service, said once; screening and risk guidance stays in the library), and support through survivorship. The center's accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Care Centers since 2013 is stated on the center page. The page also states an ACR Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation, the Cancer Center of Excellence designation ("one of only seven in the state and the only one in Central Florida", a ranking claim, so it stays in this note and out of the copy), "more than 35 years" of breast care and "more than 15 years" of multidisciplinary care (a duration the institute page's own "more than 40 years" does not contradict; left out of the copy), and a 99 percent five-year survival figure for early-stage breast cancer (a claim a library page would source; left out). The page also describes the first-visit steps; they appear in the FAQ.
Our breast imaging team uses mammograms, ultrasound and MRI to find answers quickly. When a biopsy is needed, it is guided by imaging for accuracy, and the lab results help your team plan your treatment.
Your surgeon talks with you about a lumpectomy or a mastectomy and a sentinel node biopsy to check your lymph nodes. A small reflector instead of a wire can mark the tumor, so you are free to move until surgery. If you want reconstruction, now or later, our plastic surgeons join your team from the start.
Your plan may combine surgery, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiation, including shorter courses of radiation, MRI-guided radiation and proton therapy for some patients. Our tumor board, a group of cancer specialists, can review more complex cases together.
If you have a strong family history or other risk factors, our specialists and genetic counselors can review your risk with you and talk through genetic testing, more frequent screening and other steps you can take.
Nurse navigators, lymphedema therapy, nutrition guidance, counseling and support groups are open to you and your family. Our Express Symptom Management program and virtual visits help with urgent needs, and our survivorship program continues your care after treatment ends.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations pages of this center and of its prevention information page. The saved bodies list these offices, mostly at (321) 841-1869: Orlando Health Cancer Institute Breast Care Center, 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; Lake Mary, 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; Downtown Orlando, 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806; Breast Care and Gynecologic Cancer Center, 83 W. Miller St., Orlando, FL 32806; Breast Care Center, 7472 Docs Grove Cir., Orlando, FL 32819 (Dr. Phillips, (321) 843-8370, and the Cancer Institute office at the same address, (321) 842-7946); Breast Care Center, 1111 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, FL 32789 ((321) 842-5052); Breast Care and Gynecologic Cancer Center, 1900 Don Wickham Dr., Clermont, FL 34711.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Breast Care Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page of this center.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied. The prevention page says screening mammograms are covered by insurance; that belongs to the screening page in the library.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our care team schedules your visit, explains your next steps, helps coordinate your imaging and gathers your medical records. Visits can be in person or by video.
You review your diagnosis in detail with your doctor, including your imaging, medical history and biopsy results if you have them. You talk through your next steps, and your doctor encourages you to ask any questions you have.
Not always. Treatment plans differ from one person to the next, based on the type and stage of the cancer and your own characteristics. Your team may suggest more tests, such as imaging, a biopsy or genetic testing, before it recommends a plan, and our tumor board can review more complex cases.
Reconstruction is a personal decision, and it can follow many paths. Some people choose it right after cancer surgery and others wait months or years. If you want it, our reconstructive surgeons join your team from the start.
Yes. Our breast specialists and genetic counselors can review your family history and risk factors with you and talk through genetic testing, more frequent screening and other steps. You can also talk with your primary care doctor or OB-GYN about your risk.
Your care continues. Our survivorship program is open to anyone who has completed cancer treatment, with follow-up visits, continued screening, counseling, education and support groups.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments, prevention and SCOUT pages and the institute's request an appointment page. The center page's own questions are about symptoms, lumps and diagnosis and go to the breast cancer condition page in the library; the six below are the ones a center's patients ask. Phone: (321) 841-1869 is the number the center page's locations list gives for most offices and the institute's main line.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new diagnostic tool, medicine or treatment for breast cancer. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page and the prevention page's go to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The center's pages state the NAPBC accreditation since 2013, an ACR Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation and a Cancer Center of Excellence designation for the institute (see module 2's note), and show two patient stories (one patient is quoted by first name on the center page). Today's resources page names no resource beyond the institute's integrative and complementary services; the center page names oncology nurse navigators, physical and lymphedema therapy, nutritional guidance, genetic counseling, psychological counseling, support groups, the free guide to breast cancer and the breast self-exam guides (one for men), each reached from its own record. The center page also names the Orlando Health Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery Institute as the team's partner for reconstruction.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons, oncologists and radiation specialists plan breast cancer care together, from diagnosis on.
Learn More About CancerA breast exam or mammogram with a women's health provider is often what leads you to this center.
Learn More About Women'sPlastic surgeons rebuild the breast after a mastectomy, sometimes in the same operation as the cancer surgery.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveRadiologists read the mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs that find breast cancer and guide its biopsy.
Learn More About RadiologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average...
Learn More About Breast Cancer ScreeningBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentThoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists and gastroenterologists who plan your care together for cancers of the lung, esophagus and chest, in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The cancers are the center's own pages'; the places are the locations page's. No superlative: the live page's "pioneers," "first in Florida," "epicenter" and "latest" wording is left out of the copy, and the percentage of surgeries done through small incisions is left out because the live pages state two different figures (see the Overview ABOUT note).
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Rod Taylor Thoracic Care Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists and other specialists work together with you and your family to plan your care around your diagnosis and your own needs.
We care for cancers of the lung and the esophagus, tumors of the chest wall and the space between the lungs, and lung nodules that need a closer look. We also treat noncancerous conditions such as acid reflux (GERD), and excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis). Nutrition support, education and integrative medicine are part of your care, so you can keep a good quality of life during treatment and beyond.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center page and its treatments page, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): surgery through small incisions, lung nodule care, lung cancer early detection (both are services of this center, and the card for each links to its library page), esophageal and reflux care, and support for the whole person, each stated on today's pages. The center's scope, from its treatments page: esophageal cancer, non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, lung nodules, mediastinal tumors, chest wall tumors, and noncancerous conditions such as GERD (also hiatal hernia, achalasia and esophageal diverticulum, which the robotic esophageal surgery section lists). The live center page also lists hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) as a service, so the copy names it; it is a condition page in the library. The robotic bronchoscopy detail (the live page's Ion platform, its case count and its "first in Florida" claim) belongs to the navigational bronchoscopy treatment page and is not repeated here. Facts the live pages state with a source and that stay out of the copy under the standing bars: "first in Florida" for robotic bronchoscopy, "first in Central Florida" for proton therapy, a recognized da Vinci epicenter for thoracic robotic surgery, the region's first robotic thoracic surgery in 2007, and the first LINX procedure in Central Florida in 2016.
Our thoracic surgeons operate through a few small incisions, many with robotic help, for cancers of the lung, esophagus and chest. Smaller incisions can mean less pain, a shorter hospital stay and a quicker recovery.
Most lung nodules are not cancer. We diagnose, monitor and treat them in one place, with a follow-up plan built around the size and look of your nodule and biopsy options that include robotic bronchoscopy, which reaches small nodules at the edges of the lung.
A low-dose CT scan once a year can find lung cancer before it causes symptoms. We screen people at higher risk, and if the scan shows a spot, our lung nodule team plans the follow-up with you.
Our surgeons treat cancer of the esophagus and conditions that are not cancer, such as GERD, hiatal hernia and achalasia, with minimally invasive tests and surgery. If medicine no longer controls your reflux, a device placed through a few small incisions is one option.
Integrative medicine, registered dietitians, genetic counseling, counseling and support groups, and a patient and family learning center are open to you and your family while you are treated with us.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, seven places: the Rod Taylor Thoracic Care Center at 1001 E. Osceola Pkwy., Kissimmee, FL 34744, (407) 648-5384; at 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761, (407) 648-5384; at 22 W. Underwood St., 4th Floor, Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-1869; at 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746, (407) 648-5384; Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Downtown Orlando, 22 W. Underwood St., Orlando, FL 32806, (407) 648-5384; Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Horizon West, 17000 Porter Rd., Winter Garden, FL 34787, (321) 841-1869; and Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Orange City, 2565 Enterprise Rd., Orange City, FL 32763, (321) 843-2100. The early detection page's own locations page lists the imaging sites where the low-dose CT scan is done: Orlando Health Imaging Centers at Altamonte Springs (398 E. Altamonte Dr., 32701), Lake Mary (392 Rinehart Rd., Suite 1040, 32746), South Orange (1800 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, 32806), Summerport (5151 Winter Garden Vineland Rd., Suite 104, Windermere, 34786), Spring Lake (7243 Della Dr., 1st Floor, Suite C, Orlando, 32819) and Ocoee (10889 W. Colonial Dr., 34761), all (407) 331-9355, and Orlando Health South Lake Hospital Outpatient Imaging (1900 Don Wickham Dr., Clermont, 34711, (407) 635-3023). The doctor profiles on the our team page also list the center's doctors at Clermont, St. Cloud and St. Petersburg.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Rod Taylor Thoracic Care Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, whose filters cover thoracic surgery, lung and esophageal oncology, radiation oncology and interventional pulmonology.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied. The live early detection page states a self-pay price for a lung cancer screening scan for people without insurance; a price is not typed on this page, and it belongs with the screening library page, where it can be checked at scheduling.
Call (407) 648-5384 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
Not always. Your team recommends the combination of treatments that fits you, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy or other therapies, based on your diagnosis, the stage of your cancer and your preferences. When surgery is the right choice, our surgeons use small incisions whenever they can.
Most lung nodules are not cancer. They are often caused by inflammation, an infection or scar tissue from an earlier infection. Our specialists set up a follow-up plan based on the size and look of your nodule, which may be repeat CT scans and visits, or a biopsy if the nodule looks concerning. A nurse navigator helps you find resources and coordinates your follow-up visits.
Yes. A low-dose CT scan once a year is how lung cancer is screened for in people at higher risk. After you fill out a short questionnaire, we can determine your risk and schedule your scan. Our Lung Cancer Screening page explains who qualifies and what to expect.
Yes. If you have a lung nodule or a lung cancer diagnosis and want a second opinion, call (321) 842-9429. Our team reviews your case with you, and you can request a full evaluation and a personalized treatment plan with a pulmonologist or surgeon.
Your family can use the integrative medicine program, counseling and support groups, and the patient and family learning center, which lends books and videos about cancer and its treatment. Registered dietitians and your nurse navigator are part of your care from the start.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments, lung nodules, minimally invasive lung cancer detection and early detection pages, and the institute's request an appointment page. The screening answer points to the library page for who qualifies, so no eligibility rule is typed here. The appointment line is the thoracic offices' number on the locations page. The second opinion line is the number the live robotic bronchoscopy page gives for lung nodule questions and second opinions.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. The live center clinical trials page lists lung and esophageal trials and its match count; none appears on this page.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The live pages state: a Screening Center of Excellence designation from the Lung Cancer Alliance (the GO2 for Lung Cancer program) for the downtown Orlando clinic's low-dose CT screening, which fills from the awards record once it is sourced; patient stories (one trial patient, one cancer institute patient), which fill from the testimonials record; and the resources the support card names, each reached from its own record: the Integrative Medicine program, Genetic Counseling, the nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, Oncology Massage Therapy, Patient and Family Counseling, and a patient and family learning center. The live center page also names the patient portal and the virtual visit option, both institute services.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's thoracic surgeons and oncologists treat lung, esophageal and other chest cancers as one team.
Learn More About CancerLow-dose CT finds lung cancer early, and radiologists track the lung nodules the center follows.
Learn More About RadiologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentUrologists, surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan your care together for cancers of the bladder, kidney, prostate and male reproductive system, with robotic surgery and precise radiation, across Central Florida.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The cancers are the treatments page's; the places are the locations page's. No superlative, no "nationally recognized" claim.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Urologic Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Urology physicians, surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists work from one treatment plan, built around your diagnosis and with your input, so you do not have to book separate visits with each specialist and facility. Our aim is to treat your cancer effectively and to protect how you live afterward.
We care for cancers of the bladder and kidney, penile and testicular cancer, and the tumors that come with Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. We also care for prostate cancer, which has its own center, the Prostate Cancer Center. Treatment can include minimally invasive surgery, targeted radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. When it helps, treatment also includes reconstructive surgery and hormone therapy to restore urinary and sexual function.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center page and its treatments page, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows), each stated on today's pages: surgery through small incisions (da Vinci robotic, laparoscopic and ureteroscopic procedures), precise radiation (targeted radiation, SBRT, proton therapy), treatment that protects function (urologic prosthetic surgery, reconstructive surgery, hormone therapy for sexual and urinary function, bladder reconstruction), one coordinated plan, and genetic counseling (today's page links the Cancer Genetics and High Risk Care Center). The "Epicenter for Urologic Robotic Surgery" name and "leading experts" on today's page are self-descriptions and stay out of the copy. Today's page also links a self-check guide for testicular health; it belongs to the library and is not repeated here.
Our surgeons are skilled in da Vinci robotic surgery and in laparoscopic and ureteroscopic procedures. When surgery is needed, smaller incisions can mean less pain and a shorter recovery.
Targeted radiation treats the tumor while limiting the effect on nearby organs. Your radiation oncologist explains which form of radiation fits your cancer and where it is.
Our team plans around how you want to live afterward. That can include bladder-sparing treatment, bladder reconstruction after bladder removal, urologic prosthetic surgery and, for some patients, hormone replacement to restore sexual and urinary function.
Urologists, surgeons and oncologists agree on a single plan with you, so you do not have to relay records and questions between offices.
Some urologic cancers run in families. Our genetic counselors help you learn your risk for a hereditary form of cancer and what testing can tell you and your relatives.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, six listings: 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761, (321) 842-6910; 303 E. Par St., Orlando, FL 32804, (877) 876-3627 (listed as the Urologic Cancer Center); 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746, (321) 842-6910; 1400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-1869; 7472 Docs Grove Cir., Orlando, FL 32819, (321) 842-6910; and the Orlando Health Urologic Cancer Center at 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-3776.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Urologic Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which is a doctor-finder listing of urologists, advanced practice providers, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-3776 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to confirm your visit, in person or by video. You are welcome to come for a second opinion too.
Not always. Treatment depends on the type of cancer, its stage and where it is. Your team may recommend surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or a combination, and some early prostate cancers are watched with active surveillance. When surgery is the choice, we offer minimally invasive options along with traditional ones.
Our team plans with that in mind from the start. We aim to protect as much function as we can, and when treatment does affect it, we offer reconstructive surgery, urologic prosthetic surgery and, for some patients, hormone replacement to help restore it.
When it fits your diagnosis, your doctor may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. Find a Clinical Trial, further down this page, lists the trials open here.
Integrative medicine, registered dietitians, genetic counseling, counseling and support groups are open to you and your family while you are treated with us. A nurse navigator can walk you through your care when your case is complex.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments, resources and clinical trials pages and the institute's request an appointment page. The phone number is the Urologic Cancer Center's own listing.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page names the Integrative Medicine program, genetic counseling, the nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy and patient and family counseling, each reached from its own record. It also names the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center in words written for gastrointestinal patients, so the center's page omits it from the FAQ. Today's awards and accreditations page for this center names no award. Its body describes MRI-guided radiation therapy at one hospital location and states that the institute is one of four Florida facilities offering it, with the source not shown; that claim stays out of the copy and the page's content belongs to the advanced radiation therapy program.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's urologic oncologists treat bladder, kidney, testicular and penile cancers.
Learn More About CancerUrologists often find these cancers first, through blood in the urine, a scan or an exam.
Learn More About UrologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Appendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentA team that focuses on prostate cancer: a fellowship-trained surgeon, urologists, radiation and medical oncologists, dietitians, rehabilitation specialists and oncology nurse navigators, who work together from your first test through treatment.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The diagnosis and treatment names are the treatment page's; the places are the locations page's. No superlative, no "world leaders" or "most advanced" claim from today's page.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Prostate Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Our specialists use precise imaging and biopsy to find prostate cancer and choose treatment with you. Many prostate cancers grow slowly, and some people begin with active surveillance. When treatment is the right step, your team plans a path that protects how you live.
We care for every type of prostate cancer, from the most common to the rare. If you have bladder, kidney or another urologic cancer, the Urologic Cancer Center cares for you.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatment pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows), each stated on today's pages: diagnosis (3T MRI, MRI-fusion biopsy, transrectal ultrasound, PSMA PET), treatment that begins with active surveillance for slow-growing cancer, focal and minimally invasive options (HIFU, cryoablation, water vapor ablation, robotic surgery), precise radiation (SBRT in five sessions over about two weeks, proton therapy, rectal spacers), and medicines (hormone therapy, immunotherapy, targeted drug therapy, Pluvicto, chemotherapy). Today's pages call the physicians "leading experts" and "world leaders" in robotic surgery and SBRT "the quickest radiation therapy option"; these are self-descriptions and stay out of the copy. Today's page states that prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men after lung cancer; that statistic belongs to the library and stays out of center copy.
A 3T MRI can show whether a biopsy is needed, and an MRI-fusion biopsy uses that image to target the suspicious area of the prostate in real time. A PSMA PET scan looks for cancer that may have spread.
For early, slow-growing cancer, active surveillance may be the right first step. When treatment is needed, your options include robotic surgery, focal therapy such as high-intensity focused ultrasound, cryoablation and water vapor ablation, and medicines such as hormone therapy and immunotherapy.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy delivers radiation in five sessions over about two weeks. Proton therapy is another option. A gel spacer placed between the prostate and the rectum helps protect the rectum from radiation.
If prostate cancer has spread, options include chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy. If it has stopped responding to hormone therapy and chemotherapy, Pluvicto, a targeted radioactive treatment, finds cancer cells by a marker on their surface and sends radiation to them while largely sparing nearby healthy cells.
Testing can tell your team more about your cancer and how to treat it, and may show whether your relatives have a higher risk of the disease.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, two listings: the Orlando Health Urologic Cancer Center at 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-3776; and Orlando Health Medical Group Urology - Clermont at 865 Oakley Seaver Dr., Clermont, FL 34711, (877) 876-3627.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Prostate Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which is a doctor-finder listing of urologists, advanced practice providers, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-3776 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to confirm your visit. If you have already been diagnosed, you are welcome to come for a second opinion with one of our prostate cancer specialists.
Not always. Many prostate cancers grow slowly. If yours was found early and is growing slowly, your team may suggest active surveillance, which means close monitoring with treatment when it is needed. Your team looks at your stage, how fast the cancer is growing and your preferences.
It depends on the type. Stereotactic body radiation therapy is given in five sessions over about two weeks, with a few planning visits beforehand. Your radiation oncologist explains which option fits your age, health, prostate size and stage of disease.
It is a gel your doctor places between the prostate and the rectum with a small needle before radiation. One kind is made mostly from water; another can be shaped to fit you, and your doctor chooses which fits. It moves the rectum farther from the radiation, then your body absorbs it over time and you do not need a second procedure to remove it. The visit is usually a short outpatient appointment.
When it fits your diagnosis, your doctor may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. Find a Clinical Trial, further down this page, lists the trials open here.
Integrative medicine, registered dietitians, genetic counseling, counseling and support groups are open to you and your family while you are treated with us. Our oncology nurse navigators help you find your way through each step.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatment and resources pages and the urologic center's radiation and rectal spacer pages. The phone number is the Urologic Cancer Center office listing on today's prostate locations page.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page names the Integrative Medicine program, the Genetic Counseling Program, the nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy and patient and family counseling, each reached from its own record. It also names the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center in words written for gastrointestinal patients. No award is stated on any of today's prostate pages.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's specialists diagnose prostate cancer with MRI and targeted biopsy and plan treatment with you.
Learn More About CancerUrologists check PSA levels and refer you here when a test or exam points to prostate cancer.
Learn More About UrologyProstate MRI and PSMA PET scans show where the cancer is and help choose the treatment.
Learn More About RadiologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Bladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many...
Learn More About Spinal TumorsA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentNeuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and specialized nurses who plan your care together for tumors of the brain and spinal cord, in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team and the places are the live center page's and locations page's. No superlative: the live page's "best care" and "latest" wording is left out.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Neuro-Oncology Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. A brain or spinal cord tumor diagnosis can be hard for you and your family, and you will want a team of specialists who work together. Neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and specialized nurses plan your care around your tumor and your own needs, and they stay in close touch with you and your family through treatment.
We care for common and rare tumors of the brain and spinal cord: tumors that start in or around the brain, tumors that have spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body, and tumors at the base of the skull.
Template module · Who We Are, from the live center page and its treatments and our team pages, then the features (3 to 5 rows): the team that meets weekly, surgery, radiation, medicine and a wearable device, and rehabilitation with support, each stated on the live pages. The scope is the live page's "common and rare brain and spine tumors", with the tumor families its types section names.
Left out of the copy by the standing bars and the language rules: the live treatments page's sentence that Orlando Health is the only healthcare system in Orlando offering proton therapy (a "the only" claim, with no source on the page; it stays out of the copy); "superior"-style and survival-rate sentences on the live center page; the percentage figures for tumors that have spread to the brain (library-page content, and a volume-style figure); the live line that glioblastoma has no cure (the condition page's to state, with its clinical review). The Optune device is described on the live page as "being tested for other types of tumors"; only its use for glioblastoma is stated here.
Neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuro-radiologists, neuropathologists and a clinical trial team meet every week to talk through each patient. Your care plan comes from that conversation, built around your tumor type, its genetic markers, its location, your age and your health.
Your neurosurgeon removes as much of the tumor as can be removed safely, while protecting the healthy parts of your brain. Often the biopsy that identifies the tumor also removes part or all of it.
Radiation oncologists use external beam radiation and brachytherapy, and proton therapy when it fits, to target the tumor and spare the tissue around it.
Chemotherapy, targeted therapies and biological therapies can treat tumors that respond to medicine. For glioblastoma, a wearable cap called the Optune device uses low-intensity electric fields to disrupt the way tumor cells grow and divide.
Physical, occupational and speech therapists help you recover walking, eating, dressing and communication after treatment, and behavioral medicine specialists, a free first consultation with a counselor and a monthly brain and spine tumor support group are open to you and your family.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page, which lists three offices under the name Brain and Spine Tumor Center, one phone, (321) 841-7218: 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; 7472 Docs Grove Cir., Orlando, FL 32819 (Dr. Phillips); and 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806 (downtown). The live our team page shows the neurosurgeons at the Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute, 76 W. Underwood St., 3rd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-7550, and the center's radiation oncologists at 1400 S. Orange Ave. with the number (321) 841-1869; the live resources page gives (321) 841-1869 for free counseling.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Neuro-Oncology Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which is the doctor finder filtered to this center. The live page's doctor count is not used here.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-7218 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule a consultation or a second opinion, in person or by video.
Often the first sign shows up on an imaging test done for another reason. Diagnosis starts with a physical exam, your medical history and a neurological exam, then an MRI or CT scan that shows the tumor's location and size. A biopsy identifies the tumor's type and whether it is cancerous, and a spinal tap may be added to check the fluid around the spine. Several specialists work together to reach a clear diagnosis.
Surgery is often the first option for a brain tumor. Your team recommends the mix of treatments that fits you, which may include surgery, chemotherapy, targeted or biological therapies, radiation therapy or a combination, based on your tumor type, its genetic markers and location, your age and your health.
Neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuro-radiologists, neuropathologists and a clinical trial team, with specialized nurses beside you at each step. Physical, occupational and speech therapists and behavioral medicine specialists join when your recovery calls for them.
Therapists help with walking, eating, dressing, using the bathroom and communicating. You and your family can also use a free first consultation with a counselor, nutrition counseling with a registered dietitian, the integrative medicine program and a monthly brain and spine tumor support group.
When it fits your diagnosis, your team may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. Find a Clinical Trial, further down this page, lists the trials open here.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments and patient resources pages. The phone in the first answer is the locations page's, and the open question on it is in the Locations note above.
A clinical trial can offer you early access to a promising new medicine or treatment, and it helps discover better ways to detect and treat brain and spinal cord tumors. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's. The live page lists one glioma trial, and its title and its summary disagree on whether the study is Phase 3 or Phase 2.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's patient resources page states no award. It names these services, each reached from its own record: counseling (free consultation for outpatients, a referral for admitted patients), family planning through the Center for Reproductive Medicine, patient financial resources, the Epilepsy Foundation's information on Florida driving laws, the Integrative Medicine program and its therapies, genetic testing, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy, palliative care and hospice, living wills and advance directives, medical records through the patient portal, and the monthly brain and spine tumor support group. The page's medical marijuana entry is left for the library's own review.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and neuro-oncologists treat brain and spine tumors together.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons at the Neuroscience Institute operate on brain and spine tumors with the center's team.
Learn More About NeurosciencePhysical, occupational and speech therapists help you regain strength and skills after brain or spine treatment.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Bone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a...
Learn More About Mediastinal SurgeryAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentGynecologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse practitioners and oncology nurses who plan your care together for cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers, with robotic surgery and fertility-sparing options, in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team and the cancers are the center page's; the places are the locations page's. No superlative: the page's "epicenter of excellence" and "first" claims stay in the notes.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Gynecologic Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Gynecologic oncologists, doctors with training in obstetrics and gynecology and advanced fellowship training in gynecologic oncology, work with radiation oncologists, nurse practitioners and oncology nurses to plan your care. We know a diagnosis can affect fertility and what comes next for you, and we aim to give you expert, compassionate care that supports all your needs.
We care for cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal, vulvar and fallopian tube cancers, gestational trophoblastic disease and precancerous changes (dysplasia). Your plan can include diagnostic tests, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, clinical trials and integrative medicine, with your team beside you through every step.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatments pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): robotic surgery, fertility-sparing options, care for precancerous changes, treatment planned by a team, and support during treatment, each stated on today's pages. The robotic trachelectomy claim is the center page's, and its words "first cancer center in Central Florida" are a ranking claim, so they stay in this note and out of the copy. Also kept out of the copy for the same reason or as a figure a library page would source: "epicenter of excellence" for robotic surgery, "one of the few programs in the region" for fertility-sparing surgery, the "Top Doctors in Orlando" and "America's Top Oncologists" lists, and the partnership section's "75 percent of all gynecologic surgeries" done minimally invasively (a share of volumes). The partnership section's three promotional blocks (Offering Expertise in Robotic Gynecologic Cancer Surgery, Experts in Minimally Invasive Gynecology, Concierge Services) have a title and a link and no body on the saved page, so nothing from them is used.
When surgery is part of your plan, our surgeons can operate through small incisions with robotic help, which can mean less pain and a quicker return to your routine. We offer laparoscopic and robotic removal of a pelvic mass, and some surgeries take place at our partner, Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.
For certain gynecologic cancers, fertility-sparing surgery is an option, so you can talk with your doctor about your hopes for having children. Our surgeons have performed robotic trachelectomy, the surgical removal of the cervix, as a fertility-sparing option.
When tests show abnormal cells, our team can treat them early with procedures such as LEEP, CO2 laser photoablation, hysteroscopy and endocervical curettage.
Your gynecologic oncologist, radiation oncologist and nurses plan your treatment together. It can include surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, based on your type and stage of cancer.
Acupuncture, oncology massage, counseling, registered dietitians, genetic counseling and a nurse navigator who stays with you from your first visit are open to you and your family during treatment and beyond.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page of this center. The saved body lists: Gynecologic Cancer Center, 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761, (321) 841-8393; Orlando Health Cancer Institute, Ocoee, same address, (321) 841-1869; Orlando Health Cancer Institute Gynecologic Cancer Center, 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746, (321) 841-1869; Orlando Health Cancer Institute Gynecologic Cancer Center, 83 W. Miller St., Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-1869; and two Orlando Health Women's Institute offices, one at 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761 and the Women's Institute Center for Gynecology at 5600 Porada Dr., Suite 104B, Viera, FL 32940, (321) 459-1192.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Gynecologic Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page of this center.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
A gynecologic oncologist is a doctor who specializes in cancers of the female reproductive organs. They have training in obstetrics and gynecology plus advanced fellowship training in gynecologic oncology, and they are part of your care team here.
It depends on your cancer and your plan. Our team understands that a gynecologic cancer diagnosis can affect fertility, and fertility-sparing surgery is an option for certain gynecologic cancers. Talk with your doctor about your goals.
Our surgeons offer minimally invasive robotic surgery, and your surgeon recommends the approach that fits your cancer, your health and your goals.
Yes. We care for precancerous diseases such as dysplasia, with procedures that include LEEP, CO2 laser photoablation and endocervical curettage.
Your nurse navigator stays with you through your whole journey. Integrative medicine offers acupuncture, oncology massage, meditation and yoga, registered dietitians help with nutrition and side effects, and counselors support you and your family.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments and patient resources pages and the institute's request an appointment page. Phone: (321) 841-1869 is the institute's main line and the number most of this center's offices list.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page names the Integrative Medicine program (for more than 30 years, at (321) 841-5056), the Genetic Counseling Program, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library, nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy and the Patient and Family Counseling Department, each reached from its own record. The center page's recognitions (two "Top" lists for its gynecologic oncologists and the "epicenter of excellence" robotic surgery designation) are rankings and stay out of the copy; see module 2's note.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's gynecologic oncologists treat ovarian, cervical, uterine and other gynecologic cancers.
Learn More About CancerGynecologists often find the first sign of a gynecologic cancer and refer you to this center.
Learn More About Women'sFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Anal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become...
Learn More About Cervical Cancer ScreeningChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon...
Learn More About HIPECRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentHead and neck surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, dental oncologists and reconstructive surgeons who plan your care together for cancers of the nose, sinuses, mouth, throat and neck, in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team is the live center page's and our team page's; the places are the locations page's. No superlative: the live page's "leading-edge," "best expertise" and "clinical outcomes" wording is left out, as is the treatments page's "the only proton center in Central Florida" (a sourced-on-page claim that stays out of the copy under the standing bars). The cancers are the narrower list in the Cancer Institute page's description (mouth, nose and throat) widened only by the sinuses and neck, which every live page names.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Head and Neck Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Our fellowship-trained oncologists treat cancers of the nose and sinuses, mouth, throat, voice box, salivary glands and neck, along with thyroid and skin cancers. Surgeons, oncologists, dental oncologists, reconstructive surgeons, speech and language pathologists and physical therapists work together on a plan made for your type and stage of cancer.
We know how overwhelming a diagnosis can feel. Your team works to treat your cancer and, at the same time, to protect or restore your appearance, your facial structure and the things you do every day, such as speaking, eating and hearing. A nurse navigator guides you and your family from diagnosis through survivorship.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatments pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): free screening and the self-exam guide, surgery through small approaches, reconstruction and the return of speech and eating, precise radiation, and the nurse navigator with the weekly tumor board, each stated on today's pages. The live pages' body parts: mouth, throat (nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx), voice box, nasal cavity and sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid, skin and the lymph nodes of the neck. Left out of the copy under the standing bars: the share of new cancer diagnoses (about 4 percent), the live page's count of fellowship-trained surgeons, "the only proton center in Central Florida," and "leading-edge." The free screening row states the live page's own sentence that a free periodic screening is offered; the live page also says current national guidelines do not recommend routine screening, a sentence that stays on the screening library page where the guidelines are explained.
Our team offers periodic head and neck cancer screening free of charge. A free self-exam guide also walks you through checking your mouth, throat and neck at home, so you can tell your doctor about any change.
Our head and neck surgeons use minimally invasive methods whenever they can, including robotic surgery that works from inside the mouth, laser-assisted surgery, endoscopic surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy.
When a tumor is more advanced, our head and neck plastic and reconstructive surgeons rebuild what the cancer has changed. Speech and language pathologists and physical therapists help you keep or regain speaking, eating and hearing.
Our radiation oncologists use intensity-modulated radiation and proton therapy to aim at tumors in the small spaces of the head and neck, which protects healthy tissue and can mean fewer side effects.
A certified nurse navigator coordinates your care and removes some of the burden from you and your family. Every week, the whole head and neck team reviews patient cases together and builds treatment plans with many physicians.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, one phone, (321) 841-1869, at four places: Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Downtown Orlando, 22 W. Underwood St., Orlando, FL 32806; Lake Mary, 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; Ocoee, 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; and Horizon West, 17000 Porter Rd., Winter Garden, FL 34787. The doctor profiles on the our team page also list speech pathology offices and offices in Clermont.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Head and Neck Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, whose roster includes surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, reconstructive surgeons and speech pathology providers. The live center page also describes the team by role, which the Who We Are copy repeats without a name.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
A sore or ulcer in your mouth, throat or on your skin that lasts several weeks, a lump or swelling in your neck, voice changes, trouble or pain when swallowing, loose teeth or dentures that no longer fit, bleeding from your mouth or nose, and one-sided ear pain that does not go away. Also tell a doctor about trouble breathing, numbness or weakness in your face, or weight loss you cannot explain. Many of these have other causes, and a doctor can tell you which. Our head and neck cancer screening page explains what to look for.
Yes. Our team offers periodic head and neck cancer screening free of charge, and a free self-exam guide shows you how to check at home, step by step.
Treatment often starts with surgery, and some people also need radiation therapy, medication or both. Your team designs a plan for your type of cancer and your goals, and uses minimally invasive methods whenever they can.
Head and neck surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, dental oncologists, speech and language pathologists, physical therapists and a nurse navigator. They meet every week to review patient cases and shape each treatment plan.
You and your family can use the integrative medicine program, counseling and support groups, genetic counseling and the community health library, which lends books and videos about cancer and its treatment. Registered dietitians support you through treatment.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments and patient resources pages and the institute's request an appointment page. The symptom answer states the live treatments page's own list in short form and sends a person to a doctor; the full list lives on the head and neck cancers condition page. The appointment line is the one number on the locations page.
A clinical trial can offer you early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The live pages state no award. The patient resources page names the Integrative Medicine program, Genetic Counseling, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library, nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, Oncology Massage Therapy and Patient and Family Counseling, each reached from its own record, plus a glossary of head and neck cancer terms (ablation, biopsy, tumor board and others) that goes to the condition page, and the free head and neck self-exam guide, which stays with the screening library page.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons and oncologists treat cancers of the mouth, throat, nose and voice box.
Learn More About CancerSpeech and swallowing therapists help you eat, drink and speak after head and neck treatment.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationReconstructive surgeons restore the face, jaw and neck after head and neck cancer surgery.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Barrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ReconstructionA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ScreeningRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentFellowship-trained surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and liver specialists who plan your care together for cancer that starts in the liver or spreads to it, with dedicated patient navigators beside you from diagnosis through recovery.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The cancers are the center page's; the place is the locations page's. Today's center page says the team is "nationally recognized for treating the disease" with no source shown, so the hero makes no recognition claim.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Liver Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Our fellowship-trained physicians care for every part of liver cancer treatment. Surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, liver specialists, palliative medicine physicians and nutrition specialists plan your care together, so it fits you and your diagnosis.
We care for primary liver cancer, which starts in the liver, including hepatocellular carcinoma and bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma). We also care for secondary liver cancer, which starts elsewhere in the body and spreads to the liver and is more common than primary liver cancer. If you are worried by symptoms or a test result, the center's navigators help you get seen and plan the next step.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatment pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows), each stated on today's pages: surgery (hepatectomy, staged liver surgery, liver transplant), treatments that destroy or shrink tumors without removing the liver (ablation, embolization, chemoembolization, radiation), internal radiation with Yttrium-90 for cancer that has spread to the liver, histotripsy with its own page, and dedicated patient navigators. Today's treatment page promises "the best liver cancer care in Florida" and describes "nationally recognized expertise"; neither is stated with a source, so both stay out of the copy. Its Yttrium-90 passage states a dose comparison with external radiation that belongs to the library treatment page. Histotripsy insurance coverage: today's histotripsy page says private insurers may handle it differently and that Medicare should cover it when reasonable and necessary; the library treatment page and the insurances module own that, and the copy makes no coverage promise.
For early-stage cancer in an otherwise healthy liver, a surgeon may remove the part of the liver that holds the tumor in a hepatectomy. When the whole liver must be removed, a liver transplant is an option for some people. When both sides of the liver are affected, staged surgery treats each in a separate operation.
Histotripsy destroys liver tumors with focused sound waves, without incisions, needles or radiation. It is an outpatient treatment, often completed in about an hour, and many people go home the same day.
When surgery cannot safely remove the tumor, we offer ablation that destroys tumors with heat, embolization that cuts off a tumor's blood supply, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
For cancer that has spread to the liver, Yttrium-90 glass spheres deliver radiation directly to the tumor through a catheter, which helps protect healthy tissue around it.
A dedicated patient navigator helps you get into care, keeps you, your family and your doctors in touch, and clears the obstacles that come up, from your first visit through treatment and recovery.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, one listing: Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Downtown Orlando, 1400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-1869.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Liver Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, a doctor-finder listing that mixes liver surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and hepatologists with physicians whose profiles name other institutes; the narrowing should keep only those who treat liver cancer.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit. If you have been diagnosed with liver cancer, or you have symptoms that worry you, our navigators help you take the next step.
Not always. Surgery fits early-stage cancer in an otherwise healthy liver when the tumors are small. When surgery cannot safely remove a tumor, other treatments can destroy it or slow its growth. Your team recommends the plan that fits your diagnosis, your health and your preferences.
Histotripsy uses focused sound waves to destroy liver tumors without incisions, needles or radiation. You receive general anesthesia, the treatment often takes about an hour, and many people go home the same day. If you have a liver tumor, you may be a candidate, and your liver specialist can tell you more.
This is called secondary liver cancer. Our team has treatments for it, including staged liver surgery, Yttrium-90 radiation delivered through a catheter, and chemoembolization, which delivers chemotherapy directly to the tumor.
When it fits your diagnosis, your doctor may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. The Find a Clinical Trial button below opens the trials open at this center.
The integrative medicine program, which offers its services at no charge, registered dietitians, genetic counseling, and patient and family counseling with support groups are open to you and your family while you are treated with us. Your navigator helps you find each one.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatment, histotripsy and resources pages and the institute's request an appointment page. The phone number is the downtown Cancer Institute listing, the only one on today's locations page.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page names the Integrative Medicine program, the Genetic Counseling Program, the nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy and patient and family counseling, each reached from its own record, and the MCRG Patient and Family Learning Center, which it describes for gastrointestinal cancer patients. The only recognition on today's liver pages is the unsourced "nationally recognized" phrase noted in modules 1 and 2; no award is stated.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons and oncologists treat liver tumors with surgery, ablation, radiation and medicine.
Learn More About CancerLiver specialists in digestive health care for the liver disease that often comes before liver cancer.
Learn More About Digestive HealthInterventional radiologists treat liver tumors through small catheters and track them with scans.
Learn More About RadiologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Cancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentEndocrinologists, surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and specialized nurses who plan your care together for cancers of the thyroid, adrenal and parathyroid glands and for neuroendocrine tumors, in Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team is the live center page's; the place is the locations page's. No superlative: the live page's "trusted care," "top care" and "the latest procedures" wording is left out. The cancers named are the ones the live page's Types of Endocrine Cancer section lists.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Endocrine Cancer Center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Our fellowship-trained physicians care for cancers of the glands that make the hormones controlling your cells and organs. Endocrinologists, endocrine surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and specialized nurses work together to plan your care around the type of tumor and where it is.
We treat thyroid cancer, adrenal cancer, parathyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. We also care for tumors of the adrenal, thyroid and parathyroid glands that are not cancer, which sometimes need surgery or medicine when they affect how the gland works. We know a diagnosis touches you and your family, so one coordinated team handles every part of your treatment.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center and treatments pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): minimally invasive surgery, thyroid nodule treatment without surgery, testing that finds the cause, one coordinated team, and treatment beyond surgery, each stated on today's pages. The cancers, from the center page: adrenal cancer; thyroid cancer, including differentiated (papillary and follicular), medullary and anaplastic; parathyroid cancer; neuroendocrine cancer; and benign tumors of the adrenal, thyroid and parathyroid glands that may need surgery or medicine. Left out of the copy under the standing bars: "among the first in Orlando" for thyroid radiofrequency ablation, the average nodule shrinkage percentage, and the "high cure rate" wording on thyroid cancer, which is a prognosis claim; the condition pages hold the detail. The thyroid cancers overlap the Head and Neck Cancer Center's scope.
Surgery is often the first choice for endocrine tumors. We offer minimally invasive surgeries that can shorten your recovery, lower the risk of complications and get you home sooner, including parathyroid surgery through a small incision in your neck, about an inch wide.
Most thyroid nodules are not cancer. For a benign nodule that makes swallowing or breathing harder, shows at the base of your neck or affects how your thyroid works, radiofrequency ablation shrinks it with a small needle guided by ultrasound, and you go home the same day. A nodule that is cancer is usually treated with surgery.
Blood and urine tests look for hormone levels that are out of range. Ultrasound, CT, MRI and PET scans show the gland, a biopsy checks the tissue, and genetic testing helps you understand your family's risk.
One team plans your care and handles every part of it, from your first visit through follow-up, so you are never passed between offices to find out what happens next.
When surgery is not enough, your team may add radiation therapy, medicines such as chemotherapy or radioactive iodine, or immunotherapy, which helps your own immune system respond to cancer cells.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. From the saved body, one place: Orlando Health Cancer Institute - Endocrine Oncology, 10000 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761, (321) 841-1869. The other three centers' pages list their Ocoee office at 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761 under the same phone.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Endocrine Cancer Center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, whose roster includes cancer surgery, hematology and oncology and head and neck cancer specialties.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
Usually not. Most thyroid nodules are not cancer, and many need no treatment. If a benign nodule bothers you, for example by making it hard to swallow or breathe, or if surgery has been recommended for it, our team can evaluate you for radiofrequency ablation, which treats the nodule without surgery. A nodule that is cancer is usually treated with surgery, and your team tells you when a nodule needs a closer look.
Often, yes, since surgery is frequently the first choice for endocrine tumors, and we use minimally invasive methods. Some people also need radiation therapy, medicine or immunotherapy. Your team plans the combination that fits your type of cancer and where it is.
Your doctor begins with an exam and your personal and family history, then may order blood and urine tests for hormone levels, an ultrasound, CT, MRI or PET scan, and a biopsy to check a small sample of tissue.
Sometimes. Some endocrine cancers are linked to inherited conditions, so your doctor may suggest genetic testing to help you understand your own risk and your family's.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center and treatments pages and the institute's request an appointment page. The appointment line is the one number on the locations page.
A clinical trial can offer you early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The live pages state no award and have no resources page for this center, so the support the institute offers (the Integrative Medicine program, nutrition, counseling, genetic counseling and the nurse navigators) reaches this page from its own records.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons and oncologists treat thyroid, adrenal and other endocrine tumors.
Learn More About CancerEndocrinologists manage your hormone levels and thyroid medicine before and after treatment.
Learn More About EndocrinologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentHematologist-oncologists, radiation oncologists and a full support team plan your care together for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and noncancerous blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The conditions are the treatments page's; the places are the three offices that the locations page and the doctor list both show. No superlative; the live page's "best possible outcome" is not repeated.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma program is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Blood cancers form in blood-forming tissues or in immune system cells, and leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main types. Our hematologist-oncologists care for these cancers and for noncancerous blood disorders.
Specialists in blood cancers and blood disorders work together to plan your treatment around the type of condition you have, the stage and progression of a cancer, your age and overall health, and other factors. Resources and support services address your whole self, including your physical, emotional and social needs.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center, treatments and patient resources pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): the team that meets to plan, the treatments matched to each diagnosis, noncancerous blood disorders, a possible transplant, and the support around treatment, each stated on today's pages. The live pages name leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma as the three main blood cancers and list myelodysplastic syndrome and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia among the conditions treated. No noncancerous blood disorder is named on any live page, so none is named here.
Hematologist-oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dietitians and counselors meet regularly to discuss and coordinate your personalized treatment plan.
Your plan may combine chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other medicines that target abnormal cells or help your own immune system respond to cancer cells.
If your blood test points to a disorder that is not cancer, the same hematologist-oncologists evaluate and treat it, so you do not need a second referral to a different team.
In some cases your team may recommend a bone marrow transplant. Our Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute.
A personal nurse navigator, registered dietitians, genetic counseling, patient and family counseling and an integrative medicine program with services at no charge are open to you and your family.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page. One phone, (321) 841-1869, appears on the locations page and on every provider on the team page. ⚠️ The live pages disagree. Today's locations page labels each of its four offices "Melanoma and Sarcoma Center" (a copy-and-paste label from another center's page) and lists 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; 22 W. Underwood St., 3rd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806; and 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806. The team page shows the doctors at Orlando Health Cancer Institute, Downtown Orlando (1400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32806); Ocoee (9900 W. Colonial Dr.); Lake Mary (210 Rinehart Rd.); the Outpatient Infusion Center, Dr. Phillips (7472 Docs Grove Cir., Orlando, FL 32819); St. Cloud (1330 Budinger Ave., St. Cloud, FL 34769); and the Breast Care and Gynecologic Cancer Center (83 W. Miller St., Orlando, FL 32806). The hero names the three offices both pages show.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma program. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which lists hematology and oncology physicians and advanced practice providers, with Arabic, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Panjabi, Spanish and Urdu among the languages they speak.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. You can visit one of our offices, and a virtual visit lets you talk with a physician from your phone, tablet or computer.
We treat leukemia, including acute and chronic leukemias; lymphoma, including Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia; multiple myeloma; myelodysplastic syndrome; and noncancerous blood disorders.
Your treatment depends on the type of blood cancer or blood disorder, the stage and progression of a cancer, your age and overall health, and other factors. It may combine chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other medicines, and in some cases a bone marrow transplant.
Hematologist-oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dietitians, counselors and more. They meet regularly to coordinate your plan, and a personal nurse navigator stays in touch with you and your family through your care.
Ask your nurse navigator. They connect you and your family with counseling and support groups, dietitians, genetic counseling, the integrative medicine program and the community health library, and they stay with you through treatment.
When it fits your diagnosis, your doctor may offer you a clinical trial of a promising new medicine or treatment. The Find a Clinical Trial button below opens the trials open at this center.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments, locations and patient resources pages and the virtual visit panel those pages share.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. No award is stated on any of the center's live pages. Today's patient resources page names the Integrative Medicine program (acupuncture, oncology massage, meditation, relaxation techniques, tai chi and qi gong, yoga and hypnotherapy), the Genetic Counseling Program, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library, personal nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy, and the Patient and Family Counseling Department, each reached from its own record.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's hematologic oncologists treat leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
Learn More About CancerPathologists study your blood and bone marrow to name the exact type of blood cancer.
Learn More About PathologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Bone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentDermatologists, surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists and plastic surgeons who plan your care together for melanoma and other skin cancers, from early stage to advanced, in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team is the center page's list; the places are the locations page's. No superlative: the page's "most advanced" and its "one of only two locations in Florida" stay in the notes.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Melanoma and Skin Cancer center is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. Dermatologists, surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons and a dedicated research team work together to plan your care from your first diagnosis visit through survivorship, based on your own needs. We explain all of your options and help you decide on the right path together.
We treat melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, Merkel cell carcinoma, mucosal and uveal melanomas, skin lymphomas, cancer that has spread to the skin and precancerous skin lesions. If your family history, past skin cancer, genetics or abnormal moles put you at higher risk, we can monitor your skin and provide ongoing care to help you stay healthy.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's center, treatments and immunotherapy pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): immunotherapy and targeted therapy, TIL therapy, surgery and skin treatments, a neuro team for melanoma that reaches the brain, and a navigator with support, each stated on today's pages. The TIL claim "one of only two locations in Florida" is the treatments page's and is a "the only" style claim, so it stays in this note and out of the copy; the TIL page's phrases "the most advanced options", "the newest treatments" and "turn the tide of the battle" are also left out (R9). The candidate criteria and the process steps belong on the TIL therapy treatment page. The Melanoma Nurse Navigator is named on the TIL page (its button emails the navigator); the institute's navigator copy names breast, lung, gastrointestinal and blood cancers as examples.
We offer several immunotherapies that help your immune system find and attack cancer, including checkpoint blockade, combination immunotherapy and oncolytic virus therapy. Targeted therapies can act on specific changes in your cancer's DNA, found through genetic testing of your tumor.
When surgery and other treatments are not enough, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is one more option. Immune cells are taken from your own tumor, multiplied in a lab and given back to you in one infusion, during a hospital stay that includes preparatory chemotherapy. Your oncologist can tell you whether you may be a candidate.
Depending on your diagnosis, your plan can include topical medicines, cryosurgery, phototherapy, surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Specialists from several fields meet at our tumor board to decide on the best plan for you.
Melanoma can sometimes travel to the brain. If it does, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists who specialize in the nervous system join your team.
A nurse navigator helps you through your care. Integrative medicine, registered dietitians, counseling and genetic counseling are open to you and your family before, during and after treatment.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page of this center. The saved body lists four offices, each labeled Melanoma and Sarcoma Center: 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; 22 W. Underwood St., 3rd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806, (321) 841-1869; and 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Melanoma and Skin Cancer center. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page of this center.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
Melanoma, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, Merkel cell carcinoma and the rarer skin cancers listed under Conditions below, from early stage to advanced.
Yes. If your family history, past skin cancer, genetics, abnormal moles or other conditions raise your risk, our team can monitor you and provide ongoing care to help you stay healthy.
Immunotherapies are medicines that stimulate your immune system to act against cancer. They can be synthetic immune system proteins or medicines that help your body release cells that attack cancer cells. Your team explains each option and helps you understand every step.
TIL therapy uses immune cells taken from your own tumor, multiplied in a lab and returned to you in one infusion during a hospital stay. It may be an option if you have advanced melanoma that has not responded to other treatments, or if you are not a candidate for other immunotherapy. Your oncologist evaluates whether it fits you.
Our neuro team, which includes neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists who specialize in the nervous system, joins your care team to help you.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments, immunotherapy, TIL therapy and resources pages and the institute's request an appointment page. Phone: (321) 841-1869 is the institute's main line and the number the locations page gives. The self-exam guidance and the center page's line that skin cancers are highly curable when caught early stay with the library's skin cancer screening page.
A clinical trial can offer access to a promising new treatment for melanoma or skin cancer. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center clinical trials page goes to the corporate page, like every institute's; the TIL page's cellular therapy trial paragraph (first-line melanoma and several other cancers, with an email to the Adult Oncology Trial Team) belongs to the corporate page too.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The center's pages state no award. Today's resources page names the Integrative Medicine program (for more than 30 years, at (321) 841-5056), the Genetic Counseling Program, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library, nurse navigators, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy and the Patient and Family Counseling Department, each reached from its own record. The center page offers a free skin cancer self-exam guide, which belongs with the library.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons and oncologists treat melanoma and other skin cancers, including with immunotherapy.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists check your skin, biopsy a changing mole and refer you here when it is melanoma.
Learn More About DermatologyPlastic surgeons repair the skin after a melanoma or skin cancer is removed.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Anal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ScreeningImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is...
Learn More About Liver TransplantRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentSurgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan your care together for cancers of the bone and soft tissues, with offices in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team is the live center page's; the places are the live locations page's. No superlative: the live page's "highest quality of life" and "outstanding care" wording is left out.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Sarcoma program is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. We understand how hard it can be to hear that you have a sarcoma or another cancer of the bone or soft tissue, and our team is here to make each step easier for you, from diagnosis through treatment and beyond.
Oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgeons, with psychologists, nutritionists and physical therapists beside them, work together to find the right treatment for you. We care for sarcomas and the other cancers of the bone and soft tissue, and we look after the whole person, so you can have the best quality of life possible before, during and after treatment.
Template module · Who We Are, from the live center and treatments pages, then the features (3 to 5 rows): the bone cancers, the soft tissue cancers, the treatments and the team around the whole person, each stated on the live pages. The live center page says the specialists have experience with "more than 50 different types of sarcoma"; that is a count of types rather than patients, but it is a scope claim with no source on the page, so it stays out of the copy.
We care for chondrosarcoma, chordoma, Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcoma, giant cell tumor and cancer that has spread to the bone from elsewhere in the body.
We care for angiosarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma, epithelioid sarcoma, fibrosarcoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), Kaposi sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, pleomorphic undifferentiated sarcoma, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma and synovial sarcoma.
Your team works with you to choose among surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy, including external and internal radiation, stereotactic ablative radiation therapy and proton therapy.
Psychologists, nutritionists, physical therapists, patient and family counseling, genetic counseling and the integrative medicine program support you and your family before, during and after treatment.
Template module · Fills itself from the center's office records. It replaces today's /locations page, which lists four offices under the name Melanoma and Sarcoma Center: 9900 W. Colonial Dr., Ocoee, FL 34761; 210 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746; 22 W. Underwood St., 3rd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806; and 1400 S. Orange Ave., 2nd Floor, Orlando, FL 32806. The one phone the page and the doctor finder give is (321) 841-1869.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Sarcoma program. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which is the doctor finder filtered to this center. The live list includes surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, a dermatologist and plastic and reconstructive surgeons across the institute's offices.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 841-1869 or request an appointment online. A member of our team contacts you to schedule your visit, in person or by video.
We care for bone cancers, including chondrosarcoma, chordoma, Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcoma and giant cell tumor, and for soft tissue cancers such as liposarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and synovial sarcoma. Our team also treats cancer that has spread to the bone from elsewhere in the body.
Surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, external and internal radiation therapy, stereotactic ablative radiation therapy and proton therapy. Your team works with you to find the right options for your cancer and your goals.
A surgeon, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist plan your treatment together, and the Meet Our Doctors list above shows who they are at each office.
You and your family can use the integrative medicine program, patient and family counseling with state-licensed counselors, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library and the Nutrition Department's registered dietitians.
Yes. The Cancer Genetics Program offers genetic counseling to help you and your family learn about your possible risk of a hereditary cancer, with genetic testing when it fits, so you can make informed choices about your health.
Template module · Written copy, from today's center, treatments and resources pages. The phone is the locations page's.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your doctor whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this center.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this center's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's center has no clinical trials page, so the banner is the standard one; the corporate page it opens shows whatever is open for sarcoma.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. Today's resources page states no award. It names the Integrative Medicine program (more than 30 years, no charge) and its therapies, the Clifford E. Graese Community Health Library, genetic counseling through the Cancer Genetics Program, the Nutrition Department, oncology massage therapy, and patient and family counseling, each reached from its own record. The live page's figure that genetics plays a major role in 5% to 10% of all cancers is attributed there to the National Cancer Institute and is left for the library.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The center's surgeons and oncologists treat sarcomas of the bone and soft tissue.
Learn More About CancerRehabilitation therapists help you rebuild strength and movement after sarcoma surgery.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationRadiologists read the MRI and CT scans that find a sarcoma and guide its biopsy.
Learn More About RadiologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Colon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many...
Learn More About Spinal TumorsUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that...
Learn More About Uterine CancerA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentOncologists, nurses, researchers and counselors guide you through bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy for cancers and blood disorders, from evaluation through follow-up care, all at one downtown Orlando location.
Template module · Written copy, the hero description field (ours). The button is Request an Appointment. The team, the evaluation through follow-up sequence and the single downtown location are the live pages'. No "state-of-the-art," no "nationally recognized" and no age group appears here; see the age-group note in module 2.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
The feature accordion is a module, or a set of them, on any page type, for what the marketing team wants to feature about how they market the line or place: a program, a class, an event, parking or language access, a community program, a timely change, a real choice such as planning a high-risk birth. Each row: a headline, a short paragraph, a 5:4 photo, zero, one or two buttons. A row can point to a page that exists; it never repeats a module on the same page.
Decided 2026-10-20
The Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program is part of Orlando Health Cancer Institute. We understand how hard it can be to hear a cancer or another serious diagnosis. Our program treats conditions that affect the body's bone marrow, and our team guides you through the whole process and supports you at every step.
A bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces cancerous or faulty cells inside your marrow with healthy ones. Bone marrow is the spongy material inside your bones, and its main job is to make the stem cells that become red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. We can use your own stem cells or cells from a donor. The program is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).
We treat cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and noncancerous conditions such as aplastic anemia, sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, nurses, therapists, researchers and counselors work together as one team to help you.
Template module · Who We Are, from today's program, conditions and what to expect pages, then the features (§11.9, 3 to 5 rows): what a transplant involves (from What to Expect), where the cells come from (the FAQ and conditions pages), cellular therapy (the conditions page's treatment types), the on-site stem cell laboratory (the program page's photo set) and care in one place (the program page and the FAQ's lodging answer). The program's accreditation by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) is stated on today's program page and appears here as the plain fact of accreditation; the live page's "global standard" and "mark of excellence" wording is a ranking-style claim and is not repeated. ⚠️ The live pages disagree on who the program treats. The program, conditions and FAQ pages say adults and children, and the institute page's card says the same, while the doctor finder's Patient Group filter on today's team page offers Adult only, and none of its nine providers lists a pediatric specialty. Following the narrower claim, the hero and card blurb name no age group, and the FAQ repeats the live answer about children. The older duplicate set at the cell therapy address uses "cell" and "cells" where the current set says "stem cell" and "stem cells," and "Cell Therapy" where the current set says "Cellular Therapy"; this page follows the current set. The live program page's H1 reads "Cellular Therapy," while the inner heading of the same page reads "Cell Therapy"; the page name here is the institute card's "Cellular Therapy."
We begin with an evaluation that includes only the tests you need. Healthy stem cells are collected, and you receive high-dose chemotherapy or radiation for five to 10 days to prepare your body. On transplant day the new stem cells arrive through an IV in about 30 minutes while you are awake, and you should not feel pain.
Autologous transplants use your own stem cells, and allogeneic transplants use donor stem cells. A family member, often a sibling or a parent, may be a match, and we can also search the National Marrow Donor Program and other registries. Umbilical cord blood transplants are also available.
Our program also offers CAR-T cell therapy, TCR therapy, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, dendritic cell vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, immunotherapies that help your immune system respond to cancer.
Our dedicated 3,000-square-foot Stem Cell Laboratory processes and stores the cells used in transplants, CAR-T cell therapies, gene therapies and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte immunotherapies, so the work happens close to your care.
You can have your transplant and your follow-up care in one location, with no need to travel to other cities or hospitals. For families from out of the area, we have prearranged hotel rates, and administration at (407) 498-3432 can help you find a place to stay.
Template module · Fills itself from the program's office records. It replaces today's /locations page, which lists Orlando Health Cancer Institute, Downtown Orlando, 1400 S. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32806. ⚠️ The live pages disagree on the phone. The current locations page lists the same downtown address twice, once with (321) 843-8010 and once with (321) 841-1869. The team page shows (321) 843-8010 for all nine providers, and the older duplicate locations page shows only (321) 841-1869. The FAQ below uses (321) 843-8010, the number the team page shows.
Template module · Fills itself, narrowed to the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program. Nothing is supplied. It replaces today's /our-team page, which lists physicians, nurse practitioners and a physician assistant, all at the downtown office, with Arabic and English among the languages they speak.
[The plans this team accepts, from its record]
View Hospital Based InsuranceTemplate module · Fills itself. Nothing is supplied.
Call (321) 843-8010 or request an appointment online. Our team helps you plan your visit, including a first evaluation, so you only have the tests you need.
Often a family member is a match, and siblings and parents are tested first. We can also search the National Marrow Donor Program and other registries to find a compatible donor.
Side effects depend on whether the stem cells come from your own cells (autologous) or a donor (allogeneic). Either type can cause low blood counts (anemia), fever, mouth sores, nausea and vomiting. With donor cells, the main risks are that the body rejects the cells or develops graft-versus-host disease, when the donor cells attack the body. After any transplant your immune system is weak for a time, so you are more open to infection, and your team shows you how to lower that risk, from hand washing to avoiding people who are sick. You also carry a transplant patient card with your physician's contact information, for any other healthcare provider who treats you. Most side effects can be controlled, and your stem cell transplant physician has the expertise to manage them and make them tolerable.
A hospital stay is typically two to four weeks, depending on the type of transplant. Some types of transplant can be done entirely as an outpatient, with no hospital stay. Your team recommends the setting that fits your health and condition.
An adult or a child may need to wait up to a year. It can take up to 12 months for the immune system to return to normal after a transplant, and your specialists help you decide when it is safe to go back.
Yes, children can have this procedure. Our cancer experts evaluate each child to make sure a transplant is a good fit.
Template module · Written copy, from today's FAQ and what to expect pages. The side effects answer keeps the live page's two risks of donor cells (rejection and graft-versus-host disease) and its list of common effects in full. The out-of-area lodging question is answered inside the Care in One Place card, with the live page's administration phone, (407) 498-3432.
A clinical trial can offer early access to a promising new medicine or treatment. Ask your transplant team whether one fits your diagnosis, and see the trials open at this program.
Find a Clinical TrialTemplate module · A banner with this page's copy and one button, Find a Clinical Trial, already narrowed to this program's trials (the 2026-10-28 review call: a banner on an overview page, never a list). No trial and no trial count is typed here. Today's program page mentions that its laboratory supports immunotherapy clinical trials, and it has no clinical trials page of its own; the corporate clinical trials page serves it, like every institute's.
Template modules · All fill themselves. Nothing is supplied. The one accreditation the live pages state is FACT accreditation, named in Who We Are above. The live program page's "Trusted. Nationally Recognized." heading has no text or source beneath it, so no recognition claim is made. The program has no patient resources page of its own today; the institute's support services (integrative medicine, nutrition, counseling and the nurse navigators) reach the page through the institute's resources. The Content Hub article on how bone marrow transplants save lives is a candidate for the Articles set, and the set fills itself from the library.
Draft copy prepared by Marketing Technology, 2026-10-29.
The program gives stem cell transplants and cellular therapy for blood cancers and some blood disorders.
Learn More About CancerPathologists test your blood and bone marrow before a transplant and check your recovery after it.
Learn More About PathologyFills itself from the records. A program belongs to no single service line (Kim, 2026-10-20), so the cards are the program's own assortment: the lines it works with and the library pages tied to its subject, never one line's lists.
Bone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyRequest an appointment and the team will call you to schedule.
Request an AppointmentThe programs on this line, each bringing a team together around one condition, one approach to care or one group of patients. Each page explains who it is for, what it offers and where.
An abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum or in the anus. It ends with a permanent colostomy, an opening on the belly for stool. Many people return to work, travel and the activities they enjoy.
Learn MoreAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar and stress. It is rare, and most growths found in these glands are not cancer. Endocrine specialists, surgeons and oncologists work together to find it and treat it, most often with surgery.
Learn MoreAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to HPV, a common virus. Because it forms where a doctor can see and reach it, it is often found early, and most people are treated without surgery.
Learn MoreAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes often clear on their own, and high-grade changes can be found with screening and treated in the office before they ever become cancer.
Learn MoreAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few minutes, needs no sedation, and helps find the cause of bleeding, pain, itching or a lump.
Learn MoreAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for appendicitis and sometimes to treat or confirm a tumor of the appendix. Most are done through small incisions, and you can live a full, healthy life without an appendix.
Learn MoreAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are found during surgery for appendicitis. Some grow slowly, and Orlando Health care teams treat them with surgery, chemotherapy and, for some people, HIPEC.
Learn MoreA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat the bowel so it shows clearly on X-rays. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes and needs no sedation.
Learn MoreBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of esophageal cancer, though most people with it never develop cancer. Regular checks and treatment of early changes keep that risk low.
Learn MoreBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp, and very rarely spreads. Treated early, usually with a short office procedure, it is almost always cured.
Learn MoreA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for certain whether an area is cancer, and most biopsies are quick, done with numbing medicine, and let you go home the same day.
Learn MoreBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine. Most bladder cancers are found before they grow into the bladder wall, when they respond well to treatment.
Learn MoreA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy blood-forming cells, from you or a donor. It is used for some leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and other blood and immune conditions, and for some, it offers a chance of cure.
Learn MoreBone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, with evaluation, treatment and follow-up care in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can cause pain and weaken the bone. Treatments can ease pain, protect the bone and slow the cancer, and many people live with it for years.
Learn MoreA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or repairing. It can find cancer that has spread to the bones and other bone problems, and most of the appointment is waiting while the tracer reaches the bones.
Learn MoreBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and many are not. They are cared for by teams of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan each person's treatment together.
Learn MoreA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly. They are treated with surgery, radiation and medicine, often in combination, by teams of brain surgeons, cancer doctors and radiation specialists working together.
Learn MoreA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that you or your doctor felt. Most are done with a needle and numbing medicine, and most biopsies find no cancer.
Learn MoreBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers, and found early it is among the most treatable. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it, with nurse navigators to guide you.
Learn MoreBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average risk start at age 40. Your age, family history and breast density decide how often you go and whether you need more than a mammogram.
Learn MoreBreast cancer specialists, breast imaging and reconstructive surgery in Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant, tissue from your own body or both. It can happen at the same time as cancer surgery or months or years later, and whether to have it is your choice.
Learn MoreCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and numbness. Most cancer pain can be eased with the right mix of medicines, procedures and support, and telling your care team about it is the first step.
Learn MoreCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer treatment. Physical, occupational and speech therapists work with you on tiredness, weakness, pain, swelling, swallowing and the everyday tasks that cancer and its treatment can make harder.
Learn MoreCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often the main treatment for cancers that have not spread, and it is usually planned with chemotherapy, radiation or other treatment. Many operations are done through small incisions.
Learn MoreCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and when it does happen, finding it early means it can often be treated while your cancer care goes on. Oncologists and cardiologists watch for it together.
Learn MoreCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused by HPV, and screening finds changes years before they become cancer. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it at every stage.
Learn MoreCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become cancer. Most people start at 21 or 25 and are tested every three to five years until 65.
Learn MoreChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with rest in between, and can be used to cure a cancer, shrink it before surgery, lower the chance it returns or ease symptoms. Side effects can be managed.
Learn MoreA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to remove colon cancer or disease that keeps coming back. Many colectomies are done through small incisions, and most people go back to eating and living normally.
Learn MoreColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find polyps and remove them before they turn into cancer. Found early, colon cancer is very treatable, and Orlando Health care teams screen for it and treat it.
Learn MoreA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually asleep or sedated, it takes less than an hour, and polyps can be removed during the same test.
Learn MoreColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at average risk start at 45, and you can choose between a colonoscopy and simpler tests you do at home.
Learn MoreColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless, though some can turn into cancer over many years. A colonoscopy finds them and removes them, and Orlando Health care teams offer screening and polyp care.
Learn MoreColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the healthy ends again. Many operations are done through small incisions, and your surgeon plans the approach around your body, your diagnosis and your goals.
Learn MoreA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool leaves the body into a pouch. It may be temporary while your bowel heals or permanent, and with practice most people return to work, travel, exercise and the foods they enjoy.
Learn MoreA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and painless, and it helps your care team find a problem, see its size and location, plan treatment and check how treatment is working.
Learn MoreEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in hormone-making cells spread through the body. Thyroid cancer is the most common, and most are very treatable. Each type has its own signs and tests, and surgery is often the first treatment.
Learn MoreThyroid, adrenal, parathyroid and neuroendocrine cancer specialists in Ocoee, with surgical and nonsurgical care.
Learn MoreEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most common early sign is food that feels stuck when you swallow. Treatment often combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, planned by one team.
Learn MoreExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound with stitches. It is usually done in the office with numbing medicine, you go home the same day, and the tissue is checked under a microscope.
Learn MoreGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often found after gallbladder surgery for gallstones. Orlando Health care teams diagnose it and treat it with surgery, medicine and radiation.
Learn MoreColon, rectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for you, and what the result would mean. A genetic counselor reviews your family history, explains your options and helps you plan screening or prevention.
Learn MoreGynecologic oncologists caring for ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments. Gynecologic oncologists treat all of them, with surgery, radiation and medicines, and with care to protect fertility when possible.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden, with free screening.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer surgery. Surgeons often move skin, muscle or bone from another part of your body to restore how you eat, swallow, speak and breathe, and to bring back your appearance as closely as they can.
Learn MoreA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of cancer before you notice symptoms. It takes a few minutes and involves no needles. It is most useful for people who use tobacco or alcohol, and it is never a substitute for checking a symptom.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head and neck. Tobacco, alcohol and HPV are the main causes of many of them. Specialist teams combine surgery, radiation and medicines, with care to protect speaking, swallowing and appearance.
Learn MoreA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its full size within a few months, so many people can have a large part removed safely. It can be done through small incisions or one larger one, and recovery takes a few weeks.
Learn MoreHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon first removes all the tumor that can be seen, then bathes the inside of the abdomen with heated chemotherapy during the same operation. It is a major operation for carefully chosen patients.
Learn MoreHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no incisions, no needles and no radiation. You are asleep for it, it often takes about an hour, and many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It treats many breast and prostate cancers and some uterine cancers, given as pills or shots, often for years, to shrink a cancer, slow it or help keep it from returning.
Learn MoreImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and treats many cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder and some breast cancers. Its side effects differ from chemotherapy and need prompt attention.
Learn MoreYoga, art, music, acupuncture, massage and support groups that ease stress and side effects during and after cancer care.
Learn MoreLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system, and each has many types. Hematologist-oncologists, doctors who specialize in blood diseases and cancer, diagnose and treat them.
Learn MoreSpecialists in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Learn MoreLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a liver already scarred by hepatitis, alcohol or fatty liver disease. Found early, it can often be removed or destroyed, and many other treatments can control it when it cannot.
Learn MoreFellowship-trained physicians for primary and secondary liver cancer, including histotripsy, in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is a major operation with a careful evaluation beforehand, and most people who receive one go on to live active lives for many years.
Learn MoreA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep most of your breast. Most people go home the same day, and radiation therapy usually follows to treat any cancer cells left in the breast.
Learn MoreLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or treated with the goal of cure, and yearly screening helps find it early in people at higher risk. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists and lung specialists plan care together.
Learn MoreLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles or dye, and can find lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.
Learn MoreA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old infection or inflammation and are not cancer. Lung specialists decide whether a nodule needs no follow-up, another scan or a biopsy.
Learn MoreLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see whether cancer has spread to them. The result helps set the stage of the cancer and guides the rest of your treatment.
Learn MoreLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after cancer surgery or radiation. A trained therapist uses gentle massage, wraps, compression garments, exercise and skin care, and teaches you to manage it at home.
Learn MoreLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen lymph node. There are two main kinds, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin, and many types within them. Many lymphomas respond well to treatment, and some can be cured.
Learn MoreA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes about 20 minutes, and most results are normal. If you are asked to come back for more pictures, that is common.
Learn MoreA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk of breast cancer. Many people go home the same day or after one night, and you can choose reconstruction now, later or not at all.
Learn MoreMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a growth such as a thymus tumor or a cyst. Many of these operations are done through small incisions, and recovery from a minimally invasive operation often takes three to four weeks.
Learn MoreMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and more likely to spread, so early detection matters. Found early, it is usually cured with surgery, and newer medicines help many people with advanced melanoma.
Learn MoreDermatology, surgery and oncology specialists for melanoma and skin cancer in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For most melanomas found early, surgery is the main treatment and is often the only one needed. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no cancer remains. It saves as much healthy skin as possible, which matters most on the face, and it takes place in the office with numbing medicine.
Learn MoreMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which treatments are most likely to work for you, such as a targeted medicine or immunotherapy, and which ones you may be able to skip, such as chemotherapy.
Learn MoreAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It helps find a growth, shows its size and where it is, and checks how treatment is working. You lie still in a scanner for 30 to 60 minutes.
Learn MoreA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes pictures of your heart as it beats. It is often done before and during cancer treatments that can affect the heart, to keep your heart safe.
Learn MoreNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built from your CT scan, so a doctor can take a small tissue sample. It needs no incision, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreBrain and spinal cord tumor specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost anywhere, most often in the intestines, pancreas, appendix, rectum and lungs. Many grow slowly, some make hormones that cause symptoms, and most can be treated or controlled for a long time.
Learn MoreOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or feeling full fast, are easy to mistake for everyday problems, so a change that lasts deserves a check. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat it.
Learn MorePancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control blood sugar. It often causes few signs early on, so a fast, clear plan matters. Treatment combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, chosen for where the tumor is and how far it reaches.
Learn MoreParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very rare, and most problems with these glands are not cancer. The usual first sign is a high calcium level. Surgery to remove the gland and the tissue around it is the main treatment.
Learn MorePenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in skin color. Found early, it can often be treated in ways that keep the penis and how it works.
Learn MorePeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from cancers of the appendix, colon, stomach or ovary. Treatment depends on where it started, and Orlando Health care teams offer medicine and, for some people, surgery with HIPEC.
Learn MorePost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. It is common, it has a cause, and medicines, therapy and procedures can ease it.
Learn MoreProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and when found early, many men have several good choices for care.
Learn MoreProstate cancer diagnosis and treatment, from active surveillance to robotic surgery and precise radiation.
Learn MoreProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and when to start is a choice you make with your doctor, usually in your 50s, or earlier if you are Black or prostate cancer runs in your family.
Learn MoreProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at the tumor and very little beyond it, which can lower the dose to healthy tissue nearby. It is used for some cancers in children and adults, often near sensitive organs.
Learn MoreRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so they stop growing. Most forms treat only the area they are aimed at. It can be used to cure a cancer, alongside surgery or medicines, or to ease pain and other symptoms.
Learn MoreRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and releases tiny beads that hold radiation straight into the tumor. It needs only a small nick in the skin, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it before it starts. Treatment often combines medicine, radiation and surgery, and Orlando Health care teams plan each step with you to protect bowel control where they can.
Learn MoreA rectal spacer is a soft gel placed between the prostate and the rectum before radiation for prostate cancer. It moves the rectum a little farther from the radiation to help protect it. Placement is a short outpatient procedure, and your body absorbs the gel on its own over several months.
Learn MoreLung, esophageal and chest cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Learn MoreSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage or bone. It often shows up as a lump that grows over weeks or months. Teams that include surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists plan its care together.
Learn MoreBone and soft tissue cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of your colon for polyps, cancer and other changes. It needs only a simple bowel prep, and most people have it without sedation.
Learn MoreSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is the most common cancer in the United States, and when it is found early, nearly every case can be treated successfully, often with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreSkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as it should and looks as natural as possible. It ranges from a few stitches to moving skin from nearby or another part of the body.
Learn MoreA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles unless a spot needs testing, and pairs with checking your own skin each month to find changes early.
Learn MoreA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many start as cancer elsewhere that has spread to the spine. Back pain is the most common sign. Orlando Health teams diagnose spinal tumors and treat them together.
Learn MoreSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most often on skin that gets a lot of sun. Found early, it is very treatable, usually with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions instead of several weeks. It treats some early lung and prostate cancers, some tumors of the liver, pancreas and spine, and tumors that have spread, without an incision or a hospital stay.
Learn MoreStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or feeling full fast, are easy to miss, so a lasting change deserves a check. Orlando Health care teams find it, stage it and treat it with medicine and surgery.
Learn MoreSubmucosal tunneling endoscopic resection, or STER, removes a tumor from deep in the wall of the esophagus or stomach using a flexible scope passed through the mouth. There is no cut on the skin, and most people stay in the hospital for a day or two.
Learn MoreTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only when your cancer has that target, so a test of your tumor comes first. Many targeted medicines are pills taken at home, and others are given by infusion.
Learn MoreTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to 40. It is also one of the most treatable cancers: most men are cured, often with surgery alone, and go on to have children and full lives.
Learn MoreThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall and the lining around the lungs. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and lung and digestive specialists care for them together.
Learn MoreThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or on a scan for something else. Most thyroid cancers grow slowly and are very treatable, and surgery is the main treatment, sometimes followed by radioactive iodine.
Learn MoreA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An ultrasound and sometimes a needle biopsy tell which few need treatment. Many only need watching, and those that cause symptoms can be shrunk or removed.
Learn MoreA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still be able to have a baby. Gynecologic oncologists perform it, often through small incisions.
Learn MoreTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It needs no large incision, many people go home the same day, and it can treat small tumors in the liver, kidney, lung, bone and other organs when surgery is not the best choice.
Learn MoreTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor through a thin tube placed in an artery at the groin or wrist. It is most often used for liver tumors, and it can also make some tumors safer to remove with surgery.
Learn MoreA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most often used to track how well cancer treatment is working and to watch for cancer coming back. A high result on its own does not mean you have cancer.
Learn MoreTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your own tumor, grown into billions in a lab and returned to your body through an IV to attack the cancer. It involves surgery, a hospital stay and close care from a specialized team.
Learn MoreBladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancer care, with robotic surgery, in Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male reproductive organs: the prostate, testicles and penis. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments, and urologists and oncologists treat all of them.
Learn MoreA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer work. Urine drains through a small opening on the belly, called a stoma, into a flat pouch you empty several times a day.
Learn MoreUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that is not normal for you, especially after menopause, so it is often found early. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat every type.
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The cancers our specialists diagnose and treat, from the most common to the rare, grouped by the part of the body they affect. Each page explains the cancer, its signs and how it is treated, and who cares for it near you.
An abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum or in the anus. It ends with a permanent colostomy, an opening on the belly for stool. Many people return to work, travel and the activities they enjoy.
Learn MoreAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar and stress. It is rare, and most growths found in these glands are not cancer. Endocrine specialists, surgeons and oncologists work together to find it and treat it, most often with surgery.
Learn MoreAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to HPV, a common virus. Because it forms where a doctor can see and reach it, it is often found early, and most people are treated without surgery.
Learn MoreAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes often clear on their own, and high-grade changes can be found with screening and treated in the office before they ever become cancer.
Learn MoreAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few minutes, needs no sedation, and helps find the cause of bleeding, pain, itching or a lump.
Learn MoreAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for appendicitis and sometimes to treat or confirm a tumor of the appendix. Most are done through small incisions, and you can live a full, healthy life without an appendix.
Learn MoreAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are found during surgery for appendicitis. Some grow slowly, and Orlando Health care teams treat them with surgery, chemotherapy and, for some people, HIPEC.
Learn MoreA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat the bowel so it shows clearly on X-rays. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes and needs no sedation.
Learn MoreBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of esophageal cancer, though most people with it never develop cancer. Regular checks and treatment of early changes keep that risk low.
Learn MoreBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp, and very rarely spreads. Treated early, usually with a short office procedure, it is almost always cured.
Learn MoreA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for certain whether an area is cancer, and most biopsies are quick, done with numbing medicine, and let you go home the same day.
Learn MoreBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine. Most bladder cancers are found before they grow into the bladder wall, when they respond well to treatment.
Learn MoreA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy blood-forming cells, from you or a donor. It is used for some leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and other blood and immune conditions, and for some, it offers a chance of cure.
Learn MoreBone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, with evaluation, treatment and follow-up care in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can cause pain and weaken the bone. Treatments can ease pain, protect the bone and slow the cancer, and many people live with it for years.
Learn MoreA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or repairing. It can find cancer that has spread to the bones and other bone problems, and most of the appointment is waiting while the tracer reaches the bones.
Learn MoreBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and many are not. They are cared for by teams of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan each person's treatment together.
Learn MoreA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly. They are treated with surgery, radiation and medicine, often in combination, by teams of brain surgeons, cancer doctors and radiation specialists working together.
Learn MoreA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that you or your doctor felt. Most are done with a needle and numbing medicine, and most biopsies find no cancer.
Learn MoreBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers, and found early it is among the most treatable. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it, with nurse navigators to guide you.
Learn MoreBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average risk start at age 40. Your age, family history and breast density decide how often you go and whether you need more than a mammogram.
Learn MoreBreast cancer specialists, breast imaging and reconstructive surgery in Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant, tissue from your own body or both. It can happen at the same time as cancer surgery or months or years later, and whether to have it is your choice.
Learn MoreCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and numbness. Most cancer pain can be eased with the right mix of medicines, procedures and support, and telling your care team about it is the first step.
Learn MoreCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer treatment. Physical, occupational and speech therapists work with you on tiredness, weakness, pain, swelling, swallowing and the everyday tasks that cancer and its treatment can make harder.
Learn MoreCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often the main treatment for cancers that have not spread, and it is usually planned with chemotherapy, radiation or other treatment. Many operations are done through small incisions.
Learn MoreCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and when it does happen, finding it early means it can often be treated while your cancer care goes on. Oncologists and cardiologists watch for it together.
Learn MoreCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused by HPV, and screening finds changes years before they become cancer. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it at every stage.
Learn MoreCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become cancer. Most people start at 21 or 25 and are tested every three to five years until 65.
Learn MoreChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with rest in between, and can be used to cure a cancer, shrink it before surgery, lower the chance it returns or ease symptoms. Side effects can be managed.
Learn MoreA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to remove colon cancer or disease that keeps coming back. Many colectomies are done through small incisions, and most people go back to eating and living normally.
Learn MoreColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find polyps and remove them before they turn into cancer. Found early, colon cancer is very treatable, and Orlando Health care teams screen for it and treat it.
Learn MoreA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually asleep or sedated, it takes less than an hour, and polyps can be removed during the same test.
Learn MoreColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at average risk start at 45, and you can choose between a colonoscopy and simpler tests you do at home.
Learn MoreColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless, though some can turn into cancer over many years. A colonoscopy finds them and removes them, and Orlando Health care teams offer screening and polyp care.
Learn MoreColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the healthy ends again. Many operations are done through small incisions, and your surgeon plans the approach around your body, your diagnosis and your goals.
Learn MoreA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool leaves the body into a pouch. It may be temporary while your bowel heals or permanent, and with practice most people return to work, travel, exercise and the foods they enjoy.
Learn MoreA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and painless, and it helps your care team find a problem, see its size and location, plan treatment and check how treatment is working.
Learn MoreEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in hormone-making cells spread through the body. Thyroid cancer is the most common, and most are very treatable. Each type has its own signs and tests, and surgery is often the first treatment.
Learn MoreThyroid, adrenal, parathyroid and neuroendocrine cancer specialists in Ocoee, with surgical and nonsurgical care.
Learn MoreEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most common early sign is food that feels stuck when you swallow. Treatment often combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, planned by one team.
Learn MoreExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound with stitches. It is usually done in the office with numbing medicine, you go home the same day, and the tissue is checked under a microscope.
Learn MoreGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often found after gallbladder surgery for gallstones. Orlando Health care teams diagnose it and treat it with surgery, medicine and radiation.
Learn MoreColon, rectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for you, and what the result would mean. A genetic counselor reviews your family history, explains your options and helps you plan screening or prevention.
Learn MoreGynecologic oncologists caring for ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments. Gynecologic oncologists treat all of them, with surgery, radiation and medicines, and with care to protect fertility when possible.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden, with free screening.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer surgery. Surgeons often move skin, muscle or bone from another part of your body to restore how you eat, swallow, speak and breathe, and to bring back your appearance as closely as they can.
Learn MoreA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of cancer before you notice symptoms. It takes a few minutes and involves no needles. It is most useful for people who use tobacco or alcohol, and it is never a substitute for checking a symptom.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head and neck. Tobacco, alcohol and HPV are the main causes of many of them. Specialist teams combine surgery, radiation and medicines, with care to protect speaking, swallowing and appearance.
Learn MoreA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its full size within a few months, so many people can have a large part removed safely. It can be done through small incisions or one larger one, and recovery takes a few weeks.
Learn MoreHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon first removes all the tumor that can be seen, then bathes the inside of the abdomen with heated chemotherapy during the same operation. It is a major operation for carefully chosen patients.
Learn MoreHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no incisions, no needles and no radiation. You are asleep for it, it often takes about an hour, and many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It treats many breast and prostate cancers and some uterine cancers, given as pills or shots, often for years, to shrink a cancer, slow it or help keep it from returning.
Learn MoreImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and treats many cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder and some breast cancers. Its side effects differ from chemotherapy and need prompt attention.
Learn MoreYoga, art, music, acupuncture, massage and support groups that ease stress and side effects during and after cancer care.
Learn MoreLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system, and each has many types. Hematologist-oncologists, doctors who specialize in blood diseases and cancer, diagnose and treat them.
Learn MoreSpecialists in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Learn MoreLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a liver already scarred by hepatitis, alcohol or fatty liver disease. Found early, it can often be removed or destroyed, and many other treatments can control it when it cannot.
Learn MoreFellowship-trained physicians for primary and secondary liver cancer, including histotripsy, in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is a major operation with a careful evaluation beforehand, and most people who receive one go on to live active lives for many years.
Learn MoreA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep most of your breast. Most people go home the same day, and radiation therapy usually follows to treat any cancer cells left in the breast.
Learn MoreLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or treated with the goal of cure, and yearly screening helps find it early in people at higher risk. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists and lung specialists plan care together.
Learn MoreLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles or dye, and can find lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.
Learn MoreA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old infection or inflammation and are not cancer. Lung specialists decide whether a nodule needs no follow-up, another scan or a biopsy.
Learn MoreLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see whether cancer has spread to them. The result helps set the stage of the cancer and guides the rest of your treatment.
Learn MoreLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after cancer surgery or radiation. A trained therapist uses gentle massage, wraps, compression garments, exercise and skin care, and teaches you to manage it at home.
Learn MoreLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen lymph node. There are two main kinds, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin, and many types within them. Many lymphomas respond well to treatment, and some can be cured.
Learn MoreA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes about 20 minutes, and most results are normal. If you are asked to come back for more pictures, that is common.
Learn MoreA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk of breast cancer. Many people go home the same day or after one night, and you can choose reconstruction now, later or not at all.
Learn MoreMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a growth such as a thymus tumor or a cyst. Many of these operations are done through small incisions, and recovery from a minimally invasive operation often takes three to four weeks.
Learn MoreMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and more likely to spread, so early detection matters. Found early, it is usually cured with surgery, and newer medicines help many people with advanced melanoma.
Learn MoreDermatology, surgery and oncology specialists for melanoma and skin cancer in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For most melanomas found early, surgery is the main treatment and is often the only one needed. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no cancer remains. It saves as much healthy skin as possible, which matters most on the face, and it takes place in the office with numbing medicine.
Learn MoreMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which treatments are most likely to work for you, such as a targeted medicine or immunotherapy, and which ones you may be able to skip, such as chemotherapy.
Learn MoreAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It helps find a growth, shows its size and where it is, and checks how treatment is working. You lie still in a scanner for 30 to 60 minutes.
Learn MoreA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes pictures of your heart as it beats. It is often done before and during cancer treatments that can affect the heart, to keep your heart safe.
Learn MoreNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built from your CT scan, so a doctor can take a small tissue sample. It needs no incision, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreBrain and spinal cord tumor specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost anywhere, most often in the intestines, pancreas, appendix, rectum and lungs. Many grow slowly, some make hormones that cause symptoms, and most can be treated or controlled for a long time.
Learn MoreOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or feeling full fast, are easy to mistake for everyday problems, so a change that lasts deserves a check. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat it.
Learn MorePancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control blood sugar. It often causes few signs early on, so a fast, clear plan matters. Treatment combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, chosen for where the tumor is and how far it reaches.
Learn MoreParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very rare, and most problems with these glands are not cancer. The usual first sign is a high calcium level. Surgery to remove the gland and the tissue around it is the main treatment.
Learn MorePenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in skin color. Found early, it can often be treated in ways that keep the penis and how it works.
Learn MorePeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from cancers of the appendix, colon, stomach or ovary. Treatment depends on where it started, and Orlando Health care teams offer medicine and, for some people, surgery with HIPEC.
Learn MorePost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. It is common, it has a cause, and medicines, therapy and procedures can ease it.
Learn MoreProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and when found early, many men have several good choices for care.
Learn MoreProstate cancer diagnosis and treatment, from active surveillance to robotic surgery and precise radiation.
Learn MoreProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and when to start is a choice you make with your doctor, usually in your 50s, or earlier if you are Black or prostate cancer runs in your family.
Learn MoreProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at the tumor and very little beyond it, which can lower the dose to healthy tissue nearby. It is used for some cancers in children and adults, often near sensitive organs.
Learn MoreRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so they stop growing. Most forms treat only the area they are aimed at. It can be used to cure a cancer, alongside surgery or medicines, or to ease pain and other symptoms.
Learn MoreRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and releases tiny beads that hold radiation straight into the tumor. It needs only a small nick in the skin, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it before it starts. Treatment often combines medicine, radiation and surgery, and Orlando Health care teams plan each step with you to protect bowel control where they can.
Learn MoreA rectal spacer is a soft gel placed between the prostate and the rectum before radiation for prostate cancer. It moves the rectum a little farther from the radiation to help protect it. Placement is a short outpatient procedure, and your body absorbs the gel on its own over several months.
Learn MoreLung, esophageal and chest cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Learn MoreSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage or bone. It often shows up as a lump that grows over weeks or months. Teams that include surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists plan its care together.
Learn MoreBone and soft tissue cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of your colon for polyps, cancer and other changes. It needs only a simple bowel prep, and most people have it without sedation.
Learn MoreSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is the most common cancer in the United States, and when it is found early, nearly every case can be treated successfully, often with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreSkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as it should and looks as natural as possible. It ranges from a few stitches to moving skin from nearby or another part of the body.
Learn MoreA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles unless a spot needs testing, and pairs with checking your own skin each month to find changes early.
Learn MoreA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many start as cancer elsewhere that has spread to the spine. Back pain is the most common sign. Orlando Health teams diagnose spinal tumors and treat them together.
Learn MoreSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most often on skin that gets a lot of sun. Found early, it is very treatable, usually with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions instead of several weeks. It treats some early lung and prostate cancers, some tumors of the liver, pancreas and spine, and tumors that have spread, without an incision or a hospital stay.
Learn MoreStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or feeling full fast, are easy to miss, so a lasting change deserves a check. Orlando Health care teams find it, stage it and treat it with medicine and surgery.
Learn MoreSubmucosal tunneling endoscopic resection, or STER, removes a tumor from deep in the wall of the esophagus or stomach using a flexible scope passed through the mouth. There is no cut on the skin, and most people stay in the hospital for a day or two.
Learn MoreTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only when your cancer has that target, so a test of your tumor comes first. Many targeted medicines are pills taken at home, and others are given by infusion.
Learn MoreTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to 40. It is also one of the most treatable cancers: most men are cured, often with surgery alone, and go on to have children and full lives.
Learn MoreThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall and the lining around the lungs. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and lung and digestive specialists care for them together.
Learn MoreThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or on a scan for something else. Most thyroid cancers grow slowly and are very treatable, and surgery is the main treatment, sometimes followed by radioactive iodine.
Learn MoreA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An ultrasound and sometimes a needle biopsy tell which few need treatment. Many only need watching, and those that cause symptoms can be shrunk or removed.
Learn MoreA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still be able to have a baby. Gynecologic oncologists perform it, often through small incisions.
Learn MoreTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It needs no large incision, many people go home the same day, and it can treat small tumors in the liver, kidney, lung, bone and other organs when surgery is not the best choice.
Learn MoreTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor through a thin tube placed in an artery at the groin or wrist. It is most often used for liver tumors, and it can also make some tumors safer to remove with surgery.
Learn MoreA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most often used to track how well cancer treatment is working and to watch for cancer coming back. A high result on its own does not mean you have cancer.
Learn MoreTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your own tumor, grown into billions in a lab and returned to your body through an IV to attack the cancer. It involves surgery, a hospital stay and close care from a specialized team.
Learn MoreBladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancer care, with robotic surgery, in Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male reproductive organs: the prostate, testicles and penis. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments, and urologists and oncologists treat all of them.
Learn MoreA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer work. Urine drains through a small opening on the belly, called a stoma, into a flat pouch you empty several times a day.
Learn MoreUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that is not normal for you, especially after menopause, so it is often found early. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat every type.
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Adrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar and stress. It is rare, and most growths found in these glands are not cancer. Endocrine specialists, surgeons and oncologists work together to find it and treat it, most often with surgery.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
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Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
You may be reading this because a scan for something else showed a spot on an adrenal gland, or because months of high blood pressure, weight gain or changes in your body led your doctor to test your hormones. Either way, the words "adrenal tumor" bring a lot of questions, and the first one is usually whether it is cancer.
Most adrenal growths are benign, which means they are not cancer. Doctors find them often now that scans are common, and many need nothing more than a hormone test and a follow-up scan. Adrenal cancer itself is rare. When it is found while it is still inside the gland, surgery to remove it gives the best chance of a cure.
This page explains what the adrenal glands do, the signs adrenal cancer can cause, how doctors tell a benign growth from a cancer, and the treatments available.
You have two adrenal glands, one on top of each kidney. Each is small and shaped like a triangle. The outer layer, the cortex, makes cortisol, aldosterone and small amounts of sex hormones. The inner part, the medulla, makes adrenaline. Together these hormones help control blood pressure, blood sugar, salt balance and how your body reacts to stress.
Adrenal cancer is named for the part of the gland where it starts:
About half of adrenocortical carcinomas are functional, which means they make extra hormones. The rest are nonfunctional and are often found when they grow large enough to press on nearby organs, or by chance on a scan.
Cancer can also spread to the adrenal glands from other places, such as the lung. That is treated as the original cancer.
Signs depend on whether the tumor makes hormones, and which ones.
Children may show early signs of puberty. Many of these signs have common causes, so testing is what tells them apart.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Adrenal cancer begins when changes in a cell's DNA let it grow out of control. For most people, what causes those changes is unknown, and no habit or exposure has been shown to cause it. A small share of cases come from an inherited gene change passed down in a family, which is why the age pattern includes young children.
Most people with adrenal cancer have no known risk factor. Inherited conditions linked to a higher chance include:
Having one of these conditions does not mean you will develop adrenal cancer. It may mean regular checks, planned with your doctor.
Diagnosis starts with a physical exam and a detailed history of your health and your family's. Your doctor will ask about changes that could come from hormones, such as weight gain, blood pressure or mood.
Your plan depends on the type of tumor, its size, whether it makes hormones and whether it has spread.
Surgery to remove the whole adrenal gland, called adrenalectomy, is the main treatment and the one most likely to cure the cancer. A small tumor may be removed through several small incisions, sometimes with robotic surgery. A larger tumor that may be cancer is often removed through one larger incision, so it comes out whole along with nearby lymph nodes. Learn more about cancer surgery. When cancer has spread, removing tumors elsewhere or tumor ablation can help control it.
Radiation therapy may be used after surgery to the area where the tumor was, or to ease pain from cancer that has spread.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
After treatment, you will have scans and hormone tests on a regular schedule, often every few months at first, because adrenocortical carcinoma can return. If you take mitotane, blood tests check its level and side effects. If you take steroid replacement pills, learn how to take an extra dose when you are sick, and keep a card in your wallet or wear a bracelet that says you take them. Keeping a log of your blood pressure, weight and energy helps your team see changes early. Integrative medicine and support groups help you and your family cope.
Contact your team when a symptom returns or a new one starts, and before any other surgery or dental work, since you may need extra steroid medicine. Bring your medicine list, your blood pressure log and your questions: whether the tumor makes hormones, whether it was removed completely, what your scan schedule is and how to manage steroid pills when you are ill.
No. Most adrenal growths are benign. Hormone tests and a scan usually tell your doctor which ones need surgery and which only need a later check.
Yes. The other gland usually makes all the hormones you need. Some people take steroid pills for a while after surgery until it catches up.
After surgery, or while you take mitotane, your body may not make enough cortisol. The pills replace it, and your team tells you how to adjust them when you are sick.
When a tumor was making extra hormones, blood pressure and other symptoms often improve after it is removed. Some people still need blood pressure medicine.
Ask about genetic counseling, especially if the cancer was found at a young age or others in your family have had cancer. A result can guide their checkups.
Adrenal cancer is treated by endocrinologists, endocrine and surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiologists and radiation oncologists, working together.
Surgeons and oncologists remove adrenal tumors and treat cancer that returns or spreads with mitotane and chemotherapy.
Learn More About CancerEndocrinologists test cortisol and adrenaline levels and manage steroid pills after adrenal surgery.
Learn More About EndocrinologyRadiologists read the CT and MRI scans that tell a benign adrenal growth from one that may be cancer.
Learn More About RadiologyEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very...
Learn More About Parathyroid CancerThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or...
Learn More About Thyroid CancerA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An...
Learn More About Thyroid NodulesA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to HPV, a common virus. Because it forms where a doctor can see and reach it, it is often found early, and most people are treated without surgery.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Bleeding, pain or a lump near the anus can be embarrassing to talk about, and it is easy to put off. Most of the time these symptoms come from something minor, such as hemorrhoids. When the cause is anal cancer, it helps to know that treatment works well for most people and that most do not need a permanent colostomy.
Anal cancer begins when cells in the lining of the anal canal, or the skin just around the anus, grow out of control. Most anal cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, which start in the flat cells that line the canal. A long-lasting infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) causes most of them, often after years of slow changes in those cells, called anal dysplasia. Finding and treating those changes early can stop a cancer from forming.
The usual treatment combines radiation and chemotherapy, which can cure most anal cancers while keeping the muscles that control your bowels. This page covers the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment of anal cancer, and life afterward.
The anal canal is the short tube at the end of the rectum that stool passes through as it leaves the body. Muscles around it, called sphincters, let you control when you have a bowel movement. Anal cancer forms in the lining of this canal or in the skin around its opening.
Anal cancer is uncommon, much less common than colon or rectal cancer, and most often diagnosed after age 55. The number of new cases has been rising slowly over recent decades.
Some anal cancers cause no symptoms at first. When symptoms appear, they can include:
These symptoms are much more often caused by hemorrhoids, fissures or infections. Still, any of them deserves a visit, and a doctor can usually look directly at the area.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most anal cancers are caused by HPV, a very common virus passed through skin-to-skin sexual contact. The body clears most HPV infections on its own. When certain high-risk types of HPV, especially type 16, stay in the body for years, they can change the cells lining the anal canal. Those changes, anal dysplasia, can slowly become cancer. A weakened immune system makes it harder to clear HPV, which is why it raises the risk.
You are more likely to develop anal cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get anal cancer, and some people with none do.
Your doctor asks about your symptoms and health, then examines the area, including a digital rectal exam, in which a gloved finger checks for lumps. Then:
These results set the stage, from I to IV, which guides treatment.
For most anal cancers, the standard treatment is chemoradiation: radiation therapy given five days a week for several weeks, with chemotherapy given at the same time to make the radiation work better. It cures most anal cancers while keeping the sphincter muscles, so you keep normal bowel control. The tumor keeps shrinking for weeks to months after treatment ends, so your team checks it over time. For cancer that has spread or returned, chemotherapy and immunotherapy are options.
A very small tumor at the edge of the anus may be removed with a minor operation and need nothing more. When cancer remains or returns after chemoradiation, an abdominoperineal resection removes the anus and rectum and creates a permanent colostomy, an opening on the belly where stool leaves the body into a pouch. Most people treated for anal cancer never need this operation.
Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
During chemoradiation, the skin in the treatment area can become sore, and diarrhea and tiredness are common. Your team helps manage these, and they ease in the weeks after treatment. Afterward, some people have changes in bowel habits, sexual function or fertility, and there is help for each; ask about it. Follow-up exams of the anal canal, often every few months for the first two years, check that the cancer is gone and stays gone. Not smoking, staying active and eating well support your recovery.
Contact your team about new bleeding, pain, a lump, changes in bowel control or side effects you are struggling with. Bring your biopsy and scan reports and a list of your medicines. Ask what stage your cancer is, whether chemoradiation is the plan and why, how your skin and bowels will be cared for during treatment, and what follow-up will look like.
Yes, for most people. Chemoradiation cures most anal cancers found before they spread to distant organs.
Most people do not. Chemoradiation treats the cancer while keeping the muscles that control your bowels. A permanent colostomy is needed only if cancer remains or returns after treatment.
No. Anal cancer starts in different cells, has a different main cause and is treated differently, most often without surgery.
Most bleeding and itching come from hemorrhoids, but the symptoms can overlap. A doctor can examine you and tell the difference, so get any new or lasting symptoms checked.
There is no routine HPV test for partners outside of cervical screening. Your partner can talk with their own doctor about the HPV vaccine and any screening that fits their health.
Anal cancer is treated by colorectal surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, working together.
Medical and radiation oncologists give chemoradiation, the usual treatment that keeps bowel control.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons examine and biopsy the anal canal, and operate when cancer remains or returns.
Learn More About Colon & RectalAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes often clear on their own, and high-grade changes can be found with screening and treated in the office before they ever become cancer.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
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Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
Being told you have abnormal cells in the anus can be unsettling, and it raises questions that are hard to ask. The most important thing to know is that dysplasia is a change in cells and is not cancer. Many people with mild changes need only regular checks, and treating the more serious changes lowers the chance that cancer will ever form.
Anal dysplasia happens when a long-lasting infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) changes the cells that line the anal canal. Doctors grade the changes as low grade or high grade. You may also see them called anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN), or LSIL and HSIL, short for low-grade and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions. The idea is the same as abnormal cells found on a cervical Pap test, and the approach is much the same: find the changes, watch the mild ones and treat the serious ones.
This page explains what anal dysplasia is, who is most at risk, how it is found and treated, and how to lower your risk.
The anal canal is the short passage at the end of the bowel. Its lining is made of thin, flat cells. In anal dysplasia, some of those cells look abnormal under a microscope, but they have not grown into deeper tissue, which is what makes them precancer and not cancer.
Dysplasia can also form on the skin just around the anus, where it is called perianal dysplasia.
Most people with anal dysplasia have no symptoms at all, which is why screening matters for people at higher risk. When symptoms happen, they can include:
These are much more often caused by hemorrhoids, fissures or skin conditions, and a doctor can examine you to find the cause.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
HPV causes almost all anal dysplasia. HPV is a very common virus passed through skin-to-skin sexual contact, and most sexually active people have it at some point. Usually the immune system clears it within a year or two. When a high-risk type, especially HPV 16 or 18, stays in the body for a long time, it can change the cells lining the anus. A weakened immune system makes it harder to clear HPV, so changes are more likely and more likely to progress.
You are more likely to have anal dysplasia if you:
Men who have sex with men have a higher risk whether or not they are living with HIV. Having a risk factor does not mean you will develop dysplasia.
Screening and diagnosis use a few steps:
There is no single schedule for everyone. How often you are screened depends on your risk group and your results, and your doctor will set a plan for you.
Low-grade dysplasia usually needs no treatment. Your doctor checks it with repeat exams, since many low-grade changes clear on their own.
Some high-grade areas can be treated with a prescription cream you apply at home, such as imiquimod, which helps the immune system clear abnormal cells, or fluorouracil, which destroys them.
Most high-grade dysplasia is treated in the office by destroying the abnormal areas, guided by high-resolution anoscopy. Methods include infrared coagulation, electrocautery, which uses heat, and laser therapy. Large or hard-to-reach areas may be treated in the operating room. A large study of people living with HIV found that treating high-grade dysplasia cut the chance of developing anal cancer by more than half.
Dysplasia can return, because HPV can remain in surrounding tissue, so follow-up exams continue after treatment. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Anal dysplasia is a condition you keep an eye on over time. Keep every follow-up visit, even when you feel fine, since changes usually cause no symptoms. After an office treatment, some soreness and light bleeding for a week or two are common; warm baths, stool softeners and cleaning with plain water help. If you are living with HIV, staying on your HIV treatment supports your immune system's ability to control HPV. Not smoking helps too.
Contact your team if you notice a new lump, bleeding or pain, or if it has been longer than your planned interval since your last exam. Bring your past Pap and biopsy results and a list of your medicines. Ask what grade your dysplasia is, whether it needs treatment or watching, which treatment fits you, and how often you should be checked.
No. It is a change in cells that can come before cancer. Most people with dysplasia never develop anal cancer, especially with regular checks and treatment.
Low-grade changes often clear on their own. High-grade changes are less likely to, which is why they are usually treated.
Office treatments use numbing medicine. Soreness for several days afterward is common and is managed with pain relievers, warm baths and stool softeners.
Dysplasia itself is not passed between people, but HPV can be. Condoms lower the chance, and your partner can ask their own doctor about the HPV vaccine.
Yes. HPV can stay in nearby tissue, so new areas can form. Regular follow-up exams find them early, when they are easy to treat again.
Anal dysplasia is screened for and treated by colorectal surgeons and other clinicians trained in high-resolution anoscopy.
When dysplasia has become cancer, care moves to the teams named on the anal cancer page.
Oncology teams take over care if abnormal cells in the anal lining develop into cancer.
Learn More About CancerColorectal surgeons use high-resolution anoscopy to find high-grade changes and treat them in the office.
Learn More About Colon & RectalPathologists grade anal Pap tests and biopsies as low or high grade, which sets the plan.
Learn More About PathologyAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are found during surgery for appendicitis. Some grow slowly, and Orlando Health care teams treat them with surgery, chemotherapy and, for some people, HIPEC.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a pathology report after an appendix operation found something nobody expected, or because a scan showed a growth in your appendix or fluid in your belly. Being told you have a rare cancer can feel isolating, and it raises a lot of questions at once. Many appendix tumors are found early this way, by chance, and some kinds grow very slowly.
Appendiceal cancers are a group of tumors that behave in different ways. Some stay inside the appendix and are cured by removing it. Others spread across the lining of the belly, sometimes producing a thick, jelly-like fluid, and need a larger operation that a specialized team plans with care. The kind of tumor, its grade and whether it has spread decide which path fits you.
This page explains the kinds of appendix cancer, the signs, how it is diagnosed and treated, and what follow-up looks like.
The appendix is a finger-shaped pouch, a few inches long, attached to the first part of the large intestine on the lower right side of the belly. Cancer of the appendix is rare, and it is most often diagnosed in middle and older age.
The main kinds are:
Some appendix tumors, called low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMN), grow very slowly. When mucin from a tumor spreads across the belly lining, the condition is called pseudomyxoma peritonei. Learn more about cancer that has spread to the belly lining on the peritoneal carcinomatosis page.
Many appendix cancers cause no symptoms early and are found during surgery or a scan for something else. When there are signs, they can include:
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Appendix cancer starts when changes in a cell's genes let it grow and divide without the usual controls. Why this happens is not known, and in most people no cause can be found. It is not caused by appendicitis, though a tumor can block the appendix and lead to appendicitis.
Few risk factors are known. Those that have been linked include:
Most people with appendix cancer have none of these, and nothing they did caused it.
Many appendix cancers are diagnosed after an appendectomy, when a pathologist examines the removed appendix. When a tumor is suspected first, tests may include:
The kind of tumor and its grade, from the pathology report, matter as much as its size in planning treatment.
Your plan depends on the kind of tumor, its grade, whether it has spread, your health and what matters to you.
When cancer cannot be removed, palliative care eases symptoms such as pain, bloating and nausea at every stage.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Recovery after cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC takes time, often several weeks to months, and eating may be hard at first. A dietitian helps you regain weight and strength. Follow-up continues for years, with CT scans and tumor marker tests, because some kinds can return slowly. Cancer rehabilitation, counseling and support groups help with energy, mood and the strain of a rare diagnosis.
Contact your team about new belly swelling, pain, a change in eating or any side effect. Bring your pathology report, your medicines and your questions: what kind and grade of tumor you have, whether it has spread, whether HIPEC is an option, and how often you will have scans.
No, though some kinds behave like colon cancer and are treated with similar medicines. The kind of tumor guides the plan.
Sometimes. It depends on the kind, size and grade of the tumor and the edges of what was removed. Your surgeon will explain what the report shows.
It is a buildup of mucin in the belly from a tumor, most often of the appendix. It usually grows slowly and is often treated with cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC.
It depends on the kind of tumor, how much has spread, and whether all visible tumor can be removed. Your health and strength matter too.
Rarely. Most cases are not passed down in families, though some neuroendocrine tumors are linked to inherited syndromes.
Appendiceal cancers are cared for by colorectal and surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists and nurse navigators, with dietitians who help before and after surgery.
Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health colorectal surgeons in St. Petersburg also care for appendiceal cancers.
Oncologists plan surgery, HIPEC and chemotherapy for appendix tumors, including those that spread across the belly lining.
Learn More About CancerColorectal surgeons remove appendix tumors, from an appendectomy to a right colectomy for larger ones.
Learn More About Colon & RectalPathologists name the kind and grade of an appendix tumor, often found after an appendectomy, which guides treatment.
Learn More About PathologyNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsPeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from...
Learn More About Peritoneal CarcinomatosisAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of esophageal cancer, though most people with it never develop cancer. Regular checks and treatment of early changes keep that risk low.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you have just been told you have Barrett's esophagus, the words "cancer risk" may be the ones that stayed with you. It helps to start with the bigger picture: Barrett's is common in people who have had heartburn for a long time, it is found with a scope rather than by symptoms, and most people who have it never get cancer.
Barrett's esophagus happens when the lining of the lower esophagus, the tube that takes food to your stomach, is damaged again and again by stomach acid. To protect itself, the lining changes into a type of tissue that looks more like the lining of the intestine. That new tissue handles acid better, and it also has a higher chance of developing abnormal cells over time.
The plan for Barrett's has three parts: control reflux, check the lining on a schedule, and treat abnormal cells early if they appear. Treatment through a scope can remove early changes without surgery. This page covers what Barrett's is, who gets it, how it is found and treated, and how to live well with it.
Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which the normal lining of the lower esophagus is replaced by a different kind of cell, called intestinal metaplasia. It develops in a small share of people with long-term gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and it is most often found in adults over 50.
Doctors describe Barrett's by what the cells look like under a microscope:
Barrett's can lead to a type of esophageal cancer called adenocarcinoma, which is why regular checks matter.
Barrett's itself causes no symptoms. The symptoms people notice come from the reflux behind it:
Some people with Barrett's have little or no heartburn.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
The main cause is long-term acid reflux. A ring of muscle at the bottom of the esophagus normally keeps stomach contents in the stomach. When it is weak or relaxes at the wrong time, acid and bile wash back into the esophagus. Over years, the repeated damage prompts the lining to change. Why some people with reflux develop Barrett's and others do not is not fully understood.
You are more likely to have Barrett's if you:
Having risk factors does not mean you will develop Barrett's.
There is no sure way to prevent Barrett's, but controlling reflux lowers the damage that leads to it:
Barrett's is diagnosed with an upper endoscopy, also called an EGD. While you are sedated, a doctor passes a thin, flexible tube with a camera through your mouth into your esophagus. Barrett's tissue looks different from the normal lining, and the doctor takes small samples for a biopsy. A pathologist checks the samples for intestinal cells and for dysplasia.
Your doctor may suggest an endoscopy if you have had reflux for years along with other risk factors, or if you have trouble swallowing, weight loss or other warning signs.
Treatment depends on whether dysplasia is present.
Acid-reducing medicines, most often proton pump inhibitors, control reflux and help the lining heal. Most people with Barrett's take one long term.
If you have no dysplasia, you will have an endoscopy on a schedule, often every three to five years, to watch for changes. Checks come sooner when dysplasia is found.
Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Barrett's is a long-term condition, and most people live with it without it changing their daily life. Take your reflux medicine as prescribed, even when you feel fine. Keep every scheduled endoscopy, since regular checks are what find changes while they are easy to treat. Keep up the habits that ease reflux, and tell your doctor if symptoms return or change. Many people find it helpful to keep a short record of their endoscopy dates and results.
Contact your team if swallowing becomes harder, you lose weight without trying, or reflux breaks through your medicine. Bring your medicine list, your last endoscopy report, and your questions: whether dysplasia was found, when your next check is due, whether endoscopic treatment fits you, and how long to stay on acid-reducing medicine.
Most people with Barrett's never develop esophageal cancer. Without dysplasia, the yearly risk is well under 1 percent. Regular checks find changes early, when they can be treated through a scope.
Reflux medicine alone does not usually reverse it. Endoscopic treatment can remove Barrett's tissue, and normal lining often grows back, though checks continue afterward.
With no dysplasia, often every three to five years, based on how long the Barrett's segment is. With dysplasia, checks and treatment come sooner.
Many people do, to protect the lining. Your doctor will review the dose and whether surgery could replace it.
Tell your relatives, especially if they have long-term heartburn. A family history is one reason a doctor may suggest an endoscopy.
Barrett's esophagus is diagnosed and followed by gastroenterologists, with thoracic and general surgeons for reflux surgery and cancer specialists when cancer develops.
Cancer teams treat Barrett's that has turned into cancer and care for cancer where the esophagus meets the stomach.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists find Barrett's with an endoscopy, schedule follow-up checks and remove early changes through a scope.
Learn More About Digestive HealthSurgeons perform anti-reflux surgery and hiatal hernia repair when medicine does not control the reflux behind Barrett's.
Learn More About General SurgeryEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp, and very rarely spreads. Treated early, usually with a short office procedure, it is almost always cured.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Being told you have cancer is unsettling, even when the doctor adds that it is the most treatable kind. If you have just learned that a spot on your face, neck or arm is basal cell carcinoma, you probably want to know what it means for your health, how it will be removed, and how the area will look afterward.
Basal cell carcinoma, often called BCC, starts in the cells deep in the top layer of the skin that make new skin cells. Years of sun exposure damage those cells until some begin to grow out of control. It grows slowly and almost never travels to other parts of the body. Left alone, though, it keeps growing into the skin around it, so removing it while it is small keeps treatment simple and the scar small.
This page explains what BCC looks like, why it forms, how it is diagnosed and treated, and how to lower the chance of another.
Basal cell carcinoma is a type of skin cancer that begins in basal cells, which lie at the bottom of the epidermis, the outer layer of skin, and divide to replace skin as it wears away. It is the most common cancer of any kind in the United States.
Most BCCs appear on the head and neck, where the sun hits most, but they can also form on the trunk, arms and legs. They are most common after age 50 and slightly more common in men. BCC very rarely spreads to lymph nodes or organs. If it is ignored for years, it can grow deep into skin, cartilage and even bone, which makes removal harder and can change how the face looks.
BCC usually does not hurt, so the first sign is often something you see. Look for:
Some BCCs itch or feel tender. On darker skin they are often brown or glossy black.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most BCCs are caused by ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and from tanning beds. UV rays damage the DNA in basal cells. When that damage builds up over years, the cells lose control of their normal copying and grow into a tumor. Both day-to-day sun over a lifetime and blistering sunburns add to the damage.
Less common causes include earlier radiation treatment, long-term exposure to arsenic, and rare inherited conditions such as basal cell nevus syndrome.
You are more likely to develop BCC if you:
Florida's year-round sun raises the risk for everyone who lives here. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get BCC.
Limiting UV exposure is the most effective protection, and it is never too late to start.
Your doctor looks at the spot, often through a lighted magnifier called a dermatoscope, and checks the rest of your skin. To confirm BCC, the doctor numbs the area and takes a small sample, called a skin biopsy. A specialist examines it under a microscope and reports the subtype, which helps choose treatment. Imaging is rarely needed unless a BCC is very large or deep.
Most BCCs are treated in the doctor's office with numbing medicine, and you go home the same day.
Prescription creams and light-based treatment can clear some thin BCCs on the surface. Radiation therapy is an option when surgery is not a good choice. For the rare BCC that is advanced or has spread, targeted therapy pills and immunotherapy can help. Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them.
The right choice depends on the size, depth and location of the BCC, and your care team will plan it with you.
After treatment, keep the wound clean and covered as instructed and limit hard exercise while it heals. Scars fade and flatten over months. Many people who have had one BCC develop another within a few years, so regular skin checks with your doctor matter, often once or twice a year. Daily sunscreen and a monthly look at your skin help you catch any new spot early.
Call if a treated spot looks like it is coming back, or if you find a new bump or sore that does not heal in three weeks. Bring a note of when you first noticed it. Ask which treatment fits your BCC and why, what the scar will look like, how long healing takes, and how often to schedule skin checks.
It is a real cancer and needs treatment, but it grows slowly and very rarely spreads. When treated early, it is almost always cured.
Very rarely. Its main harm comes from growing into nearby skin and tissue, which is why removing it while it is small matters.
Usually a small one. Mohs surgery saves as much healthy skin as possible, and reconstruction can repair larger areas.
A short wait to schedule treatment is common and safe for most BCCs. Waiting months or years lets it grow, which can mean a larger operation.
Treatment cures most BCCs, though one can return in the same place, and new ones can form elsewhere. Regular skin checks catch both early.
Basal cell carcinoma is treated by dermatologists, Mohs surgeons and, for large or complex cases, surgical oncologists, plastic surgeons and radiation oncologists.
Plastic surgeons repair the skin after a larger basal cell carcinoma is removed from the face.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveDermatologists find and remove basal cell carcinoma, often with Mohs surgery or a simple excision.
Learn More About DermatologySkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgerySkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ReconstructionRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine. Most bladder cancers are found before they grow into the bladder wall, when they respond well to treatment.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe you saw blood in your urine, or a routine urine test found some. Maybe you have already had a cystoscopy and been told there is a tumor. Either way, you are likely wondering what this means, how serious it is and what treatment involves.
Bladder cancer is one of the more common cancers in the United States, and it is found most often in people over 55. Smoking is its biggest cause. The good news is that most bladder cancers are found early, while they are still in the inner lining of the bladder. These early cancers can usually be removed through a scope, with no incisions, and treated with medicine placed directly into the bladder.
Bladder cancer can come back, so follow-up is a regular part of life after treatment. When the cancer has grown deeper, there are effective options too, including surgery, medicines and radiation, and many people keep their bladder.
This page covers the symptoms, causes, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer, and what life looks like afterward.
The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ in the lower belly that stores urine until you empty it. Bladder cancer begins when cells in its inner lining grow out of control. Most are urothelial carcinoma, which starts in the cells that line the bladder.
Doctors group bladder cancer by how deep it has grown:
Bladder cancer is part of the family of urologic cancers. It is about three to four times more common in men than in women.
Blood in the urine should always be checked, even if it goes away.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Bladder cancer starts with changes in the DNA of cells lining the bladder. The kidneys filter harmful chemicals out of the blood into the urine, and the urine then rests in the bladder, so the lining is exposed to them for long periods. Tobacco smoke is the most common source of these chemicals and causes about half of all bladder cancers.
You are more likely to develop bladder cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get bladder cancer.
Not every bladder cancer can be prevented, but you can lower your risk.
There is no routine screening test for bladder cancer in people without symptoms, so the most important step is to see your doctor about any blood in your urine.
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms, smoking and work history, and examine you. Tests may include:
Treatment depends on how deep the cancer has grown, its grade and your overall health. The goal is to treat the cancer while preserving as much bladder function as possible.
For early cancer, TURBT removes the tumor through a scope. For muscle-invasive cancer, the usual surgery is a radical cystectomy, which removes the bladder and nearby lymph nodes, often by robotic surgery. The surgeon then makes a new way for urine to leave the body: a urostomy, which drains urine into a pouch worn outside the belly, or a neobladder, a new bladder made from intestine that lets you urinate much as before. Some people need only part of the bladder removed.
For people who want to keep their bladder or who are not able to have major surgery, radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy after a thorough TURBT is an effective option.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team. Clinical trials may also be an option; see the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Bladder cancer often returns in the bladder lining, so regular cystoscopy is part of life after treatment, often every three to six months at first and less often over time. Keep every appointment, even when you feel well. Stopping smoking lowers the chance of the cancer coming back.
After cystectomy, a wound and ostomy nurse teaches you to care for a urostomy, and a neobladder takes practice to learn to empty on a schedule. Changes in sexual function are common after surgery, and treatments can help, so raise them with your team.
Contact your team if you see blood in your urine again, notice new urinary symptoms or have pain that does not go away. Bring a list of your medicines and your questions: what stage and grade your cancer is, whether bladder-sparing treatment is an option for you, what each treatment means for your daily life, and how often you will need follow-up.
No. It is more often caused by an infection, kidney stones or an enlarged prostate. It should always be checked, because it can be the first sign of bladder cancer.
Most people do not. Early cancers are treated through a scope and with medicine in the bladder. For deeper cancers, radiation and chemotherapy can be an alternative to removal.
The whole lining has been exposed to the same chemicals, so new tumors can form in other spots. Regular cystoscopy finds them early.
Medicine is placed in your bladder through a catheter, usually weekly for six weeks, then on a maintenance schedule. Burning and mild flu-like symptoms for a day or two are common.
Yes. Most people return to work, travel, exercise and intimacy. Ostomy nurses help you learn the care, and support groups connect you with others.
Bladder cancer is treated by urologists and urologic oncologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, who often plan care together.
Oncologists give chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation, including bladder-sparing treatment for deeper cancers.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read urine cytology and tumor tissue to set the grade and how deep the cancer has grown.
Learn More About PathologyUrologists find bladder tumors by cystoscopy, remove them through the scope and perform bladder removal when needed.
Learn More About UrologyUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to...
Learn More About Testicular CancerA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer...
Learn More About UrostomyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can cause pain and weaken the bone. Treatments can ease pain, protect the bone and slow the cancer, and many people live with it for years.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Hearing that cancer has reached your bones is hard news. You may be wondering what it means for your treatment, whether the pain can be controlled and whether your bones will break. Those are fair questions, and there are good answers to many of them.
Bone is one of the places cancer most often spreads. Even when it is found in a bone, the cancer is still named for where it began. Prostate cancer in the spine is still prostate cancer, and it is treated with medicines that work on prostate cancer.
Treatment for bone metastasis has two goals that work together. One is to treat the cancer throughout the body. The other is to protect your bones and keep you comfortable and moving, using medicines that strengthen bone, radiation that eases pain, and surgery or procedures that support a weakened bone. Many people with bone metastasis keep living full lives for a long time, especially with breast and prostate cancer.
This page explains what bone metastasis is, the symptoms to watch for, how it is found and the treatments that help.
Bone metastasis, also called bone metastases or bone mets, happens when cancer cells break away from a tumor, travel through the blood and start growing in a bone. It is different from bone cancer, which starts in the bone itself.
It most often affects the spine, pelvis, hips, ribs, upper arm and thigh bones, and skull. The cancer cells upset the normal cycle in which old bone is broken down and new bone is built. Some cancers eat away at bone and leave thin, weak spots. Others cause hard, abnormal bone to form, which is also weaker than healthy bone.
Bone metastasis can be found at the same time as the first cancer, or months or years after treatment. Blood cancers such as multiple myeloma can also damage bone, and they are treated in their own way.
Some people have no symptoms, and the spread is found on a scan. When symptoms appear, they can include:
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Bone metastasis is caused by cancer that has spread. Cancer cells that enter the bloodstream can lodge in the bone marrow, where blood flow is rich and the bone releases substances that help them grow. As they multiply, they send signals that make the bone break down too fast or build up in an abnormal way. The pain comes from the tumor stretching the bone's lining, from small breaks, and from pressure on nearby nerves.
Spread to the bone cannot always be prevented, and treating the original cancer well is the best protection. Once cancer is in the bone, your care team works to prevent fractures, spinal cord pressure and high calcium. Bone-strengthening medicines, such as zoledronic acid (Zometa) or denosumab (Xgeva), lower the risk of these problems. Calcium and vitamin D, as your team advises, a dental checkup before starting these medicines, and staying active within safe limits also help protect your bones.
Your doctor asks about your pain and examines you. Tests may include:
Treating the cancer throughout the body is the foundation. Depending on the original cancer, that can include hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy. Bone-strengthening medicines are given as an infusion or a shot every few weeks to months. Pain medicines, from anti-inflammatory drugs to opioids, keep you comfortable; see cancer pain. For prostate cancer, a radioactive medicine called radium-223 (Xofigo) can target the bones directly.
Radiation therapy to a painful bone eases pain for most people, sometimes in a single treatment. Stereotactic body radiation therapy gives a precise, high dose, often for the spine.
Cancer rehabilitation helps you move safely and stay strong, and a brace can support the spine. Your plan is your own, made with your care team, and it may change as your needs change. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Keep moving within the limits your team sets, since activity helps your bones, muscles and mood. Ask a physical therapist which movements are safe, and avoid heavy lifting or twisting if a bone is weak. Make your home safer with good lighting, handrails and no loose rugs. Keep a pain diary to help your team adjust your medicines, and do not wait for pain to become severe before taking them. See your dentist regularly while on bone-strengthening medicine. Counseling and support groups help many people with the worry that comes with advanced cancer.
Call if pain changes, a new spot hurts or a medicine is not working. Bring a list of your medicines, your pain diary and your questions: which bones are affected, whether any are at risk of breaking, which activities are safe, and how treatment will be checked.
No. Bone cancer starts in the bone. Bone metastasis is cancer that spread from another organ, and it is treated as that cancer.
Treatment can often control it for a long time, though a cure is uncommon. Many people live for years, especially with breast or prostate cancer.
Not necessarily. Your team checks for weak spots and uses medicines, radiation or surgery to lower the risk.
Most people can, and staying active helps. A physical therapist can show you safe ways to move and which activities to avoid.
Many people feel better within one to four weeks of radiation to a painful bone, and some feel relief sooner.
Medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and orthopedic and spine surgeons treat bone metastasis together, with pain specialists and rehabilitation therapists.
Oncologists treat the original cancer and give radiation and bone-strengthening medicine to protect weakened bones.
Learn More About CancerPain specialists ease bone pain from spread cancer with medicines, nerve blocks and cement injections in the spine.
Learn More About Pain ManagementRadiologists read the bone scans, MRIs and PET/CT scans that find cancer in bone and check a bone's fracture risk.
Learn More About RadiologyLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicitySarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and many are not. They are cared for by teams of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan each person's treatment together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your brain and spinal cord make up the central nervous system, which controls how you move, feel, think and speak. A tumor anywhere along it can cause symptoms by pressing on nearby nerves, even when it is small and even when it is not cancer. That is why these tumors are diagnosed and treated by the same group of specialists, whether they are in the head or the back.
You may be here because a scan showed a mass, because a doctor used a word such as meningioma, glioma or metastasis, or because you are helping someone you love understand their diagnosis. Many brain and spine tumors grow slowly, and many are not cancer. The type, more than the location alone, shapes what happens next.
This page lists the conditions in this family, explains how doctors find out which type a person has, and describes who treats them. Each condition's own page covers its symptoms, causes and treatment in detail.
A tumor is a growth of cells that divide when they should not. In the central nervous system, tumors are sorted in three ways.
Where they start. A primary tumor starts in the brain, the spinal cord or the tissues that cover them. A metastatic, or secondary, tumor starts as cancer somewhere else, such as the lung or breast, and spreads to the brain or the spine. Metastatic tumors are more common than primary ones in adults.
Whether they are cancer. Benign tumors are not cancer and usually grow slowly with clear edges. Malignant tumors are cancer and can grow into nearby tissue. In the brain and spine, a benign tumor can still need treatment because there is so little room around it.
How fast they grow. Doctors give primary tumors a grade from 1, the slowest-growing, to 4, the fastest. The grade, the tumor's gene changes and its location together guide treatment.
They share some signs. Seizures, headaches that keep getting worse, changes in thinking or vision, weakness or numbness, back or neck pain that does not ease with rest, and trouble with balance or walking. Most of these have far more common causes.
Their causes are mostly unknown. Known risks include earlier radiation to the head or spine and a few rare inherited syndromes. Having another cancer is the main risk for a metastatic tumor. There is no screening test.
They affect adults and children. Some types, such as medulloblastoma, are most common in children, and others, such as meningioma and glioblastoma, in adults.
Brain tumors
Spinal tumors
Related conditions
Brain and spine tumors are often found on a scan done after a seizure, a change in strength or sensation, or for another reason entirely. Naming the exact type usually takes several specialists working together.
A neurological exam. Your doctor checks your strength, sensation, reflexes, balance, vision, hearing and thinking, to learn which part of the nervous system is affected.
Imaging. An MRI with contrast dye is the main test for both brain and spine tumors and shows the tumor's size and exact location. A CT scan is often used first in an emergency, and it shows the bones of the spine well. A PET-CT scan or a bone scan may look for cancer elsewhere in the body.
A biopsy. A scan alone cannot say for certain what a tumor is. A neurosurgeon takes a sample, often while removing the tumor, or with a needle when it is hard to reach. A neuropathologist, a doctor who specializes in tumors of the nervous system, names its type and grade. See biopsy.
Tests on the tumor. Lab tests look for gene changes in the tumor cells, which now help define many brain tumor types and guide treatment. See molecular profiling.
A spinal tap, for some tumors, collects fluid from around the spine to look for cancer cells.
Treatment depends on the type, grade and location. Brain and spine tumors are treated with cancer surgery, radiation therapy, proton therapy, stereotactic body radiation therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy, followed by cancer rehabilitation where it helps. Some slow-growing tumors are watched with regular scans. Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for these tumors.
These lists apply to anyone with a brain or spine tumor or being checked for one. Each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
If a scan has shown a mass but you have no diagnosis yet, keep a copy of the report and write down what you were told. Ask which specialist you will see next, whether a biopsy is needed, and who will call you with results. Asking for a second opinion is common and welcome.
They are related. Both affect the central nervous system and are treated by the same specialists, but they cause different symptoms and are often different tumor types.
Many are not. Meningiomas, most pituitary tumors and many spinal tumors are benign, though they can still need treatment because of where they grow.
A neurosurgeon operates to take a biopsy or remove a tumor. A neuro-oncologist treats the tumor with medicines such as chemotherapy, manages problems such as seizures, and often coordinates your overall care.
There is no screening test. Paying attention to symptoms that last or get worse, and getting them checked, is how most are found.
Often, but not always. Some tumors are best treated with radiation or medicine, and some slow-growing ones are only watched. Your team will explain the choice for your tumor.
Brain and spine tumors are treated by neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, radiation oncologists, neuroradiologists and neuropathologists, with physical, occupational and speech therapists and behavioral medicine specialists.
Neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists meet weekly with surgeons to plan care for every brain and spine tumor type.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons operate on tumors of the brain, skull base, spinal cord and spine and manage the seizures they can cause.
Learn More About NeuroscienceNeuroradiologists read the MRI and CT scans that find these tumors, track their growth and map them before surgery.
Learn More About RadiologyA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many...
Learn More About Spinal TumorsBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly. They are treated with surgery, radiation and medicine, often in combination, by teams of brain surgeons, cancer doctors and radiation specialists working together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Being told that a scan shows a mass in the brain is frightening, and the words that follow, such as glioma, meningioma or metastasis, can be hard to take in. It may help to know that brain tumors are rare, that many are not cancer, and that the type matters far more than the word tumor itself.
A brain tumor forms when cells in or near the brain grow out of control. Some start in the brain itself. Others start somewhere else in the body, such as the lung or breast, and spread to the brain. Because the skull leaves little room, even a tumor that is not cancer can cause symptoms by pressing on the brain.
Many brain tumors are found after a seizure, or on a scan done for another reason. A single bad headache, however painful, is rarely a sign of one. This page explains the kinds of brain tumor, their symptoms, how they are diagnosed and how they are treated.
Doctors sort brain tumors in two main ways: where they started, and how fast they grow.
Primary brain tumors start in the brain or the tissues around it. More than 100 types are known. The most common include:
Metastatic (secondary) brain tumors start as cancer elsewhere and spread to the brain. They are more common than primary brain tumors and most often come from lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer and colon cancer.
Grade describes how abnormal the cells look and how fast they are likely to grow, from grade 1, the slowest, to grade 4, the fastest. A grade 1 tumor can sometimes be cured with surgery alone.
Tumors of the spinal cord are covered on the spinal tumors page.
Symptoms depend on where the tumor is, its size and how fast it grows.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
A brain tumor begins when changes in a cell's genes let it grow and divide when it should not. In most people, nobody can say why those changes happened. Primary brain tumors are not caused by head injuries, and research has not shown that cell phones cause them.
A metastatic brain tumor has a known cause: cancer cells that travel from a tumor elsewhere in the body through the blood.
Most people with a brain tumor have none of these. A person's lifetime chance of a primary brain tumor is under 1 percent.
A neurological exam. Your doctor checks your vision, hearing, balance, strength, reflexes and thinking.
Imaging. An MRI with contrast dye is the main test. It shows the tumor's location and size. A CT scan may be used first, and special MRI scans can map nearby areas that control speech and movement before surgery.
A biopsy. A sample of the tumor names its type and grade. It is often taken during surgery to remove the tumor. When the tumor is hard to reach, a neurosurgeon takes the sample with a needle through a small opening in the skull. See biopsy.
Tests on the tumor. Lab tests look for gene changes, such as IDH or MGMT, that refine the diagnosis and guide treatment. See molecular profiling.
A spinal tap, for some tumors, to check the fluid around the brain and spine for cancer cells.
Treatment depends on the tumor's type, grade, gene changes and location, and on your age and health. Most plans combine more than one treatment.
Surgery is often the first step. The goal is to remove as much of the tumor as is safe. A craniotomy opens part of the skull. For tumors near areas that control speech or movement, an awake craniotomy lets the surgeon check those functions during the operation. Pituitary and skull base tumors can often be reached through the nose with a thin scope. Deep tumors may be treated with laser therapy through a small opening, guided by MRI. See cancer surgery.
Some slow-growing tumors, such as small meningiomas, are watched with regular MRI scans. Your plan is your own, made with your care team. Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for brain tumors.
Physical, occupational and speech therapy help you regain skills after surgery or radiation. See cancer rehabilitation. Ask about driving: after a seizure, Florida law and your doctor will set when you can drive again. Keep taking anti-seizure medicine exactly as prescribed. Tiredness and changes in memory or mood are common, and counseling and support groups help you and your family. You will have regular MRI scans after treatment.
Call your team if a symptom returns or worsens, if a new one appears, or if medicine side effects are hard to manage. Bring your medicines list, your scan reports and your questions: the tumor's type and grade, the goal of treatment, how it may affect daily life, and whether a second opinion would help.
No. Many, such as most meningiomas and pituitary tumors, are not cancer. They can still need treatment because of where they grow.
Primary brain tumors very rarely spread outside the brain and spinal cord. They can grow into nearby brain tissue.
Surgeons plan carefully to protect the areas that control thinking, speech and movement. Some changes can happen, and rehabilitation often helps them improve.
Not right after a seizure or brain surgery. Your doctor will tell you when it is safe, based on your treatment and Florida's rules.
A second opinion is common with a brain tumor and welcomed by most teams. It can confirm the diagnosis and the plan before you begin.
Brain tumors are treated by neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists, radiation oncologists, neuroradiologists and neuropathologists, with physical, occupational and speech therapists.
Physical, occupational and speech therapists help people regain movement, daily skills and speech after brain tumor care.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationNeuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists plan chemotherapy, radiation and proton therapy after or instead of surgery.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons remove brain, pituitary and skull base tumors and take the biopsy that names the tumor's type and grade.
Learn More About NeuroscienceLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many...
Learn More About Spinal TumorsBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers, and found early it is among the most treatable. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it, with nurse navigators to guide you.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a mammogram called you back, because you felt a lump, or because a doctor has just said the words breast cancer. Each of those moments brings a lot to take in. Most breast lumps turn out not to be cancer, and many breast cancers today are found small, before they cause any symptoms, when treatment works best.
Breast cancer comes in several kinds, and each tumor has its own features, such as whether hormones feed its growth. Those features, the size of the tumor and whether it has spread shape the treatment plan. Most people have more than one kind of treatment, such as surgery followed by radiation or medicine, and many go on to live full lives after treatment ends.
This page explains what breast cancer is, the signs to watch for, what raises the risk, how it is diagnosed and treated, and what life with it can look like.
Breast cancer most often starts in the cells that line the milk ducts or the lobules, the glands that make milk. About one in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. Men can get it too, though it is rare.
The main kinds are:
Many breast cancers cause no symptoms and are found on a screening mammogram. When there are signs, they can include:
Pain in both breasts that comes and goes with your cycle is rarely cancer. Have any new change checked, even after a normal mammogram.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Breast cancer starts when changes in a cell's genes let it grow and divide without the usual controls. Most of these changes build up over a lifetime, and in most people no single cause can be found. About 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers come from an inherited gene change, most often in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, and these tend to appear at a younger age.
Hormones play a part too. Most breast cancers are hormone receptor positive, meaning estrogen or progesterone can feed their growth.
Some risk factors are part of who you are:
Others are linked to daily life:
Most people with breast cancer have no family history of it, and having a risk factor does not mean you will get it.
There is no sure way to prevent breast cancer, and a few habits lower the risk:
If your risk is high, your care team may suggest genetic counseling, added screening with breast MRI, medicine that lowers risk or, for a few people, surgery to remove the breasts. Regular breast cancer screening finds cancer early, when treatment works best.
Diagnosis often starts with a mammogram or a lump you or your doctor felt. Your doctor examines your breasts and underarms and may order:
If cancer is found, the lab tests the tumor for hormone receptors and a protein called HER2, and some tumors get a genomic test that shows whether chemotherapy would help. The stage, from 0 to IV, depends on the tumor's size and whether it has spread. Some people need a CT scan, bone scan or PET-CT scan.
Your plan depends on the kind and stage of cancer, its hormone and HER2 status, and what matters to you. A tumor board of specialists often reviews it.
Most people have surgery. A lumpectomy removes the tumor and a rim of healthy tissue, and is usually followed by radiation. A mastectomy removes the whole breast, sometimes keeping the skin and nipple. Surgeons also check nearby lymph nodes, often removing only the first few nodes the cancer would reach. Breast reconstruction can happen at the same time as surgery or later.
Radiation therapy destroys cancer cells left after surgery. Some early cancers need only a short course. Proton therapy is an option for some people.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Treatment can bring tiredness, changes in how your body looks and feels, and worry. A nurse navigator helps coordinate visits and answers questions between them. Lymphedema therapy and cancer rehabilitation help with arm movement, swelling and strength. Younger women may want to talk about fertility before treatment starts. Support groups and counseling help too. After treatment come regular checkups and mammograms, and hormone therapy, if you take it, continues at home for years. Ongoing pain in the chest wall or arm after surgery has a name, post-mastectomy pain, and it can be treated.
Contact your team about any new lump, pain, swelling or side effect, or anything that makes a medicine hard to keep taking. Bring your medicines, your family history of cancer and your questions: what kind and stage of cancer you have, what each treatment is for, what side effects to expect, and how your care continues after treatment.
Most breast lumps are not cancer; cysts and benign growths are common. Any new lump still needs to be checked.
Yes, though it is rare. Men often notice a firm lump under the nipple, and treatment is much the same as for women.
Not everyone does. It depends on the kind and stage of the cancer and, for some cancers, on a genomic test of the tumor.
For many early breast cancers, a lumpectomy followed by radiation works as well as a mastectomy.
Ask about it if you were diagnosed before age 50, have triple negative breast cancer, or have relatives with breast, ovarian, pancreatic or prostate cancer. Results can guide your treatment and your family's screening.
Breast cancer is cared for by a team of breast surgeons, oncologists, breast radiologists, reconstructive surgeons, nurse navigators and genetic counselors.
Cancer specialists plan breast cancer surgery, radiation and medicines together and follow you after treatment.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists read the mammogram, ultrasound or MRI and guide the biopsy that confirms breast cancer.
Learn More About RadiologyWomen's care teams often find a breast change first, through a yearly exam or a screening mammogram.
Learn More About Women'sPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average...
Learn More About Breast Cancer ScreeningA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and numbness. Most cancer pain can be eased with the right mix of medicines, procedures and support, and telling your care team about it is the first step.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Not everyone with cancer has pain. When it does come, it can make the simplest things harder, from sleeping and eating to getting to the bathroom. For survivors, a new ache can also bring the fear that the cancer is back. Pain is a symptom your care team wants to hear about, and treating it is part of treating your cancer.
Many people hold back from mentioning pain. They worry about bothering the team, about side effects, or about becoming dependent on pain medicine. Some think pain is simply part of having cancer and must be endured. Pain that is controlled helps you rest, eat, stay active and get through treatment, and it can almost always be made better.
There are many ways to ease cancer pain, and most people do best with a combination. This page explains the kinds of cancer pain, what causes it, how your team finds the source and the medicines, procedures and other therapies that help.
Cancer pain is any pain caused by cancer or its treatment. It can be mild or severe, constant or coming and going, and it can last a short time or for months. It is common in advanced cancer and also affects many people during and after treatment.
Doctors describe a few kinds, because each responds to different treatments:
Cancer pain can feel like:
Pain can also lead to poor sleep, low appetite, tiredness, irritability and low mood, which can make the pain feel worse.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Pain can come from the cancer itself. As a tumor grows, it can press on nerves, bones or organs, stretch the lining of an organ or block a hollow organ such as the bowel. Cancer that has spread to the bone is a common cause; see bone metastasis.
Pain can also come from treatment:
Finding the source of pain starts with a conversation and an exam. Your team asks where it hurts, what it feels like, how strong it is on a scale of 0 to 10, when it is worse or better and how it affects your day. A pain diary helps.
Tests can show the cause, such as a bone scan, CT scan or MRI. Blood tests check for problems such as high calcium. Your team checks your pain at each visit, because it can change as treatment goes on.
For mild pain, acetaminophen or anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen may be enough. For moderate or severe pain, your doctor may prescribe an opioid such as morphine or oxycodone. A long-acting dose controls pain around the clock, and a fast-acting dose treats breakthrough pain. Nerve pain often responds to medicines first developed for seizures or depression, such as gabapentin or duloxetine. Steroids can ease swelling around a tumor, and creams or patches can numb a painful area. In Florida, cancer is a condition that can qualify for medical marijuana with a physician's certification; talk with your team before you try it.
Cancer rehabilitation and physical therapy help with weakness, stiffness and balance. Massage, acupuncture, meditation and relaxation can ease pain, stress and fatigue alongside your medicines.
Palliative care, a team focused on comfort and quality of life, can help at any stage, alongside treatment for the cancer. Your plan is your own, made with your care team, and it changes as your needs change.
Take pain medicine on schedule, without waiting for pain to become severe, since keeping pain under control works better than chasing it. Keep a pain diary of what helps and what does not. Opioids cause constipation, so ask about a stool softener or laxative from the start, and drink fluids. Do not drive until you know how a new medicine affects you. Store medicines safely, away from children and visitors. Heat, cold, gentle stretching, rest breaks and activities you enjoy can help, and so can a counselor or support group.
Talk to your team whenever pain changes or a medicine is not working. Bring your pain diary, a list of every medicine you take and your questions: what is causing the pain, how to take each medicine, what to do for breakthrough pain, and how to handle side effects.
Addiction is uncommon when opioids are taken as prescribed for cancer pain, with your team watching closely. Your body may get used to a medicine, which is different from addiction. Tell your team if you have had problems with substances before.
Not always. Pain can come from treatment, healing or another cause. Tell your team about new pain so they can find the reason.
Yes. Most cancer pain can be eased a great deal, and palliative care teams specialize in it.
Ask first. Some can affect your blood counts, kidneys or other medicines.
Tell your team. Changing the timing or type of medicine, or adding one for nerve pain, often helps you sleep.
Oncologists, palliative care specialists, pain management doctors, rehabilitation therapists and counselors treat cancer pain, often together.
Rehabilitation therapists rebuild strength and movement that pain and treatment take away, and teach safer ways to move.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationOncology and palliative care teams treat the tumor causing pain and adjust pain medicines through every stage of care.
Learn More About CancerInterventional pain doctors use nerve blocks, neurolysis and spinal pain pumps when medicines alone do not control pain.
Learn More About Pain ManagementBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicitySarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and when it does happen, finding it early means it can often be treated while your cancer care goes on. Oncologists and cardiologists watch for it together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Many cancer medicines and radiation to the chest work very well against cancer, and a few of them can also strain the heart. If your oncologist has mentioned heart tests before treatment, or you have been told your heart function has dropped, you may be wondering what this means for your cancer care. For most people, the answer is that both can be cared for at the same time.
Cardiotoxicity covers several problems, from a weaker heart muscle to an irregular heartbeat or high blood pressure. Some appear during treatment. Others show up months or years after treatment has ended, which is why survivors are encouraged to keep their heart health in view for life.
The best protection is planning. Your care team checks your heart before treatment starts, watches it during treatment, and acts early if anything changes. This page explains which treatments can affect the heart, the signs to watch for, how heart problems are found and treated, and how to protect your heart for the long run.
Cardiotoxicity means harm to the heart or blood vessels from a treatment. In cancer care, it is a side effect of certain chemotherapy medicines, targeted therapies, immunotherapies, hormone therapies and radiation to the chest. The care of the heart during and after cancer treatment is a growing field of its own, called cardio-oncology.
It can take several forms:
Some changes improve once a medicine is adjusted; others are managed like any other heart condition.
Early heart changes often cause no symptoms, which is why your care team checks with tests. When symptoms appear, they can include:
Tiredness and breathlessness have many causes during treatment, so tell your care team about them.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Each treatment affects the heart in its own way:
Your risk is higher if you:
Knowing your risk helps your team decide how closely to watch.
Not every heart effect can be prevented, and the steps below lower the chances and help catch changes early.
Your heart is checked before, during and after treatment.
Medicines used for other heart conditions work well here. Beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and similar blood pressure medicines can help a weakened heart recover and protect it during treatment. Other medicines control blood pressure, heart rhythm or blood clots. Myocarditis from immunotherapy is treated with steroids that slow the immune attack.
Your oncologist and cardiologist decide together whether to continue, pause, lower the dose or change a cancer medicine. Many people finish their full cancer treatment with heart medicines and closer monitoring.
When radiation has narrowed an artery or damaged a valve years later, a procedure can open the artery or repair or replace the valve.
Your plan is your own, made with your oncologist and cardiologist together. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
During treatment. Keep every heart test, and take heart medicines as prescribed, even when you feel well. Check your weight each morning and your blood pressure at home if your team asks you to.
After treatment. Some heart effects appear years later, so keep a written summary of the cancer treatments you received, including medicine names and any radiation, and share it with every doctor you see. Ask how often your heart should be checked.
Every day. Regular activity, a heart-healthy diet, a healthy weight and not smoking all protect the heart.
Tell your team about any new tiredness, swelling or change in your heartbeat, even if it seems small. Bring your home weight and blood pressure log, a list of every medicine and supplement you take, and your questions: whether your treatment can affect your heart, which tests you will have and when, what your results mean, and who to call about heart symptoms.
Usually not. Most heart changes are found early on routine tests and can be managed with heart medicines, closer monitoring or a dose change while cancer treatment continues.
Often, yes. A weakened heart frequently improves with heart medicines, especially when the change is found early. Some changes are lasting and are managed long term.
If you have heart disease or risk factors, or a test shows a change, your oncologist may involve a cardiologist. You can also ask for one.
Survivors who had anthracyclines or radiation to the chest may benefit from heart checks for years, along with good control of blood pressure and cholesterol.
For most people, light regular activity such as walking is safe and helpful. Ask your care team what level fits your treatment and test results.
Cardiotoxicity is cared for by oncologists and cardiologists working together, a field called cardio-oncology.
Care is given at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area. Learn more about chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy.
Oncologists plan chemotherapy and chest radiation with the heart in mind and adjust doses when heart tests change.
Learn More About CancerCardiologists check heart function before and during cancer treatment and prescribe medicines that protect the heart.
Learn More About Heart & VascularImaging specialists perform MUGA scans and cardiac MRI that measure how well the heart pumps over time.
Learn More About RadiologyBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes...
Learn More About MUGA ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused by HPV, and screening finds changes years before they become cancer. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it at every stage.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a Pap or HPV test came back abnormal, because you have had bleeding that is not normal for you, or because a doctor has just said the word cancer. An abnormal screening result is common, and most of the time it means a change that can be watched or treated long before cancer forms.
Cervical cancer grows slowly. It usually begins as precancer, cells on the surface of the cervix that look abnormal but have not grown deeper. That slow start is what makes it one of the most preventable cancers: the HPV vaccine protects against the virus that causes it, and regular screening finds changes early, when treatment is simplest. When cancer is found early, it can often be cured.
This page explains what cervical cancer is, the signs to know, what raises the risk, how screening and diagnosis work, and the treatment options at each stage.
Cervical cancer forms when cells in the cervix grow out of control. It is one of the gynecologic cancers. In the United States, about 13,000 women are diagnosed with it each year, most often between 35 and 64, and deaths from it have fallen sharply since screening became routine.
The two main kinds are:
Before cancer, there is usually precancer, called cervical dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Treating precancer stops cancer from forming.
Precancer and early cervical cancer usually cause no symptoms, which is why screening matters even when you feel well. As cancer grows, signs can include:
These symptoms have many causes far more common than cancer, and a visit is how you find out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Almost every cervical cancer is caused by a long-lasting infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is very common and spreads through intimate skin-to-skin contact. Most people have it at some point, usually without knowing, and the body clears most infections on its own within a year or two. When a high-risk type of HPV stays for years, it can change the cells of the cervix, first into precancer and, over many more years, into cancer.
The main risk factor is a lasting infection with a high-risk type of HPV. Others make it harder for the body to clear HPV or add to its effect:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get cervical cancer.
Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers you can largely prevent.
Most people over 65 with normal past results can stop screening; ask your doctor what fits your history.
Most cervical cancers and precancers are found after an abnormal screening test. The next step is usually a colposcopy. Your doctor uses a lighted magnifier to look closely at the cervix and takes a small biopsy of any area that looks unusual, in the office.
Some people need a cone biopsy, which removes a cone-shaped piece of the cervix, often with a thin heated wire loop called LEEP. It can both find and remove a precancer.
If cancer is found, more tests show its stage:
Your plan depends on the stage, the size of the tumor, your health and whether you hope to have children.
Precancer is removed with LEEP, a cone biopsy, freezing or laser treatment. A very small cancer may be removed with a cone biopsy alone. For most early cancers, the standard is a hysterectomy, which removes the uterus and cervix; a radical hysterectomy also removes the tissue around the cervix and the upper vagina. Nearby lymph nodes are checked or removed with lymph node removal.
For a small, early cancer in someone who hopes to become pregnant, a trachelectomy removes the cervix and leaves the uterus in place. Trachelectomy and surgery for precancer can often be done through small incisions with robotic surgery. For a radical hysterectomy, guidelines favor an open operation. Read more about cancer surgery.
For cancer that has grown beyond the cervix, the usual treatment is radiation therapy given with chemotherapy, called chemoradiation. Radiation comes from outside the body and from a source placed inside, near the cervix, called brachytherapy. Immunotherapy is added for some cancers, and targeted therapy and chemotherapy treat cancer that has spread or come back.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
A hysterectomy ends periods and pregnancy. Radiation to the pelvis can bring on menopause if the ovaries were still working, and can make the vagina narrower and drier; a vaginal dilator, used as your team shows you, helps keep it healthy. Ask about fertility before treatment begins, since some options, like freezing eggs, need to happen first. Swelling in the legs after lymph node removal can be eased with lymphedema therapy. Follow-up visits, with exams and sometimes Pap tests or imaging, continue for several years. Cancer rehabilitation, counseling and support groups help with energy and sexual health.
Contact your team about new bleeding, pain or side effects. Bring your medicines, past screening results and your questions: what stage the cancer is, whether surgery or chemoradiation is the better fit and why, how treatment affects fertility and sex, and what follow-up will look like.
No. Most abnormal results show HPV or a minor change that clears by itself or is treated as precancer. Your doctor will tell you whether you need a repeat test, a colposcopy or treatment.
Sometimes. For a small, early cancer, a cone biopsy or trachelectomy can preserve the uterus. Ask about fertility before treatment starts.
Yes. The vaccine protects against the types that cause most cervical cancers, and screening finds changes from the few types it does not cover.
It can. A hysterectomy alone usually leaves the ovaries working. Radiation to the pelvis or removal of the ovaries brings on menopause, and your team can help with the symptoms.
There is no approved HPV test for men. Most infections clear without treatment, and the HPV vaccine is recommended for boys and men through 26.
Cervical cancer is cared for by gynecologists, gynecologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and nurse navigators.
Screening with Pap and HPV tests is offered by the obstetrics and gynecology practice at Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health.
Gynecologic and radiation oncologists treat cervical cancer with surgery, chemoradiation, brachytherapy and immunotherapy.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read Pap tests, HPV results and cervical biopsies to tell precancer from cancer and name its type.
Learn More About PathologyGynecologists run Pap and HPV screening, colposcopy and LEEP, finding and treating precancer before it turns to cancer.
Learn More About Women'sGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that...
Learn More About Uterine CancerCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become...
Learn More About Cervical Cancer ScreeningA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still...
Learn More About TrachelectomyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find polyps and remove them before they turn into cancer. Found early, colon cancer is very treatable, and Orlando Health care teams screen for it and treat it.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a screening test came back abnormal, because a colonoscopy found something that needs a closer look, or because a doctor has just said the words colon cancer. Each of those moments brings a lot to take in. Many colon cancers today are found early, through screening, when treatment works best.
Colon cancer usually grows slowly, over many years, from a polyp on the inner wall of the colon. That slow start is why screening matters so much: a colonoscopy can find a polyp and remove it in the same visit. When cancer is found, its stage and the features of the tumor shape the plan, which often starts with surgery and may add medicine. Many people go on to live full lives after treatment.
Colon cancer and rectal cancer are often grouped together as colorectal cancer. They share causes, screening and many treatments, and rectal cancer has its own page because its treatment differs in important ways.
This page explains what colon cancer is, the signs to watch for, what raises the risk, how it is found and treated, and what life with it can look like.
The colon is the longest part of the large intestine. Colon cancer forms when cells in its inner lining grow out of control. Together with rectal cancer, it is one of the most common cancers in the United States. Most cases are in people over 50, and the number of cases in adults under 55 has been rising for several decades.
The main kinds are:
Early colon cancer often causes no symptoms, which is why screening matters even when you feel well. When signs appear, they can include:
Hemorrhoids cause some of the same signs, so have any of them checked rather than waiting for a screening date.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most colon cancers begin as a polyp, a small growth on the inner lining of the colon. Over 10 years or more, gene changes can turn some of a polyp's cells into cancer, which can grow into the colon wall and spread, most often to the liver or lungs. Most polyps never become cancer. Removing them stops the ones that would. Learn more about colorectal polyps.
About 5 percent of colon cancers come from an inherited gene change, such as Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
Some risk factors are part of who you are:
Others are linked to daily life:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get colon cancer.
Colorectal cancer screening is the strongest step you can take, because it finds polyps before they become cancer. Most adults at average risk start at 45 and continue through 75. A colonoscopy every 10 years is one option; a stool test every one to three years, a sigmoidoscopy or a CT colonography every five years are others. Any abnormal result from another test is followed by a colonoscopy. If a parent, sibling or child had colorectal cancer, screening often starts at 40, or 10 years before their age at diagnosis.
Daily habits help too: eat plenty of vegetables, fruit and whole grains, limit red and processed meat, stay active, keep a healthy weight, do not smoke and limit alcohol.
A colonoscopy is the main test. A thin, flexible tube with a camera shows the whole colon, and the doctor removes polyps or takes a biopsy of anything unusual for a pathologist to examine.
If cancer is found, more tests show its stage:
The stage runs from 0 to IV and is often final only after surgery.
Your plan depends on the stage, the tumor's features, your health and what matters to you.
Surgery is the main treatment. A very early cancer in a polyp can sometimes be removed during a colonoscopy; most people have a colectomy, which removes the part of the colon with the tumor and the nearby lymph nodes, then joins the ends. Many operations use small incisions, some with robotic surgery, which can shorten recovery. Some people need a colostomy, an opening on the belly for stool, often temporary.
When cancer has spread, tumors in the liver may be removed with a hepatectomy or destroyed with tumor ablation or radioembolization. Cancer spread within the belly lining may be treated with surgery and HIPEC, heated chemotherapy placed in the belly.
Radiation therapy is used less often for colon cancer than for rectal cancer.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Recovery from surgery takes several weeks, and bowel habits may change for a while. An ostomy nurse teaches stoma care. Chemotherapy can bring tiredness, nausea and numb hands and feet, and your team can ease each one. A nurse navigator helps coordinate visits. After treatment come follow-up visits, CEA blood tests, CT scans and colonoscopies for several years, because most returns happen in the first few years. Cancer rehabilitation and support groups help too.
Contact your team about new bleeding, pain or side effects. Bring your medicines, your family history of cancer and polyps, and your questions: what stage the cancer is, what each treatment is for, whether you will need a stoma, and how your follow-up will work.
Often, yes. Found before it spreads, it is cured by surgery alone in many people.
Most people do not need a permanent one. Some have a temporary stoma while the bowel heals.
Yes. A parent, sibling or child of someone with colorectal cancer often starts screening at 40, or earlier. Genetic counseling can help if several relatives had it or you were diagnosed young.
Yes, and cases in younger adults are rising. Rectal bleeding or a lasting change in bowel habits needs a visit at any age.
Many people start with soft, low-fiber foods and add fiber back slowly, guided by a dietitian.
Colon cancer is cared for by gastroenterologists, colon and rectal surgeons, oncologists and nurse navigators.
The Orlando Health Colon and Rectal Institute works with the Cancer Institute on colon cancer surgery.
Medical, surgical and radiation oncologists stage colon cancer and plan surgery, chemotherapy and targeted medicines.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove colon cancer, often through small incisions or with robotic help.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists find colon cancer early with screening colonoscopy and take the biopsy that confirms it.
Learn More About Digestive HealthRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless, though some can turn into cancer over many years. A colonoscopy finds them and removes them, and Orlando Health care teams offer screening and polyp care.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a colonoscopy found a polyp, because a stool test came back abnormal, or because a relative was told they had polyps and you want to know what that means for you. Finding a polyp is common. It is also good news in its own way: a polyp found and removed is one that cannot grow into cancer later.
Polyps form when cells in the lining of the large intestine grow more than they should. Most stay small and never cause trouble. A few kinds can slowly change, over 10 years or more, into colorectal cancer, and there is no way to tell for sure by looking which ones will. That is why doctors remove polyps when they find them and send them to a lab.
This page explains the kinds of polyps, who gets them, how they are found and removed, and what follow-up looks like after removal.
A polyp is a clump of cells on the inner wall of the colon or rectum. Some are flat, and some grow on a short stalk like a mushroom. Polyps are found in about 20 to 30 percent of adults, and they become more common with age.
The main kinds are:
The larger a polyp is, and the more adenomas a person has, the higher the chance that one holds or will develop cancer.
Most polyps cause no symptoms, which is why screening finds most of them. When there are signs, they can include:
Any of these can come from other causes, such as hemorrhoids, and a doctor's visit is how you find out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
The lining of the colon replaces its cells all the time. Polyps form when changes in a cell's genes let it grow and divide more than it should. Most of these changes build up with age, and in most people no single cause is found. A few inherited conditions, such as familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and Lynch syndrome, cause polyps or cancer to form at a younger age.
You are more likely to have polyps if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will have polyps.
You cannot prevent every polyp, and you can keep polyps from turning into cancer by finding them early. Colorectal cancer screening starts at 45 for most adults, and earlier for people with a family history or inflammatory bowel disease. Daily habits lower the risk too: eat plenty of vegetables, fruit and whole grains, limit red and processed meat, stay active, keep a healthy weight, do not smoke and limit alcohol.
A colonoscopy is the main test, and it can find and remove polyps in the same visit. You drink a prep the day before to empty the colon, and you are sedated during the exam, which usually takes less than an hour. Other screening tests can point to a polyp:
An abnormal result from any of these is followed by a colonoscopy. Every polyp removed goes to a pathologist, who says what kind it is.
The usual treatment is to take the polyp out, because there is no way to be sure by sight which ones would become cancer.
If a polyp holds cancer, care follows the colon cancer or rectal cancer path. People with FAP may need surgery to remove the colon to prevent cancer, planned with genetic counseling.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Once a polyp is fully removed it rarely comes back, and new polyps form in about a third of people. Your doctor sets your next colonoscopy by what was found, often from three to 10 years. Keep a copy of your pathology report and tell your family, since your results may change when they should be screened.
Contact your team if you see blood in your stool or your bowel habits change between colonoscopies. Ask what kind of polyps you had, how many, how large, when your next colonoscopy is due, and whether your family should start screening sooner.
No. Most polyps are not cancer, and removing them is how cancer is prevented. The lab report tells you what kind yours was.
Usually 10 years or more, and most never do. That slow pace is why screening at regular intervals works.
No. You are sedated for the colonoscopy, and the lining of the colon does not sense the removal.
A fully removed polyp rarely regrows, and new ones can form. Follow-up colonoscopies find them early.
If you had advanced polyps, or polyps at a young age, your close relatives may need to start screening earlier. Share your report with them and their doctors.
Polyps are found and removed by gastroenterologists and colon and rectal surgeons, with pathologists reading every sample. When a polyp holds cancer, cancer specialists join the team.
The Orlando Health Colon and Rectal Institute removes polyps during colonoscopy and sets follow-up at specific intervals. Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health colorectal surgeons in St. Petersburg remove and follow polyps, and its gastroenterologists offer screening colonoscopy at offices across the Tampa Bay area.
When a polyp holds cancer, oncologists join the team to stage it and plan any further treatment.
Learn More About CancerColorectal surgeons remove large or hard-to-reach polyps, and polyps that hold cancer, by scope or surgery.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists find and remove polyps during colonoscopy and set the date of your next one.
Learn More About Digestive HealthColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in hormone-making cells spread through the body. Thyroid cancer is the most common, and most are very treatable. Each type has its own signs and tests, and surgery is often the first treatment.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a lump was found in your neck, a blood test showed a hormone level that was off, or a scan for something else found a spot on a gland. You may already have a diagnosis, or you may still be waiting on results. Either way, it helps to know where your question fits.
Your endocrine system is a set of glands and cells that make hormones, the chemical messengers that control your metabolism, blood pressure, blood sugar, calcium and growth. Endocrine cancer is the name for any cancer that starts in these glands or cells. Each one behaves differently, and most have a page of their own in this library with their signs, causes, tests and treatments.
This page shows you the family, explains how doctors find out which type a person has, and lists the warning signs that call for care right away. Most growths found in endocrine glands are not cancer, and the most common endocrine cancer, thyroid cancer, is usually very treatable.
The endocrine glands include the thyroid in the front of the neck, the four parathyroid glands just behind it, the two adrenal glands above the kidneys and the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. Hormone-making cells called neuroendocrine cells are also spread through the lungs, stomach, intestines and pancreas. A cancer in any of these is an endocrine cancer.
Growths here are common, and most are benign. Lumps in the thyroid and spots on the adrenal glands are often found on scans, and most of them are not cancer. Many need only a test and a later check.
Some make extra hormones. A tumor that makes hormones can cause symptoms anywhere in the body, such as high blood pressure, weight changes, sweating, flushing or high calcium. Others make no hormones and are found as a lump or on a scan.
Some run in families. Inherited conditions such as multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 and 2, von Hippel-Lindau syndrome and Li-Fraumeni syndrome raise the chance of several of these cancers. Genetic counseling can tell you whether you have one.
Radiation can raise the risk. Radiation to the head or neck, especially in childhood, raises the chance of thyroid cancer.
Thyroid cancer is more common in women. About three in four people with thyroid cancer are women, and it is often found between ages 20 and 55.
The steps usually follow a symptom, a lump or a test result, and they are much the same across the family.
A visit and an exam. Your doctor asks about your health and your family's, and about changes that could come from hormones, such as weight, energy, mood, sweating or blood pressure. They feel your neck for lumps.
Blood and urine tests. These measure hormone levels, such as thyroid hormone, calcium and parathyroid hormone, cortisol, or the substances adrenaline breaks down into. A hormone level that is too high often points to which gland is involved.
Imaging. An ultrasound is the main test for the thyroid and parathyroid glands. A CT scan or MRI shows the adrenal glands, the pancreas and whether a cancer has spread. A PET/CT scan, sometimes with a special tracer, helps find neuroendocrine tumors.
A biopsy. A pathologist studies cells or tissue under a microscope to name the cancer and its type. A thin needle guided by ultrasound is the usual test for a thyroid nodule. For adrenal and parathyroid tumors, a needle biopsy is often avoided, and the diagnosis is made after surgery.
Genetic counseling. Because several of these cancers can be inherited, testing may help you understand your risk for other cancers and what it means for your children.
Screening. There is no routine screening for endocrine cancers in people without symptoms. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends against thyroid cancer screening in adults without symptoms. People with an inherited syndrome may have regular checks planned with their doctor.
Treatment depends on the type. Surgery to remove the tumor, and sometimes part or all of the gland, is often the first treatment, and many operations are done through small incisions. Radioactive iodine treats some thyroid cancers. Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and hormone-blocking medicines are used in different combinations. Each member's page explains its options. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on each condition's page.
See your doctor if you have any of these for two weeks or more, or if they are not normal for you:
These lists apply to every cancer in this family; each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Usually it is not. Most thyroid nodules are benign. An ultrasound, and sometimes a needle biopsy, tells your doctor which ones need treatment.
An endocrinologist is a doctor who specializes in glands and hormones. They test hormone levels, help find the cause of a growth and manage hormone medicines before and after treatment.
It depends on the gland. People who have the whole thyroid removed take thyroid hormone pills for life. After adrenal surgery, some people take steroid pills for a while.
Some do. Medullary thyroid cancer, some adrenal tumors and some neuroendocrine tumors are linked to inherited conditions. Ask about genetic counseling if relatives have had them.
Sometimes. A benign growth that makes too much hormone, presses on the throat or keeps growing may be removed. Benign thyroid nodules can also be shrunk with radiofrequency ablation.
Endocrine cancers are treated by endocrinologists, endocrine and head and neck surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists, working together.
Cancer teams treat tumors of the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands and neuroendocrine tumors.
Learn More About CancerEndocrinologists find hormone changes that point to a gland tumor and manage hormone pills after treatment.
Learn More About EndocrinologyPathologists study needle samples and removed glands to say whether a growth is cancer and which type.
Learn More About PathologyThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or...
Learn More About Thyroid CancerA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An...
Learn More About Thyroid NodulesParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very...
Learn More About Parathyroid CancerAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most common early sign is food that feels stuck when you swallow. Treatment often combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, planned by one team.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Hearing that you may have esophageal cancer brings a lot of questions at once: how serious it is, whether you will still be able to eat, and what treatment will ask of you. This page answers them in order, and your care team will fill in what applies to you.
Esophageal cancer begins when cells in the lining of the esophagus grow out of control. It is less common than many other cancers, and it is often found once swallowing has become hard. That is why a new problem swallowing, especially with weight loss, is always worth a visit to your doctor.
Treatment depends on the type of cancer, where it is and how far it has spread. Very early cancers can sometimes be removed through a scope. Many people have chemotherapy and radiation first, then surgery to remove part of the esophagus, and others are treated with radiation and medicines alone. Throughout, a dietitian and the rest of your team help you keep eating and keep your strength.
The esophagus is a muscular tube about 10 inches long that runs behind your windpipe and heart. Esophageal cancer starts in its inner lining and can grow into the deeper layers, nearby lymph nodes and other organs. There are two main types:
Cancer where the esophagus meets the stomach, at the gastroesophageal junction, is often treated like esophageal cancer. Esophageal cancer is most common in adults over 55 and in men.
Early esophageal cancer often causes no symptoms. As it grows, you may notice:
Many of these have common causes other than cancer, so a doctor's visit is the way to find out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Esophageal cancer begins with changes in the DNA of cells lining the esophagus. Long-term irritation is behind most of those changes. With adenocarcinoma, the irritation usually comes from stomach acid washing back into the esophagus for years. With squamous cell carcinoma, it usually comes from tobacco and alcohol. Often there is no single cause anyone can point to.
You are more likely to develop esophageal cancer if you:
Most people with these risk factors never develop esophageal cancer.
You can lower your risk:
There is no routine screening test for people at average risk.
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine you, then order tests:
These results set the stage, from 0 to IV, which guides treatment.
Your care team, often thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and gastroenterologists, reviews your case together and recommends a plan.
Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Eating is often the biggest daily challenge. A dietitian can help with soft foods, nutrition drinks and, for some people, a feeding tube for a while during treatment. After an esophagectomy, most people eat smaller meals more often, stay upright while eating and for a while after, and sleep with the head of the bed raised. Walking each day, help for fatigue and support for the emotional side of a diagnosis all help. Integrative medicine, counseling and support groups are open to you and your family. Follow-up visits and scans continue for several years after treatment.
Call your team if eating becomes harder, your weight keeps dropping, or a side effect is not improving. Bring your medicine list, a record of what you are able to eat, and your questions: the type and stage of your cancer, the goal of each treatment, how surgery will change eating, and who to call after hours.
Yes, especially when it is found early and can be removed with surgery or treated through a scope. For more advanced cancer, treatment can control the cancer and ease symptoms, and your team will explain the goal of your plan.
Most people return to eating by mouth, with smaller, more frequent meals. It takes time to adjust, and a dietitian helps you through it.
Treatment before surgery can shrink the cancer, making it easier to remove completely, and lowers the chance that it comes back.
Heartburn is very common and rarely means cancer. Heartburn that lasts for years can lead to Barrett's esophagus, which raises the risk, so talk with your doctor about reflux that keeps coming back.
Some people do, for a while, to keep their strength up during treatment or after surgery. Many never need one. Your team will tell you if it is likely for you.
Esophageal cancer is treated by thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and gastroenterologists working as one team.
Surgeons and medical and radiation oncologists plan chemotherapy, radiation and surgery for esophageal cancer together.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists find esophageal cancer with an upper endoscopy and biopsy, and stage it with endoscopic ultrasound.
Learn More About Digestive HealthRadiologists read the CT and PET-CT scans that show whether esophageal cancer has spread and how it responds.
Learn More About RadiologyBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at...
Learn More About Proton TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often found after gallbladder surgery for gallstones. Orlando Health care teams diagnose it and treat it with surgery, medicine and radiation.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a report after gallbladder surgery found cancer, because a scan showed a growth in your gallbladder, or because yellowing of your skin led to tests. Gallbladder cancer is uncommon, so most people have never heard much about it, and the questions can come all at once.
Many gallbladder cancers are found by chance, when a gallbladder removed for gallstones is examined in the lab. Cancers found this way are often early, and a second operation can sometimes remove any cancer left nearby. Others are found later, when they cause symptoms, and treatment then aims to control the cancer and ease those symptoms. The stage and your overall health guide the plan, which a team of specialists makes together with you and the people close to you.
This page explains what gallbladder cancer is, the signs, what raises the risk, how it is diagnosed and treated, and what life with it can look like.
The gallbladder is a pear-shaped organ on the right side of the belly, just under the liver. It stores bile, a fluid the liver makes to help digest fat, and releases it through the bile ducts into the small intestine. Gallbladder cancer starts in the cells that line the inside of the gallbladder. Almost all gallbladder cancers are adenocarcinomas, which start in gland cells.
It is a rare cancer in the United States. It is more common in women than in men and is most often diagnosed in people in their 70s. Cancer of the nearby bile ducts is a related cancer, often grouped with it as biliary tract cancer, and treated in many of the same ways.
Gallbladder polyps are small growths on the inside of the gallbladder. Most are harmless and are simply watched; a larger one may be removed with the gallbladder.
Early gallbladder cancer rarely causes symptoms. When signs appear, they can include:
Gallstones cause many of the same signs and are far more common, so testing is how you find out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Gallbladder cancer starts when changes in a cell's genes let it grow without the usual controls. Long-term irritation of the gallbladder lining, most often from gallstones and the inflammation they cause, is thought to play a part. Still, most people with gallstones never get gallbladder cancer.
Things that raise the risk include:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get gallbladder cancer.
Some gallbladder cancers are found after gallbladder removal, when a pathologist examines the organ. When cancer is suspected first, tests may include:
The stage, from 0 to IV, depends on how deep the tumor has grown and whether it has reached the liver, lymph nodes or beyond.
Your plan depends on the stage, whether the cancer can be removed, your health and what matters to you.
Surgery offers the best chance of cure when all the cancer can be removed. A very early cancer found after gallbladder removal may need nothing more. Most others need an extended cholecystectomy, which removes the gallbladder, part of the liver next to it and nearby lymph nodes, sometimes with part of the bile duct. When cancer is found after an earlier gallbladder operation, a second surgery is often advised. Learn more about hepatectomy and cancer surgery.
When a tumor blocks the bile duct, a stent placed through a scope, or a bypass operation, lets bile drain again and eases jaundice and itching.
Radiation therapy, sometimes with chemotherapy, after surgery or to ease symptoms.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Recovery after liver and gallbladder surgery takes several weeks. You can digest food without a gallbladder, and smaller, lower-fat meals help at first. A dietitian can help if eating or weight is hard. If you have a stent, learn the signs that it is blocked. A nurse navigator helps coordinate visits, and follow-up scans and blood tests continue after treatment. Palliative care eases pain, itching and nausea at any stage.
Contact your team about new yellowing, itching, pain, fever or side effects. Bring your pathology report from any gallbladder surgery, your medicines and your questions: what stage the cancer is, whether surgery is possible, what each treatment is for, and what to watch for with a stent.
Yes, when it is found early and all of it can be removed with surgery. Many cancers found by chance after gallbladder removal are at this stage.
No. Gallstones are very common and gallbladder cancer is rare. Most people with gallstones never get it.
If cancer was found after your gallbladder was removed, a second operation can take out nearby liver and lymph nodes where cancer cells may remain, and shows the true stage.
A small tube placed in a bile duct through a scope, so bile can drain past a blockage. It eases jaundice and itching.
Yes. Bile flows straight from the liver to the intestine, and most people eat normally after recovery.
Gallbladder cancer is cared for by surgical oncologists who operate on the liver and bile ducts, gastroenterologists who place stents, medical and radiation oncologists, and nurse navigators.
Surgical, medical and radiation oncologists plan surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy for gallbladder cancer.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists use endoscopic ultrasound and ERCP to sample a tumor and place stents that clear a blocked bile duct.
Learn More About Digestive HealthGeneral surgeons remove gallbladders for gallstones, the operation after which many gallbladder cancers are first found.
Learn More About General SurgeryAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments. Gynecologic oncologists treat all of them, with surgery, radiation and medicines, and with care to protect fertility when possible.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a Pap test came back abnormal, a scan found a mass on an ovary, or you have had bleeding that is not normal for you. You may already have a diagnosis, or you may be waiting on a result. Either way, it helps to know where your question fits.
Gynecologic cancer is the name for any cancer that starts in the female reproductive organs. Each of these cancers behaves differently, and each has its own page in this library with its signs, causes, tests and treatments. This page shows you the family, explains how doctors find out which type a person has, and lists the warning signs that call for care right away.
Gynecologic cancers can affect women of any age, though most are found after menopause. Several can be found early or even prevented, and specialists called gynecologic oncologists are trained to treat all of them.
The female reproductive organs lie low in the belly, in the pelvis. They include the uterus and its lower end, the cervix; the two ovaries and fallopian tubes; the vagina; and the vulva, the outer part. A cancer in any of these is a gynecologic cancer.
They are common enough to know about. Uterine cancer is the most common, and ovarian and cervical cancers follow. Vaginal and vulvar cancers are rare.
Some can be prevented or found early. The HPV vaccine and regular cervical cancer screening prevent most cervical cancers. Bleeding after menopause, the most common sign of uterine cancer, often leads to an early diagnosis. Ovarian cancer has no screening test for women at average risk, so learning its warning signs helps you act early.
Some run in families. Inherited gene changes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, and Lynch syndrome, raise the chance of ovarian and uterine cancers. Genetic counseling can tell you whether you have one.
Treatment is often a team effort. Surgery, radiation and medicines are combined in different ways for each cancer, and many surgeries are done through small incisions.
Gestational trophoblastic disease, a rare growth that starts in tissue from a pregnancy, is also treated by gynecologic oncologists.
Each cancer is found in its own way, and the steps usually follow a symptom or a screening result.
Screening. Cervical cancer has a routine screening test, cervical cancer screening with a Pap test, an HPV test or both. The other gynecologic cancers have none. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a Pap test every three years from 21 to 29, then from 30 to 65 a Pap test every three years, an HPV test every five years, or both together every five years. The American Cancer Society prefers an HPV test every five years from 25 to 65.
A pelvic exam and imaging. Your doctor feels for changes in the size or shape of the organs. A transvaginal ultrasound looks at the uterus and ovaries, and a CT scan, MRI or PET/CT scan shows whether a cancer has spread.
Looking more closely. A colposcopy uses a lighted magnifier to look at the cervix, vagina or vulva. A sample of the uterine lining can often be taken in the office.
A biopsy. A pathologist studies tissue under a microscope. This names the cancer, its type and its grade. For a mass on an ovary, the tissue is often taken during surgery.
Blood tests. A tumor marker test called CA-125 can help evaluate an ovarian mass and track treatment, though it is not a screening test on its own.
Treatment depends on the type. Surgery is the first step for many of these cancers, from a hysterectomy to a trachelectomy, which removes the cervix and can preserve the ability to carry a pregnancy. Robotic surgery lets many operations be done through small incisions. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and hormone therapy are used in different combinations. Each member's page explains its options. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on each condition's page.
See your doctor if you have any of these for two weeks or more, or if they are not normal for you:
These lists apply to every cancer in this family; each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
A gynecologic oncologist is a gynecologist with extra years of training in cancers of the reproductive organs. They perform the surgery and often plan the chemotherapy, so one doctor can guide your care from start to finish.
Usually it does not. Most abnormal results show cell changes that can be watched or treated before they ever become cancer.
Sometimes. For certain early cancers, surgeries that spare the uterus or an ovary are possible. Ask about fertility before treatment starts, when there are the most choices.
It protects against the HPV types behind most cervical cancers and many vaginal and vulvar cancers. It is recommended for everyone at 11 or 12 and can be given through age 26, and some adults up to 45 may benefit.
Ask about it if you have ovarian cancer, or a family history of ovarian, breast, uterine or colon cancer. A result can guide your treatment and your relatives' screening.
Gynecologic cancers are treated by gynecologic oncologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, working together.
Gynecologic oncologists treat cancers of the cervix, ovaries, uterus, vagina and vulva with surgery, radiation and medicines.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read Pap tests and biopsies to name the type and grade of a gynecologic cancer.
Learn More About PathologyGynecologists do the Pap and HPV tests and pelvic exams that find many of these cancers early.
Learn More About Women'sCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that...
Learn More About Uterine CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become...
Learn More About Cervical Cancer ScreeningA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head and neck. Tobacco, alcohol and HPV are the main causes of many of them. Specialist teams combine surgery, radiation and medicines, with care to protect speaking, swallowing and appearance.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a sore in your mouth has not healed, your voice has stayed hoarse, or a lump in your neck has not gone away. A dentist or doctor may have found something during a checkup, or you may already have a diagnosis and want to understand it. Either way, it helps to know where your question fits.
Head and neck cancer is the name for a group of cancers that start above the collarbone, outside the brain. Most begin in the thin, moist lining of the mouth, nose and throat. Each type behaves differently and is treated in its own way, and the thyroid and the skin have their own pages in this library.
This page shows you the family, explains how doctors find out which type a person has, and lists the warning signs that call for care right away. Many of these cancers can be found early by noticing changes that last more than a few weeks, and many can be prevented.
The head and neck hold the structures you use to breathe, eat, speak and swallow: the lips and mouth, the throat, the voice box, the nose and sinuses, and the salivary glands that keep your mouth moist. The thyroid gland in the lower neck, the lymph nodes that run along the neck and the skin of the face and scalp are part of the region too. A cancer in any of these is a head and neck cancer.
Together they are fairly common. Head and neck cancers make up about 4 percent of cancers in the United States. They are more than twice as common in men and are found most often after 50.
Tobacco and alcohol are the biggest causes. Smoking, chewing tobacco and snuff, and heavy drinking cause most cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box. Using both together raises the risk much more than either one alone.
HPV is a growing cause. Human papillomavirus, a common virus spread by close contact, causes about 7 in 10 cancers of the tonsils and back of the tongue in the United States. These cancers often respond well to treatment. The HPV vaccine protects against the types that cause them.
Other causes include sun exposure for the lips and skin, past radiation to the head or neck, work with wood dust, asbestos, nickel or formaldehyde, chewing betel quid, and Epstein-Barr virus for cancer behind the nose.
Treatment protects how you live. Teams plan surgery, radiation and medicines to remove the cancer while keeping your speech, swallowing and appearance as close to normal as they can.
A lump in the neck can also come from a cancer that started elsewhere, or from lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes.
The steps usually follow a symptom or something found at a dental or medical visit.
A head and neck exam. A head and neck surgeon looks in your mouth and throat, feels your neck, and checks your face, ears and skin. Many cancers are found this way.
A look inside with a small camera. A thin, flexible scope passed through the nose lets your doctor see the throat and voice box in the office, usually with numbing spray.
A biopsy. A biopsy is how a cancer is confirmed. A small piece of tissue, or cells taken from a neck lump with a thin needle, is studied by a pathologist. Some biopsies are done in the office, and others need a short procedure. Tumors of the tonsils and back of the tongue are also tested for HPV.
Imaging. A CT scan, MRI or PET/CT scan shows the size of the cancer and whether it has reached the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.
Screening. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has not found enough evidence to recommend routine screening for adults without symptoms. A dentist often checks your mouth at regular visits, and a quick exam can be done at a head and neck cancer screening.
Treatment depends on the type. Surgery is often the first step, sometimes through the mouth with robotic surgery, and head and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds what surgery removes. Radiation therapy, including proton therapy, targets tumors in the small spaces of the head and neck. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are used alone or with radiation. Each member's page explains its options. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on each condition's page.
See your doctor or dentist if you have any of these for two to three weeks or more:
These lists apply to every cancer in this family; each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
It can for a while. Speech and swallowing therapists work with you before and after treatment, and many people regain much of what they had. Your team plans treatment to protect these functions.
Yes. Cancers of the tonsils and tongue base caused by HPV often respond better to treatment than those caused by tobacco, and doctors take that into account when planning care.
Yes. Quitting helps treatment work better, lowers side effects and reduces the chance of a second cancer. Your care team can connect you with help.
Radiation to the mouth can affect your teeth and jaw. A dental check and any needed repairs beforehand protect your mouth during and after treatment.
No. Most neck lumps come from infections and go away in a few weeks. A lump that lasts more than two or three weeks should be checked.
Head and neck cancers are treated by head and neck surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, dental oncologists, reconstructive surgeons and speech and swallowing therapists, working together.
Reconstructive surgeons rebuild the jaw, tongue or face after surgery to restore speech, eating and appearance.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveHead and neck cancer teams combine surgery, radiation and medicines for cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box.
Learn More About CancerEar, nose and throat doctors examine the throat with a small camera and take biopsies of lasting sores and lumps.
Learn More About ENT / OtolaryngologyThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or...
Learn More About Thyroid CancerEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very...
Learn More About Parathyroid CancerA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ScreeningHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ReconstructionRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system, and each has many types. Hematologist-oncologists, doctors who specialize in blood diseases and cancer, diagnose and treat them.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Blood cancers are cancers of the cells that make up your blood and immune system. You may be reading this because a blood test came back unusual, a lymph node has stayed swollen, or a doctor has said one of these three words and you want to understand what it means. Together they make up about one in ten new cancers each year, and many people live for years after a diagnosis, some of them never needing treatment at all.
Each of the three starts in a different kind of cell. Leukemia starts in the cells in the bone marrow that grow into blood cells. Lymphoma starts in lymphocytes, white blood cells that fight infection, and most often shows up in the lymph nodes. Myeloma starts in plasma cells, which make antibodies.
Within each are many types, and the type matters more than the family name. Some are fast-growing and need treatment right away. Others grow slowly over years and are watched closely before any treatment begins. This page lists the members of the family and how doctors find out which one a person has. Each condition's own page covers its symptoms, causes and treatment.
Your bone marrow is the soft, spongy tissue inside your bones. It makes three kinds of blood cells: red blood cells, which carry oxygen; white blood cells, which fight infection; and platelets, which help blood clot. Some white blood cells, the lymphocytes, travel through a network of vessels and small glands called lymph nodes, which are part of your immune system.
A blood cancer starts when one of these cells begins to grow out of control. The abnormal cells crowd out healthy ones or build up in the lymph nodes, bones or other organs. That is why the signs of blood cancer often come from what healthy blood cells can no longer do.
They share some signs. Tiredness that does not go away, infections that keep coming back, bruising or bleeding easily, fevers and night sweats, losing weight without trying, swollen lymph nodes that do not hurt, and pain in the bones or back. Most of these have far more common causes, and many blood cancers are found on a routine blood test before any symptom appears.
There is no screening test. Unlike breast or colon cancer, there is no test to check healthy people for blood cancers, so paying attention to lasting symptoms matters.
Their causes are mostly unknown. Known risks include radiation, exposure to chemicals such as benzene and some pesticides, smoking, earlier chemotherapy, some immune system problems and some infections. Age raises the risk of most types; myeloma is rare before 45. Most blood cancers are not inherited, though a family history of them raises the risk a little.
They are cared for by the same specialists. Hematologist-oncologists lead care, working with radiation oncologists, pathologists, transplant specialists, nurses, pharmacists and dietitians.
Lymphoma
Leukemia
Myeloma and related plasma cell conditions
Related bone marrow conditions
The same specialists also care for noncancerous blood disorders, such as some anemias and clotting problems.
Blood cancers are diagnosed by looking closely at the cells themselves.
Blood tests. A complete blood count measures your red cells, white cells and platelets, and a blood smear shows their shape under a microscope. For myeloma, special blood and urine tests look for the abnormal protein that plasma cells make.
A bone marrow test. A doctor uses a needle to take a small sample of marrow and bone, usually from the back of the hip, with numbing medicine. It is the main test for leukemia and myeloma.
A lymph node biopsy. For lymphoma, a surgeon or radiologist removes all or part of a swollen lymph node so a pathologist can name the type.
Tests on the cells. Lab tests read the markers on the cancer cells and look for changes in their genes and chromosomes, which name the exact type and guide treatment. See molecular profiling.
Imaging. A CT scan, a PET-CT scan or an MRI shows where the disease is in the body and helps stage lymphoma and myeloma.
Treatment depends on the type and how fast it is growing. Blood cancers are treated with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy and bone marrow transplant, and some slow-growing types are watched closely at first. Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for these cancers.
These lists apply to anyone with a blood cancer or being checked for one. Each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
If you have an unusual blood test but no diagnosis yet, keep copies of your results and write down what the doctor said. Ask which test comes next, when you will hear the results and who will call you.
Leukemia is one kind of blood cancer. Lymphoma and myeloma are the other two main kinds, and each behaves differently.
Many can, especially some leukemias and lymphomas. Others, such as myeloma, are usually controlled for years with treatment. Your team will explain what to expect for your type.
Some slow-growing types, such as some cases of CLL, do not cause problems for years. Starting treatment only when it is needed spares you side effects without changing the outlook.
Most people do not. A transplant is recommended for some types and stages, and your team will tell you if it may help you.
Most do not. Having a parent, brother or sister with a blood cancer raises the risk slightly, so tell your doctor about your family history.
Leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are treated by hematologist-oncologists, with radiation oncologists, pathologists, transplant specialists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dietitians and counselors.
Hematologist-oncologists diagnose blood cancers and treat them with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and transplant.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read bone marrow, blood and lymph node samples to name the exact type of leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.
Learn More About PathologyRadiologists use CT and PET-CT to stage lymphoma and myeloma and to guide lymph node biopsies.
Learn More About RadiologyLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a liver already scarred by hepatitis, alcohol or fatty liver disease. Found early, it can often be removed or destroyed, and many other treatments can control it when it cannot.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Learning you have a growth in your liver brings hard questions fast: is it cancer, did it start there, and what can be done? You may have had a scan for belly pain or yellowing skin, or a growth may have turned up during regular checks for hepatitis or cirrhosis.
Your liver filters your blood, makes bile to digest fat, stores energy and makes proteins that help blood clot. Cancer that starts in the liver is called primary liver cancer. Cancer that starts somewhere else, such as the colon, and spreads to the liver is called secondary or metastatic liver cancer, and it is more common. The two are treated differently, so your care team's first job is to find out which you have.
Treatment for liver cancer has widened in recent years. Beyond surgery and transplant, doctors can destroy tumors with heat or sound, deliver radiation or chemotherapy straight into a tumor's blood supply, and use medicines that work with your immune system.
This page covers the types, signs and causes of liver cancer, how it is found and the treatments available.
The liver is a large organ in the upper right side of your belly, under the ribs. Liver cancers are grouped by where they began:
Primary liver cancer is more common in men than in women and is usually found after age 60.
Early liver cancer often causes no symptoms. When signs appear, they may include:
These signs are shared with gallstones, ulcers and other liver conditions, so a doctor's exam is the way to sort them out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most primary liver cancer grows from long-term damage to the liver. When liver cells are injured again and again, scar tissue replaces healthy tissue, a condition called cirrhosis. The repeated repair gives cells more chances to develop changes in their DNA that let them grow out of control. Chronic infection with hepatitis B or C is the most common cause worldwide. In the United States, heavy drinking and fatty liver disease are growing causes.
You are more likely to develop primary liver cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get liver cancer.
Protecting your liver lowers your risk:
If you have cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B, your doctor may recommend an ultrasound, often with a blood test, every six months. Regular checks can find liver cancer early, when more treatments are possible.
Diagnosis starts with an exam to feel for swelling or a lump. Tests may include:
Your team also measures how well your liver works, because that guides which treatments are safe.
The plan depends on the type, the size and number of tumors, whether they have spread, and the health of the rest of your liver.
A thin tube is passed through an artery to the tumor. Tumor embolization blocks its blood supply, and chemoembolization adds chemotherapy. Radioembolization, also called Y90, places tiny beads that give off radiation right inside the tumor.
Immunotherapy and targeted therapy are the main medicines for advanced liver cancer. Chemotherapy is used more often for bile duct cancer and for cancer that spread to the liver. Radiation therapy, including stereotactic body radiation therapy, can treat tumors that are hard to reach.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page to see those open for liver cancer. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Caring for your whole liver is part of treatment. Avoid alcohol, check with your team before any new medicine or supplement, and keep treating hepatitis if you have it. A dietitian can help if your appetite is poor. After treatment, you will have scans and blood tests every few months, because liver cancer can return in another part of the liver. Counseling and integrative medicine help you and your family cope.
Contact your team if your belly swells, your skin changes color, or you feel more tired or confused than usual. Bring a list of your medicines and supplements, your hepatitis history, and your questions: whether the cancer started in the liver, which treatments fit your liver's health, and what follow-up looks like.
Not always. Cancer that spread from another organ is treated as cancer of that organ, so a scan, sometimes with a biopsy, decides which you have.
Often it can when found early, with surgery, transplant or ablation. When cure is not possible, treatment can control the cancer for a long time.
Most people do not. A transplant is for a small group with early cancer and a liver too damaged for other treatment.
It uses focused pulses of sound to break up tumor tissue from outside the body. It needs no incision, and many people go home the same day.
Yes. Controlling hepatitis protects the rest of your liver and makes more treatments possible.
Liver cancer is treated by liver surgeons, interventional radiologists, gastroenterologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, working together.
Liver surgeons and oncologists remove, destroy or control liver tumors, whether they started there or spread there.
Learn More About CancerLiver specialists treat hepatitis and cirrhosis and watch livers at risk with scans every six months.
Learn More About Digestive HealthInterventional radiologists treat liver tumors through a thin tube in an artery or a probe through the skin.
Learn More About RadiologyAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is...
Learn More About Liver TransplantOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or treated with the goal of cure, and yearly screening helps find it early in people at higher risk. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists and lung specialists plan care together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be reading this because a scan found something in your lung, because a doctor has said the words lung cancer, or because you smoked for years and want to know your risk. Each brings questions about what it means and what happens next.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, partly because it often causes no symptoms until it has grown. That is changing. Yearly screening with a low-dose CT scan finds more lung cancers at an early stage, when surgery or focused radiation can often remove or destroy the tumor. For cancer that has spread, newer medicines that work with the immune system or target the tumor's own genes help many people live longer and feel better.
This page covers the types of lung cancer, its symptoms and causes, how it is found and staged, and the treatments a care team may recommend.
Lung cancer begins in the cells that line the airways or the air sacs of the lungs. It is one of the thoracic cancers, the cancers of the chest. Doctors group it into two main types, because each grows differently and is treated differently:
Most people with lung cancer are diagnosed at 65 or older. People who have never smoked get lung cancer too, and in them it is most often adenocarcinoma, often driven by a gene change inside the tumor.
Early lung cancer often causes no symptoms. Many are found on a screening scan, or on a chest X-ray or CT done for another reason. When symptoms come, they can include:
Cancer that has spread can cause bone pain, headaches, dizziness or balance changes, or a yellow tint to the skin.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Lung cancer starts with changes in the genes of lung cells. Most of those changes come from breathing in substances that damage the cells over many years:
Some lung cancers have no clear cause.
You are more likely to develop lung cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get lung cancer.
Screening. Yearly lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT scan is recommended for adults 50 to 80 who have smoked at least 20 pack-years, a measure of how much you smoked. Talk with your doctor about whether it fits you.
A finding on a scan leads to a few more steps:
The results set the stage, from stage I, a tumor only in the lung, to stage IV, cancer that has spread to other organs. Small cell lung cancer is often described as limited or extensive.
Treatment depends on the type, the stage, the tumor's genes and your overall health. Many people have more than one treatment.
For early non-small cell lung cancer, cancer surgery offers the best chance of cure. The surgeon removes a wedge, a segment, a lobe or, less often, a whole lung, and checks nearby lymph nodes. Most lung operations are done through small incisions, often with robotic surgery.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy gives high doses to a small tumor in a few sessions, an option when surgery is not. Radiation therapy and proton therapy treat larger tumors, often alongside chemotherapy.
Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for lung cancer. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Many people keep working and doing what they enjoy during and after treatment. Staying active, even with short walks, helps energy and breathing, and cancer rehabilitation can build strength after surgery. If you smoke, quitting at any point helps treatment work and lowers the chance the cancer comes back. After treatment, you will have regular CT scans to watch your lungs.
Call your team if a symptom is new, if a side effect keeps you from eating, sleeping or moving, or if you are not sure a medicine is working. Bring a list of your medicines, your smoking history and your questions: what type and stage you have, what the tumor testing showed, the goal of each treatment, and who to call after hours.
Yes, often when it is found early. Surgery or focused radiation can remove or destroy a tumor that has not spread. Later-stage cancer can often be controlled for a long time.
About 10 to 20 out of 100 lung cancers occur in people who never smoked. Radon, secondhand smoke, air pollution and gene changes in the tumor all play a part. Nothing you did caused it.
The stage describes the tumor's size and whether it has reached lymph nodes or other organs. It guides which treatments make sense and helps your team plan.
Most people do. Your lungs have more capacity than you use day to day, and breathing tests before surgery confirm enough lung will remain.
A parent, brother or sister with lung cancer raises your risk slightly. Family members who meet the smoking guidelines should be screened; others can ask their doctor.
Lung cancer is treated by thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and pulmonologists who plan care together.
Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital and Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital offer low-dose CT screening and navigation bronchoscopy to sample small nodules.
Oncologists, thoracic surgeons and radiation oncologists stage lung cancer and plan surgery, radiation and medicines.
Learn More About CancerPulmonologists sample lung spots by bronchoscopy and check breathing before and after lung cancer treatment.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareRadiologists read the CT, PET-CT and brain MRI scans that find lung cancer and show whether it has spread.
Learn More About RadiologyThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old infection or inflammation and are not cancer. Lung specialists decide whether a nodule needs no follow-up, another scan or a biopsy.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Being told a scan found a spot on your lung is unsettling, especially when you were having the scan for something else. Many people hear the word nodule and think straight away of cancer. Most of the time it is something far less serious, and the next step is often simply another scan.
Lung nodules are very common. They turn up on about 1 in 4 lung cancer screening scans and on many CT scans done for other reasons, such as a chest injury or pneumonia. The great majority are benign, meaning they are not cancer. Doctors look at a nodule's size, shape and whether it changes over time, and weigh your own risk, to decide what to do next. When a nodule does turn out to be an early lung cancer, finding it at this small size gives the best chance of cure.
This page explains what lung nodules are, why they form, how they are checked and when treatment is needed.
A lung nodule is a round or oval growth of tissue in the lung, 3 centimeters (about 1.2 inches) across or smaller. A larger spot is called a mass. You can have one nodule or several.
Doctors describe nodules by what they look like on a CT scan:
Smooth, small nodules that stay the same size for two years or more are almost always benign. Nodules that are larger, have uneven or spiky edges, or grow over time get a closer look, because those features are more common in early lung cancer.
Most lung nodules cause no symptoms at all. That is why they are almost always found by chance, on a scan done for another reason or on a screening scan. Any symptoms usually come from the cause of the nodule, such as a cough from an infection.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most nodules are a small area of scar or inflammation left behind after the lung heals. Common causes include:
Anyone can have a nodule. The chance that a nodule is cancer is higher if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean a nodule is cancer. Your doctor uses these factors together with how the nodule looks.
Your doctor compares the nodule with any earlier scans, since one that has not changed in years is reassuring. Then the plan follows the nodule's size, look and your risk:
A benign nodule usually needs no treatment. When a cause such as an infection is found, that cause is treated.
When a nodule is cancer or very likely to be, a surgeon can remove it with a small wedge of surrounding lung, or remove a larger segment or lobe. Most of these operations are done through small incisions, often with robotic surgery. Learn more about cancer surgery.
For people who cannot have surgery, stereotactic body radiation therapy delivers focused radiation to the nodule in a few sessions.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Waiting between scans can be stressful. It helps to know the date of your next scan and who will call you with the results. Keep your follow-up appointments, since a nodule that stays the same over time is the clearest sign it is benign. If you smoke, quitting lowers your risk of lung cancer from the day you stop. If you meet the guidelines, yearly lung cancer screening keeps watch on your lungs going forward.
Call if you develop new symptoms, if you miss a follow-up scan, or if you have a scan somewhere else that your team has not seen. Bring copies of earlier chest scans and your questions: how large the nodule is, how likely it is to be benign, when the next scan is, and what would change the plan.
Usually not. Most nodules are benign scars or areas of old inflammation. Your doctor will tell you how likely cancer is based on the nodule and your risk.
Most nodules never need removal, and surgery and biopsy have risks of their own. Watching with scans is a safe way to tell a harmless nodule from one that needs treatment.
It depends on the nodule. Solid nodules are usually watched for about two years; hazy, ground-glass nodules can be watched for five years, since they change slowly.
Follow-up scans use a low dose of radiation. Your care team spaces them so the benefit of watching the nodule outweighs the small risk.
Some nodules from a recent infection shrink or disappear. Most scars stay the same for life and cause no trouble.
Lung nodules are checked and treated by pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons and radiologists, with your primary care doctor following the plan with you.
Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital and Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital use an electromagnetic navigation system to guide bronchoscopy to small nodules for biopsy.
Thoracic surgeons remove a nodule that may be an early lung cancer, often through small robotic incisions.
Learn More About CancerLung specialists decide whether a nodule needs no follow-up, another scan or a biopsy, and perform the biopsy.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareRadiologists compare follow-up CT scans to see whether a nodule has grown or stayed the same.
Learn More About RadiologyLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions...
Learn More About Stereotactic Body Radiation TherapyLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen lymph node. There are two main kinds, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin, and many types within them. Many lymphomas respond well to treatment, and some can be cured.
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Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe a lump in your neck, armpit or groin has not gone away, or a scan for something else showed enlarged lymph nodes. Maybe you have already heard the word lymphoma from a doctor and want to know what it means. Most swollen lymph nodes come from infections and go down on their own, so a lasting one deserves a check rather than alarm.
Lymphoma is one of the three main kinds of blood cancer, along with leukemia and myeloma. It starts in lymphocytes, the infection-fighting cells that travel through your lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow and other tissue. Because lymph tissue is found throughout the body, lymphoma can start in many places.
There are more than 70 types of lymphoma, and the exact type shapes everything that follows. Some grow slowly over years and are watched before any treatment begins. Others grow quickly and are treated right away, often with very good results. This page explains the kinds of lymphoma, its signs, how it is found and how it is treated.
Your lymph system is a network of thin vessels and small, bean-shaped glands called lymph nodes. It carries lymphocytes around the body to fight infection. Lymphoma starts when lymphocytes change and grow out of control, building up in lymph nodes or in organs such as the spleen, stomach, skin or bone marrow.
Hodgkin lymphoma is the less common of the two main kinds. Under a microscope, it shows large abnormal cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. It usually starts in the nodes of the chest, neck or armpits and spreads in order from one group of nodes to the next. It is most often found in young adults and in people over 65, and it is one of the most curable cancers.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is far more common and includes many types. Most start in B cells; some start in T cells. Doctors also sort the types by how they grow:
Lymphoma can also start in the brain or spinal cord, called central nervous system lymphoma. It is found like other brain tumors and treated by hematologist-oncologists, usually with chemotherapy that reaches the brain.
Many people with lymphoma feel well at first.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Lymphoma begins with changes in the genes of a single lymphocyte. Most of these changes happen during a person's life rather than being passed down, and in most people no cause is ever found.
Some infections can lead to lymphoma by keeping the immune system switched on for a long time. The Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis, is linked to some Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas. A stomach infection called H. pylori can lead to a lymphoma of the stomach lining, and treating the infection can treat that lymphoma.
Most people with these risk factors never develop lymphoma. The hepatitis B vaccine and treating HIV lower known risks. There is no screening test for lymphoma.
The visit. Your doctor asks about your symptoms and checks for swollen lymph nodes or an enlarged spleen.
A lymph node biopsy. This is the test that confirms lymphoma. A surgeon removes a whole lymph node, or a radiologist takes a core of tissue with a needle guided by a scan. A pathologist then names the exact type. See biopsy.
Tests on the cells. Lab tests read the markers on the lymphoma cells and look for gene changes, which pin down the type and guide treatment. See molecular profiling.
Blood tests. These check your blood counts, organ function and signs of infection.
Imaging. A PET-CT scan or CT scan shows which lymph nodes and organs are involved. This sets the stage, from 1 (one area) to 4 (spread more widely).
A bone marrow test, for some types, to see whether lymphoma has reached the marrow.
Treatment depends on the type, the stage, how fast it is growing and your overall health.
For some slow-growing lymphomas that cause no symptoms, the best first step is active monitoring with regular visits and scans. Treatment starts when the lymphoma begins to cause problems.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team. Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for lymphoma.
Treatment and recovery can make you more open to infection. Wash your hands often, stay away from people who are sick, and ask your team which vaccines you need. Light activity, such as a daily walk, helps with tiredness, and a dietitian can help if you are losing weight.
If you are on active monitoring, keep every appointment and track how you feel between them. Counselors and support groups help with the waiting. After treatment, follow-up visits continue for years to check for the lymphoma returning and for late effects on the heart, lungs or thyroid.
Call your team if a swollen node returns or grows, if night sweats, fevers or weight loss start again, or if a side effect is not easing. Bring your medicines list and your questions: your exact type and stage, the goal of treatment and how you will know it is working.
Many lymphomas are. Hodgkin lymphoma and many fast-growing non-Hodgkin lymphomas are often cured. Slow-growing types are usually controlled for many years, with treatment when it is needed.
They start in different kinds of lymphocytes and look different under a microscope. Hodgkin lymphoma has Reed-Sternberg cells and spreads in a more predictable pattern. They are treated differently.
No. Both are blood cancers. Leukemia starts in the bone marrow and is found mostly in the blood, while lymphoma usually starts in the lymph nodes.
It depends on the drugs. Some chemotherapy for lymphoma causes hair loss, and hair grows back after treatment ends. Many immunotherapy and targeted drugs do not cause it.
Many people work through some or all of treatment. Talk with your team about timing and the side effects to plan for.
Lymphoma is treated by hematologist-oncologists, doctors who specialize in blood cancers, with radiation oncologists, pathologists, transplant specialists, nurses and pharmacists.
Hematologist-oncologists name the lymphoma type and stage, then treat it with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or CAR T-cells.
Learn More About CancerPathologists study a lymph node biopsy under the microscope to tell Hodgkin from non-Hodgkin and name the exact type.
Learn More About PathologyRadiologists read PET-CT scans that stage lymphoma and show whether treatment is working, and guide needle biopsies.
Learn More About RadiologyA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and more likely to spread, so early detection matters. Found early, it is usually cured with surgery, and newer medicines help many people with advanced melanoma.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
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Decided 2026-10-20
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Decided 2026-10-21
Hearing the word melanoma can be frightening, and it is natural to wonder right away whether it has spread. For most people the news is better than they fear: most melanomas are found while they are still thin and confined to the skin, and removing them is usually the only treatment needed.
Melanoma starts in melanocytes, the cells that make melanin, the pigment that colors your skin and helps protect it from the sun. When those cells are damaged, often by ultraviolet light, they can grow out of control. Melanoma can begin in an existing mole, though most start in skin that looked normal. Because it can travel to lymph nodes and other organs, your care team will look at how deep it goes and whether any cells have spread, and that guides every next step.
This page covers the signs of melanoma, its causes, how it is found and staged, the treatments available and life after treatment.
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It makes up a small share of skin cancers and causes most skin cancer deaths, which is why doctors take every suspicious mole seriously. It can affect adults of any age, including people in their 20s and 30s.
There are several kinds:
The ABCDEs help you spot a mole or spot that needs a look:
Also watch for an "ugly duckling" spot that looks different from your other moles, a firm bump that grows over weeks, a dark streak under a nail, or a spot that itches, crusts or bleeds.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most melanomas are linked to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun or tanning beds. UV light damages the DNA in melanocytes, and when the cell cannot repair it, the cell can start to multiply out of control. Intense, blistering sunburns, especially in childhood and the teen years, are strongly tied to melanoma. Some melanomas form on skin that rarely sees the sun, such as the soles or under the nails, where inherited changes and other factors play a larger role.
Your risk is higher if you:
When melanoma appears in several family members, shared sun habits are often the cause, and an inherited change is sometimes the cause. Genetic counseling can help sort out which.
Protecting your skin from UV light lowers your risk:
A doctor examines the spot, often with a dermatoscope, and removes it for a skin biopsy, usually taking the whole spot when possible. A pathologist measures how deep it reaches, called its thickness, and notes other features such as whether the surface is broken.
Those findings set the stage, from 0 (only in the top layer of skin) to IV (spread to distant organs). For melanomas thicker than about 0.8 millimeters, or thinner ones with a broken surface, a sentinel lymph node biopsy checks the first lymph nodes the cancer would reach (lymph node removal). For later stages, a CT scan, PET/CT scan or brain MRI may follow, and molecular profiling looks for changes, such as in the BRAF gene, that some medicines target.
Melanoma surgery is the main treatment for melanoma that has not spread. The surgeon removes the melanoma with a margin of healthy skin, wider for thicker melanomas, and often cures early melanoma by itself. Some early melanomas on the face may be treated with Mohs surgery. When cancer is found in lymph nodes, more nodes may be removed. Skin cancer reconstruction repairs larger wounds.
Radiation therapy may follow surgery in some cases, treat melanoma that has spread to the brain or bones, or ease symptoms.
Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
After treatment, follow-up visits check your skin and lymph nodes, often every few months at first and then less often. Most returns happen in the first five years, though a late return is possible. Your risk of a second melanoma is higher, so keep checking your skin monthly and protect it every day. Your parents, brothers, sisters and children benefit from their own skin checks.
Contact your team about any new or changing spot, a lump near your scar or in a lymph node area, or side effects from treatment. Bring your biopsy report and a list of your medicines. Ask what stage your melanoma is, whether you need a lymph node biopsy or scans, which treatments fit and why, and what follow-up schedule to expect.
Yes, most melanomas found early are cured with surgery. For melanoma that has spread, newer medicines control the disease for many people for years.
It varies. Some grow slowly over months or years; nodular melanoma can grow faster. Getting a changing spot checked promptly is the best protection.
Most people with early melanoma need surgery only. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy are the main medicines for higher-risk or advanced melanoma.
Most melanoma is not inherited, though a family history raises risk. Your children benefit from sun protection and regular skin checks.
It can, most often within five years. Regular follow-up visits and monthly self-checks help find it early.
Melanoma is treated by dermatologists, surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and plastic surgeons, working together.
Cancer specialists treat melanoma that is deep or has spread, with surgery, immunotherapy or targeted medicines.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists check moles and biopsy any that change, which is how most melanomas are found early.
Learn More About DermatologySkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgeryOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost anywhere, most often in the intestines, pancreas, appendix, rectum and lungs. Many grow slowly, some make hormones that cause symptoms, and most can be treated or controlled for a long time.
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Decided 2026-10-20
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Decided 2026-10-21
A neuroendocrine tumor is often found by surprise: during an appendix operation, on a colonoscopy, or on a scan done for something else. Others are found after months of flushing, diarrhea or belly pain that seemed to have no explanation. Either way, the name is unfamiliar to most people, and the first questions are what it is and how serious.
Neuroendocrine cells are spread throughout the body. They receive signals from nerves and answer by releasing hormones that control things such as digestion, blood sugar and breathing. When these cells grow out of control, they form a neuroendocrine tumor, often shortened to NET. You may also hear the older name carcinoid tumor.
These tumors vary more than most cancers. Many grow so slowly that people live with them for years, while a smaller group grows quickly. Where the tumor started, how fast its cells are dividing and whether it makes hormones all shape the plan your team makes with you.
This page covers the types, signs and causes of neuroendocrine tumors, how they are found and the treatments available.
Neuroendocrine tumors are uncommon, and they are found more often now that scans and colonoscopies are routine. They are named for where they start:
Doctors also sort them by how they behave:
Many NETs cause no symptoms for years. When they do, signs depend on where the tumor is and what it makes:
Flushing, diarrhea and wheezing together are called carcinoid syndrome. It usually means a tumor has reached the liver and its hormones are reaching the bloodstream.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
NETs begin when changes in a neuroendocrine cell's DNA let it grow out of control. For most people, what causes those changes is unknown, and no avoidable cause has been found. A small share of tumors come from an inherited gene change passed down in a family.
Most people with a NET have no known risk factor. Things linked to a higher chance include:
Diagnosis starts with your history and an exam. Tests may include:
Some people are also offered genetic counseling to look for an inherited syndrome.
Treatment depends on where the tumor is, its grade, whether it makes hormones and whether it has spread.
Surgery is the main treatment for a tumor that has not spread, and it can cure it. A small tumor in the rectum or stomach can sometimes be removed through an endoscope. When a tumor has reached the liver, removing what can be removed, tumor ablation, tumor embolization or radioembolization can shrink or control it.
Radiation therapy may ease pain or treat a tumor that surgery cannot reach.
Some small, slow-growing tumors are watched with regular scans before any treatment. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page to see those open for neuroendocrine tumors. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Many people live with a NET as a long-term condition, with treatment and scans spread over years. Keeping a diary of flushing, diarrhea and what sets them off, such as alcohol, large meals or stress, helps your team adjust your medicine. A dietitian can help if diarrhea makes it hard to keep weight on. People with carcinoid syndrome have regular heart checks, because the hormones can affect heart valves. Support groups and integrative medicine help you and your family cope.
Contact your team if your symptoms change or a new one appears. Before any surgery or procedure, tell every doctor you have a NET, since you may need medicine beforehand. Bring a list of your medicines and supplements and your questions: where the tumor started, its grade, whether it makes hormones, and how often you need scans.
Most can spread and are treated as cancer, though many grow very slowly. Your pathology report gives the grade, which tells you how it is likely to behave.
Flushing and diarrhea look like many common problems, and many tumors cause no symptoms at all. Long delays before diagnosis are common with NETs.
Many people do, working and traveling for years with regular monitoring. A slow-growing tumor that has spread can often be controlled for a long time.
If the tumor is removed completely, you will have follow-up scans. If it has spread, you may take a monthly shot or other treatment for years, adjusted as needed.
Ask about genetic counseling, especially if you are young, have more than one tumor, or have relatives with similar tumors.
Neuroendocrine tumors are treated by surgical oncologists, endocrinologists, gastroenterologists, medical oncologists, interventional radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians, working together.
Surgeons and oncologists remove or control neuroendocrine tumors, many of which grow slowly over years.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists find many of these tumors during colonoscopy or endoscopy and can remove small ones.
Learn More About Digestive HealthEndocrinologists test hormone levels and treat the flushing, diarrhea and blood sugar changes these tumors cause.
Learn More About EndocrinologyAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersPancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control...
Learn More About Pancreatic CancerThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or feeling full fast, are easy to mistake for everyday problems, so a change that lasts deserves a check. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat it.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because bloating or belly pain kept coming back, because a scan found a mass on an ovary, or because a doctor has just told you the word cancer. A mass on an ovary is common, and most are cysts or growths that are not cancer, so the first step is finding out exactly what it is.
Ovarian cancer is less common than many other cancers, and it can be hard to find early because there is no screening test that works for people at average risk. Many of these cancers are now thought to start in the fallopian tubes and spread to the ovaries, which is why ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers are treated as one disease. Treatment has improved, and newer medicines help many people keep the cancer under control for longer.
This page explains what ovarian cancer is, the signs to know, what raises the risk, how it is found and treated, and what life can look like during and after treatment.
Ovarian cancer forms when cells in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the peritoneum, the lining of the belly, grow out of control. It is one of the gynecologic cancers. About 1 in 91 women will be diagnosed with it in their lifetime, and about half are 63 or older at diagnosis.
The main kinds are:
Early ovarian cancer often causes no symptoms, or symptoms that feel like common stomach or bladder problems. Signs can include:
What sets these apart is that they are new and happen most days. If one of them lasts more than a few weeks, see your doctor.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Ovarian cancer starts when cells build up changes in their genes that let them grow out of control. Most of these changes happen during a person's life and have no known cause. About 1 in 5 ovarian cancers comes from an inherited gene change, most often in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes or the genes of Lynch syndrome. Many high-grade serous cancers are thought to begin in cells at the end of the fallopian tube.
Some risk factors are part of who you are or your history:
Others are linked to health and medicines:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get ovarian cancer.
There is no routine screening for ovarian cancer for people at average risk, because the tests available have not been shown to save lives. Some things lower the risk. Taking birth control pills for several years, pregnancy and breastfeeding are each linked to a lower risk. Some people choose to have their fallopian tubes removed when they have surgery for another reason, or instead of having their tubes tied.
For people with a BRCA change or Lynch syndrome, surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes after childbearing lowers the risk by a great deal. Genetic counseling helps you weigh the timing and choices if ovarian or breast cancer runs in your family.
Your doctor starts with your symptoms, your family history and a pelvic exam. Tests that help include:
Everyone diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer is advised to have genetic testing, and the tumor itself may have molecular profiling. Both help choose medicines.
Most people have both surgery and chemotherapy. Your plan depends on the type, the stage, your health and your wishes, including whether you hope to have children.
Surgery by a gynecologic oncologist both stages the cancer and removes as much of it as possible. It often removes the uterus, both ovaries and fallopian tubes, the omentum (a fatty layer in the belly) and nearby lymph nodes. When cancer has spread through the belly, the surgeon may remove tissue from other organs too, and guidelines favor an open operation. Some early cancers can be removed through small incisions with robotic surgery. For some early or germ cell cancers in young women, surgery can leave one ovary and the uterus so pregnancy stays possible. Some people with advanced cancer are candidates for HIPEC, heated chemotherapy given inside the belly during surgery.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Removing both ovaries brings on menopause for anyone who has not reached it, and your team can help with hot flashes, sleep and bone health. Chemotherapy can cause tiredness, hair loss and numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, and many of these ease after treatment ends. Eating small meals often helps when your belly feels full. After treatment, you will have regular visits, exams and sometimes CA-125 tests and scans. Some people take a maintenance medicine for months or years. Integrative medicine such as counseling, nutrition, yoga and arts programs, cancer rehabilitation and support groups help many people through treatment and after.
Contact your team about new bloating, belly pain, trouble eating or side effects. Bring your medicines, your family history of cancer and your questions: what type and stage the cancer is, what surgery will remove, whether genetic testing is advised, and what maintenance treatment might mean for you.
No. A Pap test checks the cervix for cervical cancer. Tell your doctor about any lasting bloating, belly pain or change in eating.
Usually not. Most ovarian masses are not cancer. Imaging, blood tests and sometimes surgery tell them apart.
If you have a BRCA or Lynch syndrome change, your parents, siblings and children can be tested too. Genetic counseling helps your family decide.
It can, especially when it is found at a later stage. Maintenance medicines lower that chance, and a cancer that returns can often be treated again.
If both ovaries are removed and you have not reached menopause, yes. Your team can help with the symptoms and with protecting your bones and heart.
Ovarian cancer is cared for by gynecologic oncologists, medical oncologists, genetic counselors and nurse navigators.
Gynecologic oncologists stage and remove ovarian cancer in surgery, then plan chemotherapy and maintenance medicines.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists read transvaginal ultrasound and CT scans that size an ovarian mass and show whether cancer has spread.
Learn More About RadiologyGynecologists evaluate pelvic masses and lasting bloating with ultrasound and refer a suspicious mass for cancer care.
Learn More About Women'sGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that...
Learn More About Uterine CancerGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistPancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control blood sugar. It often causes few signs early on, so a fast, clear plan matters. Treatment combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, chosen for where the tumor is and how far it reaches.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Hearing the words pancreatic cancer can stop you in your tracks, and it is natural to search for answers right away. You may have had a scan for belly or back pain, yellowing skin or weight loss you could not explain, or a doctor may have found something during a test for another reason.
The pancreas makes the juices that break down food and the hormones, such as insulin, that keep blood sugar steady. Most pancreatic cancers start in the cells that line its ducts. Because the pancreas lies deep in the belly, a tumor can grow for some time before it causes trouble, which is why many people learn of it after it has begun to spread.
What happens next depends on whether the tumor can be removed, and that is decided by detailed scans and a team of specialists looking at them together. Treatments keep improving.
This page covers the signs of pancreatic cancer, its causes, how it is found, the treatments available and life during and after treatment.
The pancreas is about six inches long and shaped a little like a flat pear, tucked behind the stomach near the spine. A tumor may start in the head, the wide end beside the small intestine, or in the body and tail.
There are two main groups:
Some fluid-filled growths, called cystic neoplasms, can turn into cancer over years. Many are watched with regular scans, and some are removed.
It is found most often in people over 65.
Early pancreatic cancer often causes no symptoms. As a tumor grows, you may notice:
Many of these signs have more common causes, and a doctor can find out which.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Pancreatic cancer begins when changes in the DNA of pancreas cells let them grow out of control. What sets off those changes is not fully understood. Some are inherited, and most build up over a lifetime. In most people, no single cause is ever found, and nothing you did or did not do is to blame.
You are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get pancreatic cancer, and many people who get it have none.
There is no sure way to prevent pancreatic cancer, but some steps lower the risk:
There is no screening test for people at average risk. If pancreatic cancer runs in your family, ask about genetic counseling; some people at high risk are offered regular scans.
Diagnosis starts with your symptoms, your history and an exam. Tests may include:
Doctors then place the cancer in one of four groups: resectable (it can be removed), borderline resectable, locally advanced, or metastatic (it has spread to distant organs).
Treatment usually combines surgery, chemotherapy and sometimes radiation, chosen for your group, your health and your wishes.
Surgery offers the best chance of long-term control when the whole tumor can be removed. The Whipple procedure removes the head of the pancreas with part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and nearby lymph nodes. A distal pancreatectomy removes the body and tail, often with the spleen. Both can sometimes be done through small incisions, with robotic help. Learn more about pancreatic surgery and robotic surgery.
Chemotherapy is part of almost every plan. It may come before surgery to shrink the tumor, after surgery to lower the chance of return, or as the main treatment when surgery is not possible. Targeted therapy may help when profiling finds a matching gene change, and immunotherapy helps a small group of tumors with certain features. Many people receive treatment through infusion therapy.
Radiation therapy, including stereotactic body radiation therapy and proton therapy, may be used with chemotherapy or to ease pain.
A small tube called a stent can hold a blocked bile duct open. Medicines and nerve blocks ease pain.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page to see those open for pancreatic cancer. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Eating well is one of the hardest parts of treatment. A dietitian can help you keep weight on, and enzyme capsules taken with meals help your body absorb food. Your blood sugar may need watching, especially after surgery. A short walk most days helps with tiredness. Supportive and palliative care, which focuses on comfort and quality of life, can begin at diagnosis alongside treatment. Counseling and integrative medicine help you and your family cope. After treatment, you will have regular visits and scans.
Contact your team if your symptoms change, if eating becomes hard, or if pain is not controlled. Bring a list of your medicines and supplements, the names of relatives who have had cancer, and your questions: which group your cancer is in, whether surgery is possible, what treatment comes first, and who to call after hours.
It can be when the whole tumor is removed with surgery, usually along with chemotherapy. When surgery is not possible, treatment can control the cancer, ease symptoms and help you live longer and feel better.
Detailed scans show whether the tumor touches major blood vessels, which decides whether surgery comes first or chemotherapy does.
Many people do, and your care team expects it. A second look at your scans can confirm the plan before major surgery.
Often, yes. Smaller, more frequent meals, enzyme capsules and help from a dietitian make eating easier and help you keep up your strength.
Doctors now suggest genetic testing for everyone with pancreatic cancer. If a gene change is found, relatives can learn their own risk through genetic counseling.
Pancreatic cancer is treated by surgical oncologists, gastroenterologists who specialize in endoscopy, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, working together.
Pancreatic surgeons and oncologists combine surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in one plan for pancreatic cancer.
Learn More About CancerEndoscopy specialists take biopsies by endoscopic ultrasound and place stents to open a blocked bile duct.
Learn More About Digestive HealthSurgeons perform the Whipple procedure and distal pancreatectomy, often through small incisions with robotic help.
Learn More About General SurgeryNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very rare, and most problems with these glands are not cancer. The usual first sign is a high calcium level. Surgery to remove the gland and the tissue around it is the main treatment.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a routine blood test showed a high calcium level, and more tests pointed to a parathyroid gland. Perhaps you have felt tired, thirsty or achy for a while, or had a kidney stone. Or a surgeon has told you that a gland removed during an operation turned out to be cancer. Each of these is a lot to take in.
Parathyroid problems are common, and almost all of them come from a benign growth called an adenoma. Parathyroid cancer is rare: fewer than one in a hundred people with an overactive parathyroid gland have it. It tends to grow slowly, and surgery that removes all of it gives the best chance of a cure.
This page explains what the parathyroid glands do, the signs of a high calcium level, how parathyroid cancer is found and how it is treated.
Most people have four parathyroid glands, each about the size of a grain of rice, usually behind the thyroid gland in the lower front of the neck. They make parathyroid hormone, which keeps the calcium in your blood in a narrow, healthy range. Calcium matters for your bones, nerves, muscles and heart.
When a parathyroid gland grows and makes too much hormone, calcium in the blood climbs. This is called hyperparathyroidism. It has three possible causes:
Parathyroid cancer usually makes much more hormone than an adenoma, so calcium levels tend to be higher. Over time it can return in the neck or spread to the lungs, bones or liver, which is why follow-up care continues for years. A small group of parathyroid cancers make no extra hormone and are found as a lump in the neck.
The parathyroid glands are part of the endocrine system. Learn more about the related cancers on the endocrine cancer page.
Most signs come from a high calcium level. They can build slowly and are easy to blame on something else:
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Parathyroid cancer begins when changes in a gland cell's DNA let it grow out of control. For most people, what causes those changes is unknown, and no habit or exposure has been shown to cause it. A small share of cases are linked to an inherited gene change.
Most people with parathyroid cancer have no known risk factor. Things linked to a higher chance include:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will develop parathyroid cancer.
Diagnosis starts with a physical exam, including a feel of your neck, and a detailed history of your health and your family's.
Surgery is the preferred treatment. Medicines and other treatments help control calcium and treat cancer that returns.
When cancer is suspected before surgery, the surgeon removes the gland in one piece along with the tissue around it, which may include part of the thyroid gland and nearby lymph nodes. Removing it whole, with a margin of healthy tissue, gives the best chance of a cure. A benign adenoma is often removed through a small incision, about an inch wide, in a minimally invasive radioguided parathyroidectomy. When the gland proves to be cancer only after it is removed, a second operation may be advised. Learn more about cancer surgery. If the cancer returns, more surgery is often the first choice.
Radiation therapy may be given to the neck after surgery, or to ease bone pain where cancer has spread.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Right after surgery, your calcium can drop below normal for a while, and you may take calcium and vitamin D pills until it returns to normal. After that, blood tests for calcium and parathyroid hormone continue for life, because a rise is often the first sign the cancer has returned, sometimes years later. Drinking enough water helps your kidneys while calcium is high. A bone density scan tracks how your bones recover. Integrative medicine and support groups help you and your family cope.
Contact your team if the tiredness, thirst or aches you had before surgery come back, or if a lab result shows your calcium rising. Bring a list of your medicines and supplements, including any calcium or vitamin D, and your questions: whether all the cancer was removed, how often your blood is checked and what a change would mean.
Rarely. Most high calcium from a parathyroid gland comes from a benign adenoma. Your tests and the surgery give the answer.
Parathyroid cancer can look like a benign growth on scans, and a needle biopsy is usually avoided. A pathologist studying the whole gland makes the diagnosis.
Yes. The remaining glands usually keep your calcium normal, though it can take a few weeks after surgery for them to take over.
Sometimes, for a short time after surgery while the other glands recover. Your team checks your blood and tells you when to stop.
It can, sometimes years later, which is why your calcium and hormone levels are checked for life. Found early, a return can often be treated with more surgery.
Parathyroid cancer is treated by endocrine and head and neck surgeons, endocrinologists, pathologists, radiologists and oncologists, working together.
Surgeons remove the affected gland with the tissue around it, the treatment most likely to cure parathyroid cancer.
Learn More About CancerHead and neck surgeons operate in the neck to remove parathyroid tumors while protecting the voice nerves.
Learn More About ENT / OtolaryngologyEndocrinologists track calcium and parathyroid hormone for life, since a rise can be the first sign of a return.
Learn More About EndocrinologyEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or...
Learn More About Thyroid CancerA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An...
Learn More About Thyroid NodulesA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in skin color. Found early, it can often be treated in ways that keep the penis and how it works.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Perhaps you have noticed a sore, a growth or a patch of changed skin on your penis that has not gone away. Perhaps a biopsy has already shown cancer. It is a hard thing to talk about, and many men wait months before seeing a doctor. Urologists see these concerns often, and an early visit makes a real difference.
Penile cancer is rare in the United States. Most cases are squamous cell carcinoma, which begins in the flat cells of the skin, most often on the head of the penis or the foreskin. It usually grows slowly and is visible, which means it can be found early.
When it is caught early, penile cancer can often be treated with creams, laser, a minor operation or surgery that removes only the affected skin. For cancer that has grown deeper, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are effective, and reconstruction can restore appearance and function.
This page covers the symptoms, causes, risk factors, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of penile cancer.
Penile cancer begins when cells in or on the penis grow out of control. It accounts for fewer than 1 percent of cancers in men in the United States, and most men diagnosed are over 55.
Most penile cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. Rarer types include melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and sarcoma. Before cancer forms, the skin may show precancerous changes called penile intraepithelial neoplasia, or carcinoma in situ, which affect only the top layer of skin and can be treated before they become invasive.
Penile cancer can spread first to the lymph nodes in the groin, which is why doctors check those nodes closely. It is part of the family of urologic cancers.
The first sign is usually a change in the skin, most often on the head of the penis or the foreskin:
Many of these changes have other causes, such as infections or skin conditions. Any change that lasts more than four weeks should be checked by a doctor.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Penile cancer starts with changes in the DNA of skin cells. Infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) causes many of these changes; HPV is linked to about half of penile cancers. Other cancers develop after years of irritation and inflammation under the foreskin, especially when it cannot be pulled back to clean.
You are more likely to develop penile cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get penile cancer.
You can lower your risk:
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and examine your penis and the lymph nodes in your groin. Tests may include:
Treatment depends on the stage and location of the cancer. Whenever it is safe, the goal is to remove all the cancer while keeping as much of the penis and its function as possible.
Precancer and very early cancers on the surface may be treated with a cream, such as imiquimod or fluorouracil, applied over several weeks. Laser treatment and freezing (cryotherapy) destroy the abnormal skin.
Surgeons may use minimally invasive techniques for lymph node surgery, which can mean less pain and a shorter recovery.
Radiation therapy can treat some small tumors while keeping the penis, and can treat the lymph nodes. Chemotherapy is used before surgery to shrink large lymph nodes, after surgery when the cancer has spread, and for advanced cancer.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team. Clinical trials may also be an option; see the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Follow-up is frequent at first, often every few months for the first two years, because that is when penile cancer is most likely to return. Learn to check your penis and groin, and report changes early.
Treatment can change how you urinate, your sex life and how you feel about your body. Many men keep sexual function after organ-sparing surgery. Counseling, support groups and reconstructive surgery can help, and your care team can connect you with them.
Contact your team about any new sore, lump or groin swelling, trouble urinating or changes after treatment. Bring your medicine list and your questions: what stage the cancer is, whether organ-sparing treatment is possible, what treatment means for urination and sex, and whether reconstruction is an option.
No, but HPV, which is spread through sexual contact, causes many penile cancers. The cancer itself cannot pass to a partner.
Most men with early cancer do not. Creams, laser and surgery that removes only the affected skin are used whenever they can treat the cancer safely.
Many men can, especially after organ-sparing treatment. Your care team can talk with you about what to expect and what can help.
Circumcision in childhood lowers the risk, mostly by preventing phimosis and irritation. Daily washing under the foreskin, the HPV vaccine and not smoking also lower risk.
They are the first place penile cancer usually spreads. Checking them shows whether more treatment is needed.
Penile cancer is treated by urologists and urologic oncologists, often with radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and reconstructive surgeons.
Reconstructive surgeons use skin grafts and other repairs to restore the look and function of the penis after surgery.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveRadiation and medical oncologists treat penile cancer that has reached the lymph nodes or spread further.
Learn More About CancerUrologists biopsy changes on the penis and perform organ-sparing surgery, penectomy and groin node removal.
Learn More About UrologyUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to...
Learn More About Testicular CancerA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistPeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from cancers of the appendix, colon, stomach or ovary. Treatment depends on where it started, and Orlando Health care teams offer medicine and, for some people, surgery with HIPEC.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a scan showed spots on the lining of your belly, because fluid has been building up in your abdomen, or because a surgeon found cancer there during an operation. Hearing that a cancer has spread can feel like the ground has shifted. There are more ways to treat cancer in the belly lining today than there were even a decade ago, and for some people treatment can control it for a long time.
The peritoneum is a smooth layer of tissue that lines the inside of the belly and covers organs such as the intestines and liver. Cancer cells can travel from a tumor across this lining and form small growths. Because the peritoneum has a limited blood supply, chemotherapy given through a vein reaches it less well, which is one reason surgeons and oncologists plan treatment for it together.
This page explains what peritoneal carcinomatosis is, the signs to watch for, how it is found and treated, and what life with it can look like.
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is cancer that has spread to, or started in, the peritoneum. It is not a single cancer. It is named and treated by the cancer it comes from, so colon cancer in the peritoneum is still colon cancer and is treated with that cancer's medicines.
The most common sources are:
Small growths often cause no symptoms and are found on a scan or during surgery. As they grow, signs can include:
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most peritoneal carcinomatosis happens when cells break away from a tumor in a nearby organ and attach to the belly lining, where they grow into many small tumors. This can happen when a tumor grows through the wall of the organ or when a tumor opens during a rupture or an operation. Less often, cancer starts in the peritoneum itself, as with peritoneal mesothelioma, which is linked to asbestos exposure, or primary peritoneal cancer.
The main risk factor is having one of the cancers that can spread to the lining. The chance is higher when:
For mesothelioma, past exposure to asbestos is the main risk factor.
Your team uses several tests to see how much of the lining is involved and where the cancer began:
Surgeons often score how much of the belly is involved. That score helps decide whether surgery to remove all the visible tumor is possible.
Your plan depends on where the cancer started, how much of the lining is involved, your health and what matters to you.
Chemotherapy is the main treatment for many people, chosen for the cancer it came from. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are added when the tumor's features call for them.
For carefully chosen people, surgery called cytoreductive surgery removes all the tumor the surgeon can see. It may include removing parts of the lining and organs such as the gallbladder, spleen or part of the intestine. It is often followed in the same operation by HIPEC: heated chemotherapy circulated through the belly for 90 to 120 minutes, then drained. HIPEC works best when all visible tumor can be removed and for certain tumor types, especially pseudomyxoma peritonei from the appendix. Some people with colon, ovarian or stomach cancer may also be candidates. Your overall health, organ function, nutrition and the amount of disease all guide the decision.
Draining fluid with a needle, placing a drain at home, or a procedure to relieve a blocked bowel can ease pressure and help you eat and breathe more easily. Palliative care can start at any stage.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC is a major operation. It can last many hours, and hospital stays can run two weeks or more, followed by several weeks of recovery at home. Eating often changes for a while, and a dietitian helps you regain weight and strength. Some people live with the condition over years, with treatment that starts and pauses. Regular scans and tumor marker tests watch for change. A nurse navigator helps coordinate visits, and cancer rehabilitation, support groups and integrative therapies help with energy, mood and sleep.
Contact your team about a growing belly, new pain, trouble eating or side effects. Bring your medicines and your questions: where the cancer started, how much of the lining is involved, whether surgery with HIPEC could be an option, and what each treatment aims to do.
For the digestive cancers it counts as stage 4, because the cancer has spread; for ovarian cancer, spread within the belly is stage 3. Either way there are real treatment choices, and some people do well for years.
People whose visible tumor can all be removed, whose tumor type responds, and who are healthy enough for a long operation. A surgeon who performs it can tell you.
Yes. A needle drain can remove it in a short visit, and a drain left in place lets you remove fluid at home.
Many people eat smaller meals for a while. A dietitian can help with foods that are easier to digest and keep up your strength.
Yes. Asking for one is common with this diagnosis, and your team can share your scans and reports.
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is cared for by surgical oncologists, colorectal surgeons, medical oncologists, gynecologic oncologists, radiologists, dietitians and nurse navigators.
The Orlando Health Colon and Rectal Institute also offers cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC.
Oncologists treat cancer on the belly lining with chemotherapy, and for some people surgery with HIPEC.
Learn More About CancerSurgeons perform the diagnostic laparoscopy and the cytoreductive surgery that removes visible tumor.
Learn More About General SurgeryRadiologists read the scans that map spread on the lining and drain belly fluid with a needle.
Learn More About RadiologyAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or...
Learn More About Stomach CancerPancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control...
Learn More About Pancreatic CancerOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. It is common, it has a cause, and medicines, therapy and procedures can ease it.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Most of the soreness from breast surgery fades within a few weeks to a few months. For some people, a different kind of pain stays: burning, shooting or tingling along the chest wall, in the armpit or down the arm, sometimes set off by the touch of clothing. It can arrive just as the rest of life after cancer is getting back to normal, and it can feel like something you are expected to put up with.
You do not have to. This kind of pain is called post-mastectomy pain syndrome, and it comes from nerves that were stretched or cut during surgery and healed in an irritated way. It is a recognized condition with a name, a known cause and real treatments. Many people feel better with medicine for nerve pain and physical therapy, and for pain that comes from one scarred nerve, a procedure can help.
This page explains what causes this pain, who is more likely to have it, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated.
Post-mastectomy pain syndrome is nerve pain, also called neuropathic pain, that continues after breast cancer surgery in the chest wall, armpit, arm or shoulder. Doctors usually use the name when the pain lasts beyond the normal healing time of about three months. Despite the name, it can follow any breast surgery, including a lumpectomy, and surgery to remove lymph nodes from the underarm.
Studies suggest that 20 to 30 percent of people have it after a mastectomy. It has become less common as surgeons remove fewer lymph nodes than they once did. The pain can be mild or severe, constant or on and off, and it can limit how you use your arm.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Many nerves run through the chest wall and underarm on their way to the breast and arm. During breast surgery, and especially when lymph nodes are removed from the underarm, some of these nerves are stretched, bruised or cut. One nerve that is often affected supplies feeling to the inner upper arm.
Nerves heal in unpredictable ways. A cut nerve can form a small, tender knot of scar called a neuroma, which fires pain signals when pressed or tapped. Scar tissue can also trap a nerve. Radiation to the area can add to the irritation. More than one neuroma can form after a single surgery.
You are more likely to develop post-mastectomy pain if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will have this pain, and many people with none of them still do.
There is no blood test or scan that shows post-mastectomy pain, so diagnosis rests on your story and an exam. Your doctor asks when the pain started, what it feels like, where it travels and what sets it off. A key sign is pain you can bring on by pressing or tapping a specific spot, which points to a scarred nerve.
Your doctor also checks for other causes, such as a frozen shoulder, an infection, a problem with an implant, or lymphedema, which is swelling after lymph nodes are removed. Imaging such as ultrasound or MRI may be used to rule these out.
If one nerve seems to be the source, your doctor may suggest a diagnostic nerve block: a shot of numbing medicine at the tender spot. If the pain goes away while the area is numb, that nerve is the likely cause, which helps show whether a procedure could help.
Treatment often combines several approaches, and the aim is less pain and better use of your arm.
Medicines made for nerve pain are the usual first step. These include gabapentin or pregabalin, and certain antidepressants such as duloxetine or venlafaxine, which ease nerve pain at their own doses. Creams or patches with lidocaine or capsaicin can numb a small painful area. Ordinary pain relievers help some people less with nerve pain. Your care team adjusts the medicine and dose to you.
Physical therapy and cancer rehabilitation help loosen the shoulder, stretch tight tissue and scars, and slowly retrain the skin to tolerate touch. Lymphedema therapy helps where swelling adds to the pain. Counseling, relaxation and guided imagery can lower how much the pain takes over daily life.
Steroid injections at a tender spot, given early, may slow scarring around a nerve. Nerve blocks can ease pain for weeks or longer. When a neuroma is found, surgery can remove it, often through the old scar; the surgeon may bury or wrap the nerve end in nearby muscle so it does not form a new neuroma. Many people have lasting results.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Keep a simple pain diary: when it hurts, how much, and what sets it off or helps. Soft, tag-free clothing and a well-fitted post-surgery bra can ease touch-sensitive skin. Daily movement of the arm and shoulder, as your therapist teaches, prevents stiffness. Warmth or cool packs help some people. Sleep, activity and mood all affect pain, so tell your team if any of them is suffering. Support groups for breast cancer survivors help many people feel less alone with pain others cannot see.
Talk to your team if pain lasts more than a few months after surgery, gets worse, or keeps you from work, sleep or exercise. Bring your pain diary, a list of your medicines and the dates of your surgery and any radiation. Questions to ask: whether this is nerve pain, which treatments fit you, what side effects to expect, and whether a referral to a pain specialist or surgeon makes sense.
Usually not. This pain comes from nerves injured during surgery. Any new lump, swelling or change near your scar still needs to be checked.
It varies. For some people it eases over months or a few years; for others it lasts longer without treatment. Treatment can shorten it and lower its intensity.
Yes. It can follow any breast surgery, especially when lymph nodes are removed from the underarm.
Not necessarily. Some people take nerve pain medicine for a period and then taper off. Others find a procedure ends the need for it.
It can go either way. Reconstruction is a separate surgery with its own healing, and some people need treatment for nerve pain afterward. Talk with your surgeon about your own case.
Post-mastectomy pain is treated by breast surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, pain specialists, and physical and lymphedema therapists.
Your cancer team checks lasting chest or arm pain after breast surgery and plans its treatment.
Learn More About CancerPain specialists offer nerve blocks and other treatments for nerve pain that lingers after a mastectomy.
Learn More About Pain ManagementBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk...
Learn More About MastectomyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRICancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and when found early, many men have several good choices for care.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe a PSA blood test came back higher than expected, or your doctor felt something during an exam. Maybe you have already been told you have prostate cancer and you are trying to understand what comes next. Either way, you likely have a lot of questions, and it is normal to feel shaken.
Here is what most men find reassuring once they learn more. Prostate cancer is very common, and most of it grows slowly. Many men live for years with a prostate cancer that never causes them harm. Others have a faster-growing type that needs treatment, and finding it before it spreads gives them the widest range of options.
There is rarely a need to decide anything in a single day. Your care team will look at how your cancer behaves, how far it has gone and what matters most to you, then walk you through the options, from watching the cancer closely to surgery, radiation and medicines.
The prostate is about the size of a walnut. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body, just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Prostate cancer forms when cells in the gland begin to grow out of control.
Almost all prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, which start in the gland cells that make prostate fluid. Rare types grow faster and are treated differently.
About 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. It is rare before 40, and about 6 in 10 cases are found in men 65 or older.
Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms, so many cases are found through a blood test. Later symptoms may include:
An enlarged prostate or an infection causes most of these far more often than cancer does. They still deserve a visit to your doctor.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Prostate cancer starts with changes in the DNA of prostate cells that switch off the controls telling a cell when to stop growing. Most of these changes build up over a lifetime; some are inherited from a parent.
Male hormones, such as testosterone, help prostate cancer cells grow, which is why lowering them is one way to treat it.
You are more likely to develop prostate cancer if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get prostate cancer. No step is proven to prevent it, though a healthy weight, regular exercise, a smoke-free life and a diet rich in vegetables may lower the risk of an aggressive cancer. A vasectomy does not raise your risk, and vitamin E and selenium supplements have not been shown to help.
Most prostate cancers are found during prostate cancer screening, with a PSA blood test, a digital rectal exam or both. An abnormal result leads to a closer look.
Your PSA, Grade Group and stage together set a risk group, which guides your choices.
For a small, slow-growing cancer, active surveillance is often the recommended first choice. You have regular PSA tests, MRI scans and sometimes repeat biopsies, and treatment starts if the cancer grows. Many men avoid treatment side effects for years this way.
A radical prostatectomy removes the whole prostate and nearby tissue. Most are now done with robotic surgery through a few small incisions. For some early cancers confined to one area, a focal treatment destroys only the cancer and spares the rest of the gland, using focused ultrasound (HIFU), freezing (cryoablation) or water vapor.
Radiation therapy can cure prostate cancer that has not spread. Options include external beam radiation over several weeks, stereotactic body radiation therapy in about five sessions, proton therapy and radioactive seeds. A gel rectal spacer can protect the rectum during radiation.
Hormone therapy lowers testosterone or blocks it from reaching the cancer. It is often paired with radiation and leads treatment for cancer that has spread. Other medicines include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and radioligand therapy, such as lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan (Pluvicto), which delivers radiation straight to the cancer cells.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team, and many men meet with a urologist, a radiation oncologist and sometimes a medical oncologist before deciding. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Most side effects improve with time and help. Leaking urine is common for weeks or months after surgery, and pelvic floor exercises and cancer rehabilitation speed recovery. Erection problems after surgery or radiation can be treated with medicines and devices.
Hormone therapy can cause hot flashes, tiredness, loss of sex drive and thinner bones; staying active helps.
After treatment you will have regular PSA tests, since a rising PSA is often the first sign of a return. If cancer reaches the bones, see bone metastasis. Talking with other survivors, a counselor or your partner helps with the changes to your body and relationships.
Call if a side effect is not improving or you have new pain or urinary changes. Before a treatment decision, bring your medicines list and your questions: your Grade Group and risk group, whether active surveillance fits, and how each treatment could affect urinary, bowel and sexual function.
Often not. Many low-risk cancers are safely watched, and even when treatment is advised there is usually time for a second opinion.
Some men have leaking or erection problems, depending on age, health and the treatment chosen. Most leaking improves over months, and erection problems can be treated.
It describes how abnormal the cancer cells look. A 6 (Grade Group 1) grows slowly; 8 to 10 (Grade Groups 4 and 5) grows faster.
For cancer that has not spread, both offer similar chances of cure. They differ in recovery and side effects, so the right choice depends on your cancer, your health and what matters most to you.
If you have an inherited gene change, or several relatives have had prostate, breast or ovarian cancer, your sons and brothers may need earlier screening.
Urologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists treat prostate cancer, often together.
Radiation and medical oncologists treat prostate cancer with radiation, hormone therapy and newer medicines.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists read the prostate MRI and PSMA PET scans that find, aim at and stage prostate cancer.
Learn More About RadiologyUrologists diagnose prostate cancer with MRI-guided biopsy and remove the prostate with robotic surgery.
Learn More About UrologyBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to...
Learn More About Testicular CancerUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and...
Learn More About Prostate Cancer ScreeningAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it before it starts. Treatment often combines medicine, radiation and surgery, and Orlando Health care teams plan each step with you to protect bowel control where they can.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be reading this after a colonoscopy found a growth in the rectum, after rectal bleeding led to tests, or after a doctor said the words rectal cancer for the first time. Rectal cancer is very treatable, especially when found early, and treatment has changed a great deal in recent years.
The rectum is where stool is held until a bowel movement. Because it lies deep in the pelvis, close to the muscles that control the bowels, rectal cancer is often treated differently from colon cancer. Many people have chemotherapy and radiation before any surgery, and some respond so well that surgery can wait or may not be needed. When surgery is needed, surgeons aim to keep the muscles that hold stool in whenever it is safe to do so.
This page explains what rectal cancer is, the signs to watch for, what raises the risk, how it is found and treated, and what life during and after treatment can look like.
Rectal cancer forms when cells in the inner lining of the rectum grow out of control. Together with colon cancer it is called colorectal cancer, one of the most common cancers in the United States. Most people diagnosed are over 50, and the number of cases in adults under 50 has been rising.
The main kinds are:
Early rectal cancer often causes no symptoms. When signs appear, they can include:
Hemorrhoids are a common cause of rectal bleeding, and bleeding still deserves a check by a doctor at any age.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Nearly all rectal cancers begin as a polyp, a small growth on the inner lining of the rectum. Over years, gene changes can turn some of a polyp's cells into cancer, which can grow through the rectal wall and spread, most often to the liver or lungs. Most polyps never become cancer, and removing them stops the ones that would. Learn more about colorectal polyps.
A small share of rectal cancers come from an inherited gene change, such as Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
Some risk factors are part of who you are:
Others are linked to daily life:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get rectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer screening finds polyps before they turn into cancer, and finds cancer early. Most adults at average risk start at 45 and continue through 75. A colonoscopy every 10 years is one choice; stool tests and sigmoidoscopy are others, and any abnormal result leads to a colonoscopy. If a close relative had colorectal cancer, screening often starts at 40, or 10 years before their age at diagnosis.
A high-fiber diet, regular activity, a healthy weight, limited red meat and alcohol, and a smoke-free life all lower the risk.
Your doctor starts with your history and a digital rectal exam, a quick check with a gloved finger. A colonoscopy or a shorter scope exam of the rectum shows the growth, and a biopsy taken during it confirms whether it is cancer.
If it is, staging tests show how deep it has grown and whether it has spread:
Your plan depends on the stage, where the tumor is, its features, your health and what matters to you.
For many stage II and III cancers, treatment starts before surgery. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy, often given together, shrink the tumor and lower the chance it returns. When the tumor disappears on exams and scans, some people can follow a close watch-and-wait plan with regular checks instead of surgery right away. For tumors with MMR changes, immunotherapy can work very well. Targeted therapy is used for some cancers that have spread.
A very early tumor can sometimes be removed through the anus with no cut on the belly. Most people who need surgery have colorectal surgery that removes the part of the rectum with the tumor, the fatty tissue around it and nearby lymph nodes, then rejoins the bowel. A temporary ileostomy often protects the join while it heals. Many of these operations use small incisions, some with robotic surgery.
When a tumor is very low or involves the muscles that control the bowels, an abdominoperineal resection removes the rectum and anus and creates a permanent colostomy. When cancer has spread to the liver, a hepatectomy or tumor ablation may be options.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Radiation can make the skin sore and bowel movements more frequent for a while. After surgery that keeps the anus, many people have urgent or frequent bowel movements at first, and these usually ease over months with diet changes, medicine and pelvic floor therapy. An ostomy nurse teaches stoma care, and people with a stoma return to work, travel and exercise. A nurse navigator helps keep visits and tests on track.
Follow-up includes visits, CEA tests, scans and scope exams for several years. Cancer rehabilitation, support groups and counseling help too.
Contact your team about new bleeding, pain, bowel changes or side effects. Bring your medicines, your family history and your questions: the stage, whether treatment starts before surgery, whether you will need a stoma, and how the plan may affect bowel, bladder and sexual function.
Often, yes. Many rectal cancers found before they spread are cured.
Most people do not. Many have a temporary ileostomy that is closed a few months later. A permanent colostomy is needed mainly when the tumor is very low.
It can shrink the tumor, lower the chance of return and, for some people, make surgery unnecessary.
It can. Pelvic radiation and surgery can affect both, so ask about egg or sperm banking before treatment begins.
Yes. Parents, siblings and children often start screening at 40 or earlier, and genetic counseling can help if you were diagnosed young or several relatives had colorectal cancer.
Rectal cancer is cared for by colon and rectal surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists and nurse navigators.
Oncologists plan chemotherapy, radiation and surgery for rectal cancer, often starting treatment before any operation.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove rectal tumors and aim to save the muscles that control the bowels.
Learn More About Colon & RectalRadiologists read the pelvic MRI that stages rectal cancer and shapes the whole treatment plan.
Learn More About RadiologyColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage or bone. It often shows up as a lump that grows over weeks or months. Teams that include surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists plan its care together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
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Decided 2026-10-21
Sarcoma is a word most people have never heard until a doctor says it, and the first questions are often what it is and why it is so rarely talked about. If you have been told a lump or a bone change could be a sarcoma, or you have just learned it is one, it helps to know that care for sarcoma is planned around the exact type and where it is in the body.
Sarcomas are uncommon, making up about 1 in 100 cancers in adults and more in children and teens. There are dozens of types, and they grow in different ways. Some grow slowly and stay in one place. Others grow faster and need treatment that reaches the whole body.
Because sarcoma is rare, the order of tests matters. Imaging usually comes before a biopsy, and the biopsy is planned with the surgeon who will treat it, so that a later operation can remove the tumor cleanly. Most people have surgery, often with radiation or medicines. This page explains the types, signs, causes, tests and treatments, and what life is like afterward.
Connective tissues hold the body together and give it shape. Sarcoma forms when cells in one of these tissues begin to grow out of control. There are two main groups.
Soft tissue sarcomas start in fat, muscle, tendons, nerves, blood vessels or the deep layers of the skin. They can form anywhere, most often in the arms and legs, and also in the belly, the chest wall and the back of the abdomen. Common types include:
Bone sarcomas start in bone or cartilage. Osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma are most common in children, teens and young adults; chondrosarcoma and chordoma are more common in adults. Cancer that starts elsewhere and spreads to bone is a different illness; see bone metastasis.
Most lumps are not cancer. A lump larger than a golf ball, one that is growing, or one deep in the muscle is worth a prompt visit.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most sarcomas have no known cause. They begin with changes in the genes of a connective tissue cell that let it grow without the usual limits. These changes usually happen during a person's life rather than being passed down, and nothing the person did caused them. An injury does not cause sarcoma, though it may draw attention to a lump that was already there.
You are more likely to develop sarcoma if you:
Most people with sarcoma have none of these.
Your doctor examines the lump or the painful area and asks how long it has been there and whether it has changed. From there:
Surgery to remove the tumor with a margin of healthy tissue around it is the main treatment for most sarcomas. For tumors in an arm or leg, most people have limb-sparing surgery, which removes the cancer and keeps the limb, sometimes with a bone graft, a metal implant or reconstruction of soft tissue. See cancer surgery.
Radiation therapy is often given before or after surgery to lower the chance of the tumor returning. Proton therapy can be used for some sarcomas near sensitive areas, such as the spine, the base of the skull or in children.
Chemotherapy is a main treatment for Ewing sarcoma, osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma and is used for some soft tissue sarcomas. Targeted therapy is a standard treatment for GIST. Immunotherapy helps some types.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team, and depends on the type, size, grade and location of the tumor. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Recovery and movement. After surgery on an arm or leg, physical and occupational therapy help you regain strength and use. Cancer rehabilitation can begin before surgery and continue for months.
Follow-up. Sarcoma can return in the same place or in the lungs, so expect regular exams and scans for years, more often in the first few. Keep a copy of your treatment summary.
Long-term health. Some chemotherapy and radiation can affect the heart, fertility or bones later on. Children and young adults treated for sarcoma benefit from survivorship care that watches for these effects.
Support. Rare cancers can feel isolating. Counselors, nutritionists and support groups, including groups for people with sarcoma, help you and your family.
Call if you notice a new lump, swelling near your scar, new bone pain, or a cough that will not go away. Before treatment, bring your imaging discs and reports, a list of your medicines and your questions: the exact type and grade, whether the biopsy was planned with your surgeon, whether radiation comes before or after surgery, how surgery will affect movement, and how follow-up will work.
No. Most lumps are harmless, such as a fatty growth called a lipoma or a cyst. A lump that is growing, larger than a golf ball, or deep in the muscle should be checked.
Most people do not. Limb-sparing surgery, often with radiation, is the usual approach, and amputation is needed only rarely.
A biopsy planned by the team that will operate places the needle so its path can be removed with the tumor, which helps the surgery succeed.
It can, most often in the first few years, which is why follow-up scans are frequent at first. A return found early can often be treated again.
Usually not. A small number of sarcomas are linked to inherited conditions. If you were diagnosed young or have family members with cancer, ask about genetic counseling.
Sarcoma is treated by surgical oncologists and orthopedic oncologists, medical and radiation oncologists, pathologists and rehabilitation therapists working as one team.
Care is given at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
Physical and occupational therapists help people regain strength and use of an arm or leg after limb-sparing surgery.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationSurgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists plan sarcoma care together around the exact tumor type.
Learn More About CancerPathologists name the sarcoma type from the biopsy and run gene tests that can point to targeted medicines.
Learn More About PathologyBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is the most common cancer in the United States, and when it is found early, nearly every case can be treated successfully, often with a short procedure in the office.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
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Decided 2026-10-20
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Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe you have a spot that keeps scabbing, a mole that looks different than it did last year, or a doctor who just told you a biopsy came back as skin cancer. Each of those moments brings questions about how serious it is and what happens next. The answers depend a great deal on the type of skin cancer, and most people have a type that is very treatable.
There are three main types. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the most common and rarely spread when treated early. Melanoma is less common and more likely to spread, which is why finding it early matters so much. Living in a sunny place raises the risk for all three, so in Florida a regular look at your own skin is one of the most useful habits you can build.
This page covers the types, the signs to watch for, causes and risk factors, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Skin cancer starts when cells in the outer layer of the skin are damaged and begin to grow out of control. Each type is named for the cell where it begins:
Rarer types include Merkel cell carcinoma and lymphomas of the skin. Precancerous spots called actinic keratoses can sometimes turn into squamous cell carcinoma.
The most important sign is a change on your skin. Watch for:
Skin cancer can form anywhere, including the scalp, under the nails, on the palms and soles, and in places the sun rarely reaches. On darker skin it more often appears in places the sun rarely reaches, such as the palms, soles and under the nails.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most skin cancers are caused by ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun or from tanning beds and sun lamps. UV rays damage the DNA inside skin cells. The body repairs much of that damage, but over years some changes remain and can lead to cancer. Both a lifetime of sun and sunburns, especially blistering burns in childhood, add to the damage. UV rays reach you on cloudy days and through car side windows.
Other causes include a weakened immune system, earlier radiation treatment, long-term exposure to chemicals such as arsenic, and some inherited conditions.
You are more likely to develop skin cancer if you:
People of every skin color can get skin cancer. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get it.
Most skin cancers can be prevented by limiting UV exposure:
A dermatologist or your primary care doctor looks over your skin from head to toe, often with a lighted magnifier called a dermatoscope. Photos may be taken to compare over time.
The only way to know if a spot is cancer is a skin biopsy. After numbing the skin, the doctor removes all or part of the spot, and a specialist studies it under a microscope. For melanoma and some squamous cell carcinomas, more tests may show whether the cancer has spread, such as a sentinel lymph node biopsy (lymph node removal) or a CT scan, MRI or PET/CT scan.
Treatment depends on the type, size, location and stage of the cancer. Most early skin cancers are removed in a single office visit.
For cancers that are advanced or cannot be removed with surgery, options include radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy and, for some melanomas, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy. Clinical trials may be an option for some people, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists them.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
After one skin cancer, your chance of another is higher, so regular skin checks become part of life. Your doctor will tell you how often to come in, often every few months at first. Keep up sun protection every day, check your skin monthly, and bring up any new or changing spot right away, even between visits.
Call if you notice a new or changing spot, a sore that does not heal, or a lump near a scar. Before a visit, note when you first saw the spot and how it has changed. Ask which type of skin cancer you have, whether it could have spread, which treatment fits and why, how the scar will look, and how often you need skin checks.
Most skin cancers are cured when they are found and treated early. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas rarely spread when treated early, and melanoma found before it spreads also has a very high cure rate.
There is no single schedule for everyone. If you have had skin cancer, many moles or a family history of melanoma, your doctor may suggest a professional skin check every year or more often. Everyone can check their own skin once a month.
Yes. It is less common, and it is more often found late. Acral melanoma, which forms on the palms, soles and under the nails, is the type seen most often in people with darker skin.
No. Sun spots are flat, even-colored brown spots from sun exposure and are harmless. A spot that is raised, rough, changing or bleeding should be checked.
Most treatments leave a scar, usually small. Mohs surgery and reconstruction help keep scars as small as possible on the face and other visible areas.
Skin cancer is treated by dermatologists, Mohs surgeons, surgical oncologists, plastic surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists.
Cancer specialists treat skin cancers that are advanced or have spread beyond the skin.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists check your skin, biopsy spots that look different and treat most early skin cancers.
Learn More About DermatologyBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgeryMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgeryOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many start as cancer elsewhere that has spread to the spine. Back pain is the most common sign. Orlando Health teams diagnose spinal tumors and treat them together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
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Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because back or neck pain has not gone away, because a scan for something else found a spot on your spine, or because you have had cancer before and a doctor wants to check your spine. Most back pain is not caused by a tumor, but pain that keeps getting worse, wakes you at night or comes with numbness or weakness deserves a closer look.
The spine is a column of bones, called vertebrae, that protects the spinal cord, the bundle of nerves that sends messages between your brain and body. A tumor in this space can press on the cord or its nerves, which is what causes most symptoms. Finding and treating a spinal tumor early helps protect your strength, feeling and control of your bladder and bowels.
This page explains the kinds of spinal tumors, the signs to know, how they are found, and the treatments that relieve pressure and control the tumor.
A spinal tumor is an abnormal growth of cells in or around the spinal cord or in the bones of the spine. It is one of the brain and spine tumors. Spinal tumors are named by where they start:
A tumor that is not cancer can still cause trouble because the space around the spinal cord is tight.
Symptoms depend on where the tumor is and how much it presses on the cord or nerves. They often build slowly. Signs can include:
Back pain is very common and is rarely caused by a tumor. Pain with any of the other signs, or pain in someone who has had cancer, should be checked.
These can be signs of pressure on the spinal cord, which needs treatment within hours to protect strength and feeling. Call rather than driving yourself.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most spinal tumors that are not metastatic have no known cause. They begin when cells build up changes in their genes that let them grow out of control. Metastatic tumors happen when cancer cells travel from a tumor elsewhere in the body, through the blood, and lodge in the bones of the spine. Some spinal tumors come from inherited conditions that cause tumors to grow along nerves.
You are more likely to develop a spinal tumor if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get a spinal tumor.
Your doctor asks about your pain and does a neurological exam, checking strength, feeling, reflexes and balance. Tests that help include:
If you have not had cancer before, your team will look for where a metastatic tumor may have started.
Your plan depends on the tumor's type and place, whether it is pressing on the cord, how stable the spine is, your other cancer care and what matters to you. A team of surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists usually plans it together.
A small tumor that is not cancer and causes no symptoms may be watched with regular MRI scans.
Surgery can remove a tumor, relieve pressure on the spinal cord and nerves, or stabilize a spine weakened by a tumor with rods and screws. Some operations use small incisions. A vertebra that has collapsed from a tumor can be treated with kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty, which inject bone cement through a needle to stabilize the bone and ease pain. Read more about cancer surgery.
Radiation therapy shrinks tumors and eases pain, alone or after surgery. Stereotactic body radiation therapy gives high doses to a precise target in a few sessions. Proton therapy may be used for tumors near the spinal cord, such as chordomas.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Physical and occupational therapy help you rebuild strength, balance and the skills of daily life, like walking, dressing and bathing. Cancer rehabilitation can start soon after surgery. Your team may suggest a brace for a while, limits on lifting or twisting, and ways to move safely at home. Learn what is normal for your pain and strength so a change stands out, and keep your follow-up MRI scans.
Contact your team about any change in pain, strength, feeling or bladder and bowel control. Bring your medicines, your cancer history and your questions: what kind of tumor it is, whether it is pressing on the cord, whether surgery, radiation or both is the better fit, and what recovery will ask of you.
Almost always not. Back pain is very common. Pain that keeps getting worse, wakes you at night or comes with numbness or weakness should be checked.
No. Many tumors that start in or near the spine are not cancer, though they can still press on nerves and need treatment.
Many people are up and walking within a day or two; recovery depends on how much the tumor affected your strength before treatment.
If it came from another cancer, yes, and that cancer's treatment guides the plan. Many people with spinal metastases live for years with treatment.
The treatment itself is painless. Some people have tiredness or skin changes, and pain often improves over the following weeks.
Spinal tumors are cared for by neurosurgeons, spine surgeons, neuro-oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and rehabilitation therapists.
Spine specialists at Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health also treat spinal tumors in the Tampa Bay area, and its interventional pain management team performs kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty.
Physical and occupational therapists help people rebuild strength, balance and daily skills after spine tumor treatment.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationRadiation and medical oncologists treat spinal tumors and the cancers that spread to the spine, including with protons.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons remove spinal tumors, relieve pressure on the spinal cord and stabilize the spine with rods and screws.
Learn More About NeuroscienceBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most often on skin that gets a lot of sun. Found early, it is very treatable, usually with a short procedure in the office.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe a rough, scaly patch on your scalp never went away, or a sore on your lip or hand healed and then came back. Maybe your dermatologist took a small sample during a skin check and the report came back with a name you had to look up. It helps to know early on that most cases are found on the skin's surface, where they can be seen, removed and cured.
This cancer grows from squamous cells, the thin, flat cells that make up the top layer of your skin. Years of sunlight damage the DNA inside them until some begin to grow out of control. Most squamous cell carcinomas grow slowly and stay in the skin. A small number grow deeper or spread, which is why each one is removed and why regular skin checks continue afterward.
This page explains what squamous cell carcinoma looks like, what causes it, how it is diagnosed and treated, and how to lower your chance of another one.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, also called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or SCC, is one of the three main types of skin cancer. The other two are basal cell carcinoma, the most common, and melanoma. More than a million people in the United States are diagnosed with SCC each year.
It most often forms on the face, ears, lips, scalp, neck and the backs of the hands and arms. It can also start in a scar, a burn or a sore that has been open for a long time, and in the genital and anal skin. In people with darker skin, it often appears on areas that get less sun.
Some growths come before SCC. An actinic keratosis is a rough, dry spot caused by sun damage. It is a precancer, and a small share turn into SCC over time. SCC in situ, also called Bowen disease, is SCC that has stayed in the top layer of skin. Treating both early keeps them from growing deeper.
SCC can look different from person to person. Watch for:
Show a dermatologist any new growth, or any spot that grows, changes or lasts more than a few weeks.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most SCC comes from ultraviolet (UV) light, from the sun and from tanning beds. UV light damages the DNA in skin cells, and the damage builds up over a lifetime until some cells form a tumor.
Other causes include:
You are more likely to develop SCC if you:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get SCC.
A dermatologist examines the spot, often with a dermatoscope, a handheld magnifier with a bright light, and checks the rest of your skin.
If a spot looks suspicious, the next step is a skin biopsy. After a numbing shot, the doctor removes all or part of the spot, and a specialist examines it under a microscope. The biopsy confirms whether it is SCC and shows how deep it goes.
For a large or deep tumor, or one that may have reached the lymph nodes, your team may order an ultrasound, a CT scan or an MRI, and sometimes a lymph node biopsy. These results guide the stage and the plan.
Most SCC is cured with an office procedure. The choice depends on the size, depth and location of the tumor, and on your health.
When a larger area is removed, the wound can be repaired with skin cancer reconstruction.
For some people, a clinical trial may be an option, and the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page lists studies for this condition.
Your plan is made with your care team and fits your tumor, your skin and your goals.
For most people, treatment ends with the procedure and a healed scar. Having one SCC raises your chance of another skin cancer, so your dermatologist will set a schedule of full skin exams, often more frequent in the first few years. Between visits, check your skin monthly, using a mirror or a partner for your back and scalp, and keep up daily sun protection. If you take medicines that weaken your immune system, ask how often your skin should be checked.
Contact your team about any new spot, a scar that changes or a growth in a treated area that returns. Bring photos of spots you are tracking, your medicine list and your questions: how deep the cancer was, whether more treatment is needed and how often you need skin checks.
Most SCC is found early and cured with a simple procedure. A small number grow deep or spread, mostly after going untreated for a long time.
It can, though most do not. Tumors that are large, deep, on the ear or lip, or in someone with a weakened immune system are more likely to spread, and your team watches these closely.
Yes, and most fade over months. Mohs surgery and careful repair keep scars small.
An actinic keratosis is a rough, sun-damaged spot that is a precancer. SCC is cancer. Treating actinic keratoses lowers the chance that one turns into SCC.
It can return in the same place or appear somewhere new. Regular skin exams and monthly self-checks find a new spot while it is small.
SCC is treated by dermatologists and Mohs surgeons, and larger or advanced tumors bring in surgical oncologists, head and neck surgeons, plastic surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.
Cancer specialists step in when a squamous cell skin cancer is large, deep or comes back.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists diagnose squamous cell carcinoma of the skin and remove it in the office.
Learn More About DermatologySkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgerySkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ReconstructionRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or feeling full fast, are easy to miss, so a lasting change deserves a check. Orlando Health care teams find it, stage it and treat it with medicine and surgery.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because heartburn or an upset stomach kept coming back, because an upper endoscopy found something unexpected, or because a doctor has just told you the word cancer. Each of these brings a lot to absorb. Stomach cancer is less common in the United States than it once was, and treatment for it has improved over the last several decades.
The stomach holds food and starts digesting it before passing it to the small intestine. Stomach cancer usually grows slowly, over many years, from changes in the stomach's inner lining. Many cancers are found once symptoms appear, which is why it helps to know the signs and to have a lasting problem checked. When it is found before it spreads, a combination of medicine and surgery can often cure it.
This page explains what stomach cancer is, the signs to watch for, what raises the risk, how it is found and treated, and what eating and daily life can look like during and after treatment.
Stomach cancer forms when cells in the stomach's inner lining grow out of control. It can start anywhere in the stomach, including where the stomach meets the esophagus, called the gastroesophageal junction. More than half of people diagnosed are 65 or older, and men get it more often than women.
The main kinds are:
Early stomach cancer often causes no symptoms, or symptoms that feel like everyday indigestion. Signs can include:
Most of these signs come from conditions far more common than cancer, and having one checked is how you find out.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most stomach cancers develop over years as the stomach lining changes. Long-term infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a common germ, causes inflammation that can lead to these changes and is a leading cause. Long-lasting reflux plays a part in cancer where the stomach meets the esophagus. Only 1 to 3 percent of stomach cancers come from an inherited gene change, such as the CDH1 change behind hereditary diffuse gastric cancer.
Some risk factors are part of who you are or your history:
Others are linked to daily life:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will get stomach cancer.
There is no routine screening test for stomach cancer for people at average risk in the United States. You can lower your risk: get tested and treated for H. pylori if your doctor suggests it, do not smoke, limit alcohol, keep a healthy weight, and eat plenty of vegetables, fruit and whole grains while limiting salted, smoked and processed foods. People with an inherited syndrome may be offered regular endoscopy or other care, so genetic counseling helps when several relatives have had stomach cancer.
An upper endoscopy is the main test. While you are sedated, a doctor passes a thin, flexible tube with a camera through your mouth to look at your esophagus and stomach, and takes a biopsy of anything unusual.
If cancer is found, more tests show its stage:
Your plan depends on the stage, where the tumor is, its features, your health and what matters to you.
A very early cancer limited to the inner lining can sometimes be removed through an endoscope, with no cuts. For most cancers that have not spread, surgery called a gastrectomy removes part or all of the stomach and the nearby lymph nodes, then connects the remaining stomach or the esophagus to the small intestine. Surgeons use small incisions when they can, some with robotic surgery. Read more about cancer surgery.
When cancer has spread to the belly lining, a few people may be candidates for surgery with HIPEC. See peritoneal carcinomatosis.
Radiation therapy is used for some cancers near the esophagus and to ease bleeding or pain.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
Eating changes the most. After a gastrectomy, small meals five or six times a day work better than three large ones. Some people have dumping syndrome, cramps, sweating or diarrhea after eating sugary foods, which eases with diet changes. People who have the whole stomach removed need vitamin B12 shots for life. A dietitian helps you keep your weight and strength up, and a nurse navigator helps coordinate visits. Follow-up includes visits, scans and sometimes endoscopy for several years. Cancer rehabilitation and support groups help you regain strength.
Contact your team about weight loss, trouble eating, new pain or side effects. Bring your medicines, your family history and your questions: what stage the cancer is, what each treatment is for, how much of your stomach may be removed, and how you will eat afterward.
Yes. After a total gastrectomy, the esophagus is joined to the small intestine, and people learn to eat smaller meals more often.
Often, when it is found before it spreads. Treatment for advanced stomach cancer can control it and help you feel better.
No. Most people with H. pylori never get stomach cancer, and treating the infection lowers the risk.
Many people do. A dietitian can help with high-calorie foods, supplements and meal timing to keep your strength up.
If several relatives had stomach cancer or someone was diagnosed young, genetic counseling can help decide about testing. Treating H. pylori in close family members is often advised.
Stomach cancer is cared for by gastroenterologists, surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, dietitians and nurse navigators.
Oncologists stage stomach cancer and plan chemotherapy before and after surgery, with immunotherapy or targeted medicine.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists find stomach cancer with upper endoscopy, take the biopsy and treat H. pylori infection.
Learn More About Digestive HealthSurgeons remove part or all of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes, often through small incisions.
Learn More About General SurgeryNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaPeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from...
Learn More About Peritoneal CarcinomatosisAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon...
Learn More About HIPECOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to 40. It is also one of the most treatable cancers: most men are cured, often with surgery alone, and go on to have children and full lives.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Finding a lump or a change in your testicle can be frightening, and it is easy to put off a visit while you hope it goes away. If you are here because you noticed something, the most useful thing you can do is see a doctor soon. Most lumps turn out to be something other than cancer, and an ultrasound can tell quickly.
If you have already been told it is testicular cancer, there is good news to hold onto. Testicular cancer is uncommon, and it responds very well to treatment. Even when it has spread beyond the testicle, most men are still cured.
Treatment usually starts with surgery to remove the affected testicle. Some men need nothing more than regular checkups afterward. Others have chemotherapy, radiation or a second surgery. Men who have one testicle removed can usually still have children and keep a normal sex drive, and there are ways to protect fertility before treatment. This page explains the signs, how testicular cancer is diagnosed and what treatment and life afterward look like.
The testicles are two oval glands inside the scrotum, the loose pouch of skin below the penis. They make sperm and the hormone testosterone. Testicular cancer forms when cells in a testicle begin to grow out of control.
More than 9 in 10 testicular cancers start in germ cells, the cells that make sperm. They come in two main types:
About 1 in 250 men will develop testicular cancer in their lifetime. It usually affects one testicle.
The most common sign is a lump or swelling in a testicle, often painless. Other signs include:
Many of these signs have other causes, such as an infection or a fluid sac. Only an exam can tell.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
The cause of most testicular cancers is not known. Many are thought to begin before birth, when cells that should become sperm cells develop abnormally and stay inactive until after puberty. Testicular cancer is not caused by an injury to the testicles, by sports or by a vasectomy.
You are more likely to develop testicular cancer if you:
Lifestyle choices, such as diet, smoking or exercise, are not linked to testicular cancer. Many men who develop it have no known risk factor.
Your doctor examines your testicles and belly and asks about your symptoms. From there:
The first treatment for nearly every testicular cancer is a radical inguinal orchiectomy, surgery through a small cut in the groin that removes the affected testicle. Recovery takes about a week or two. You can ask about a testicular implant, which gives the scrotum its usual look. If the cancer has spread to lymph nodes in the back of the belly, a surgeon may remove them in an operation called a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection.
For many early cancers, the next step is surveillance: regular exams, blood tests and scans, with treatment only if the cancer comes back. Most men on surveillance never need more treatment, and a return found early is still very treatable.
Chemotherapy is very effective for testicular cancer, even when it has spread. It is given in cycles over several weeks, often with a combination of medicines. Radiation therapy is used for some seminomas. For cancer that returns after treatment, high-dose chemotherapy with a bone marrow transplant, using your own stem cells, is sometimes an option.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team, and depends on the type and stage of your cancer and your tumor marker levels. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page.
Fertility. Removing one testicle usually does not affect your ability to have children, but chemotherapy and radiation can lower sperm counts for a time or for good. If you may want children, ask about banking sperm before any treatment starts, including surgery.
Hormones and sex. The remaining testicle usually makes enough testosterone. If both are removed, or levels are low, testosterone replacement can restore energy and sex drive.
Follow-up. Expect regular checkups, blood tests and scans for several years, since most returns are found this way. Keep checking your remaining testicle each month.
Long-term health. Some chemotherapy can affect hearing, nerves, the kidneys or heart health years later, so tell any doctor you see about your treatment. Talking with other survivors or a counselor can help with worries about body image and relationships.
Call if you notice any change in your remaining testicle, new back or belly pain, a cough that will not go away, or ringing in your ears or numbness in your hands during chemotherapy. Before treatment, bring your questions: your cancer type and stage, whether surveillance is an option, how treatment could affect fertility, and what your follow-up schedule will be.
Most men can. One testicle usually makes enough sperm. Because chemotherapy and radiation can affect fertility, ask about sperm banking before treatment starts.
Not always. Many men with early cancer need only surgery and close follow-up. Chemotherapy is used when the cancer has spread, or to lower the chance of a return.
Once a month, after a warm shower, roll each testicle gently between your thumb and fingers. Learn how it normally feels, and see a doctor about any lump, swelling or change.
A needle biopsy through the scrotum could spread cancer cells. Removing the testicle through the groin both treats the cancer and gives the pathologist the tissue needed to confirm it.
It can, most often within the first two years, which is why follow-up visits are frequent at first. A return found early is usually still curable.
Testicular cancer is treated by urologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, often together.
Medical oncologists give the chemotherapy that cures most testicular cancers, even after the cancer has spread.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists read the scrotal ultrasound that finds a solid mass and the CT scans that stage it.
Learn More About RadiologyUrologists check a lump in the testicle and remove the testicle through the groin to treat and confirm the cancer.
Learn More About UrologyBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall and the lining around the lungs. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and lung and digestive specialists care for them together.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Thoracic is the medical word for the chest. You may have seen it on a referral, a scan report or the name of a clinic, and wondered what it covers and whether it applies to you. It is a way of grouping the cancers that start inside the chest, because the same teams of specialists diagnose and treat them.
The best known thoracic cancer is lung cancer, which is also the most common. The group also includes cancer of the esophagus, the tube that moves food from the throat to the stomach, and rarer tumors of the thymus gland, the chest wall and the thin lining around the lungs. Some conditions in the chest are not cancer at all but are checked by the same team, such as most lung nodules and Barrett's esophagus, which can lead to cancer.
This page lists the conditions in the family and how doctors find out which one a person has. Each condition has its own page with its symptoms, causes and treatment.
The chest holds the lungs and airways, the esophagus, the heart and large blood vessels, and the thymus gland, all protected by the ribs and the chest wall. A thin lining called the pleura wraps each lung. The space in the middle of the chest, between the lungs, is called the mediastinum.
A thoracic cancer is a cancer that starts in one of these places. Cancers of the heart itself are very rare and are treated by heart specialists, so they are not part of this group.
They share some risk factors. Tobacco smoke raises the risk of both lung and esophageal cancer. Radon and asbestos raise the risk of lung cancer, and asbestos is the main cause of mesothelioma. Long-term acid reflux raises the risk of one kind of esophageal cancer.
They often cause few symptoms early. Many are found on a scan done for another reason, on a lung cancer screening scan, or during a test for heartburn or trouble swallowing. When symptoms do come, they include a lasting cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, hoarseness, trouble swallowing and losing weight without trying.
They are cared for by the same specialists. A thoracic team brings together thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists and pathologists. They review each person's results together and plan treatment as a group.
Cancers of the lung
Cancers of the esophagus
Tumors in the middle of the chest
Tumors of the lining and the chest wall
Cancer that started elsewhere and spread to the lungs is named for where it started and is treated by that cancer's team.
The type is found with imaging, a look inside, and a tissue sample.
Imaging. A chest X-ray or a CT scan is usually the first test. A PET-CT scan shows whether a growth is unusually active and whether cancer has spread, and an MRI gives more detail in some areas. For people at higher risk, yearly lung cancer screening with a low-dose CT scan finds lung cancer early.
A look inside. An upper endoscopy passes a thin camera through the mouth into the esophagus and stomach. A bronchoscopy does the same for the airways, and navigational bronchoscopy guides the scope to small spots deep in the lung. A mediastinoscopy reaches the lymph nodes in the middle of the chest through a small cut above the breastbone.
A tissue sample. A biopsy taken during one of these tests, or with a needle guided by CT, confirms whether a growth is cancer and what kind. Molecular profiling of the sample can show gene changes that guide treatment.
Treatment depends on the type and the stage. Thoracic cancers are treated with surgery, often through small incisions with robotic surgery or as esophageal surgery, with radiation therapy, and with medicines such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Each condition's page says which apply. Clinical trials may be an option; the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page shows trials for these cancers.
These lists apply to anyone with a thoracic cancer or being checked for one. Each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
If you have a finding but no diagnosis yet, keep copies of your scan reports together and write down what the doctor said. Ask which test comes next, when you will hear the results and who will call you.
Thoracic means having to do with the chest. A thoracic surgeon operates on the lungs, esophagus and other organs in the chest, apart from the heart.
Thoracic teams check lung nodules and other chest findings, most of which turn out not to be cancer. Seeing them early means the right next step is chosen quickly.
Often both. The esophagus runs through the chest to the stomach, so thoracic surgeons, gastroenterologists and oncologists may all be part of your care.
No. Surgery is common for early cancers, and many people also have radiation, medicines or both. Some are treated without surgery at all.
Lung and esophageal cancers are, along with some others. People who never smoked can get them too. Quitting at any point lowers your risk and helps treatment work.
Thoracic cancers are treated by thoracic surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pulmonologists and gastroenterologists who plan care together.
Thoracic surgeons and oncologists treat cancers of the lung, esophagus, thymus, chest wall and lung lining together.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists use endoscopy to find and sample esophageal cancer and watch Barrett's esophagus.
Learn More About Digestive HealthPulmonologists find and sample tumors in the airways and the middle of the chest with a bronchoscope.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a...
Learn More About Mediastinal SurgeryA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRILung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or on a scan for something else. Most thyroid cancers grow slowly and are very treatable, and surgery is the main treatment, sometimes followed by radioactive iodine.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
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Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because a doctor felt a lump in your neck, an ultrasound found a nodule, or a biopsy came back showing cancer. Some people learn the news after an operation for what was expected to be a harmless growth. However it arrived, a cancer diagnosis is a lot to take in, and it is natural to want answers quickly.
The most common thyroid cancers grow slowly, and most people treated for them go on to live full lives. Treatment usually starts with surgery to remove part or all of the thyroid gland. Some people then have radioactive iodine, and many take a daily thyroid hormone pill afterward. A few rarer types grow faster and need a different plan, which is why knowing your exact type matters so much.
This page explains the types of thyroid cancer, the signs to watch for, how it is found, the treatments your care team may suggest and what life looks like after treatment.
The thyroid is a small gland in the front of the neck, just below the voice box. It makes hormones that set the pace of your metabolism, your heart rate and your body temperature. Thyroid cancer begins when cells in the gland grow out of control and form a tumor.
There are four main types:
About three in four people diagnosed are women, and many are between 20 and 55. The thyroid is part of the endocrine system and lies in the region head and neck specialists treat, so it belongs to both the endocrine cancer and head and neck cancers families.
Many thyroid cancers cause no symptoms and are found during a routine exam or on a scan done for another reason. When there are signs, they include:
Most neck lumps are not cancer, and these signs often have other causes. Have a lump that lasts more than a few weeks checked.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Thyroid cancer starts when changes in the DNA of a thyroid cell let it grow and divide without stopping. For most people, what caused those changes is never known. Some changes are inherited, as in families with medullary thyroid cancer, and radiation to the neck in childhood is the clearest known outside cause.
Things that raise the chance of thyroid cancer include:
Having a risk factor does not mean you will develop thyroid cancer.
Most thyroid cancer cannot be prevented, because most people have no risk factor they can change. Two steps help the people they apply to:
Diagnosis begins with a neck exam and questions about your family's health.
Treatment depends on the type of cancer, its size and whether it has spread.
Surgery is the main treatment for most thyroid cancers. A lobectomy removes one half of the gland, and the remaining half usually keeps making enough hormone. A total thyroidectomy removes the whole gland. Lymph nodes in the neck may come out too. Most operations take one to three hours, and many people go home the same day or the next morning. Learn more about cancer surgery.
For a very small papillary cancer, some people choose active surveillance: regular ultrasounds in place of surgery right away.
External beam radiation therapy is used for cancers that cannot be fully removed or that have spread to bone or other areas.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
If your whole thyroid was removed, you take a thyroid hormone pill each morning for life, and blood tests guide the dose. A blood test for thyroglobulin, a protein only thyroid tissue makes, and neck ultrasounds help find any return early, sometimes years later. Integrative medicine, support groups and counseling help you and your family cope.
Contact your team if you feel a new lump in your neck, your voice changes, or you feel shaky, tired or cold, which can mean your hormone dose needs adjusting. Bring a list of your medicines and supplements, especially biotin, which can change thyroid blood test results, and your questions: what type and stage you have, whether you need radioactive iodine, and how often you will be checked.
Most thyroid cancers are. Papillary and follicular types are usually cured with treatment, and medullary cancer found early has strong cure rates.
If your whole thyroid was removed, yes. A daily thyroid hormone pill replaces what the gland made. After a lobectomy, many people need no pill.
You swallow a pill or liquid, then keep your distance from others for a few days while it leaves your body. A low-iodine diet for a week or two beforehand is common.
The nerves that control your voice lie close to the thyroid, and surgeons work to protect them. A hoarse or tired voice for a few weeks is common, and lasting changes are uncommon.
If you have medullary thyroid cancer, your relatives may be offered a blood test for the RET gene. For other types, tell your relatives about your diagnosis so their doctors know.
Thyroid cancer is treated by surgeons, endocrinologists, pathologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine specialists and oncologists, working together.
Cancer teams remove thyroid tumors, give radioactive iodine and treat advanced types with targeted therapy.
Learn More About CancerHead and neck surgeons remove the thyroid and nearby lymph nodes while protecting the nerves that control the voice.
Learn More About ENT / OtolaryngologyEndocrinologists set the daily thyroid hormone dose after surgery and track thyroglobulin to watch for a return.
Learn More About EndocrinologyEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very...
Learn More About Parathyroid CancerA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An...
Learn More About Thyroid NodulesA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An ultrasound and sometimes a needle biopsy tell which few need treatment. Many only need watching, and those that cause symptoms can be shrunk or removed.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may have felt a lump when you swallowed, a doctor may have noticed one during a checkup, or a scan for something else may have shown a spot on your thyroid. Hearing the word lump near the word thyroid can be frightening, and many people go straight to wondering about cancer.
The reassuring part: thyroid nodules are among the most common findings in medicine. Many adults have at least one by middle age, and most never know. More than nine in ten nodules are benign, which means they are not cancer. Most cause no symptoms and need nothing more than a check from time to time.
The steps that follow are designed to find the small number of nodules that need attention. A blood test shows how your thyroid is working, an ultrasound shows what the nodule looks like, and a needle biopsy answers the question when the ultrasound cannot.
This page explains what nodules are, the signs to watch for, how they are checked and the treatments available when one needs it.
The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front of the neck, below the voice box. It makes hormones that set your metabolism, heart rate and body temperature. A nodule is a growth of thyroid cells that forms a lump inside the gland. You can have one nodule or several.
Nodules come in a few kinds:
A small share of nodules are thyroid cancer, most often a slow-growing type that responds well to treatment. The thyroid is one of the glands covered on the endocrine cancer page.
Most nodules cause no symptoms. When they do, signs include:
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most nodules have no clear cause. Thyroid cells sometimes grow more than they should as part of aging. Other causes include a lack of iodine in the diet, which is uncommon in the United States, inflammation of the thyroid such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and fluid that collects in the gland. A few nodules are cancer.
You are more likely to have thyroid nodules if you:
Radiation in childhood and a family history of thyroid cancer also raise the chance that a nodule is cancer, so tell your doctor about either.
Your doctor feels your neck, asks about symptoms and asks about radiation and family history.
Biopsy results fall into groups: benign, cancer, suspicious, or uncertain. A benign result usually means follow-up ultrasounds. An uncertain result may lead to a repeat biopsy, molecular testing or surgery to remove half the gland.
Most benign nodules need no treatment. When one does, the choice depends on its size, its symptoms and whether it makes hormone.
A benign nodule that causes no trouble is checked with an ultrasound from time to time, often at first after one to two years. If it stays the same, checks can become less frequent.
Radioactive iodine, a pill or liquid, treats a hot nodule that makes too much hormone. Anti-thyroid medicines can slow an overactive thyroid while a longer-term plan is made.
Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
If you are watching a benign nodule, keep your follow-up ultrasounds. Learn how your neck normally looks and feels so that a change stands out. After a lobectomy, the remaining half of the gland usually makes enough hormone; after a total thyroidectomy, you take a thyroid hormone pill each day. After RFA, most people return to usual activities within a day or two.
Contact your team if a nodule seems larger, you find a new lump, swallowing becomes harder, or you notice signs of an overactive thyroid. Bring your past ultrasound and biopsy reports from any other practice, a list of your medicines and supplements, and your questions: what the ultrasound showed, whether a biopsy is needed and how often the nodule should be checked.
Rarely. More than nine in ten nodules are benign. An ultrasound, and sometimes a biopsy, tells your doctor which ones need a closer look.
Most people feel pressure and brief discomfort. A numbing medicine may be used, and you can usually go back to your day right after.
Your doctor may repeat the biopsy, send the cells for molecular testing, or suggest removing half the thyroid to get a clear answer.
Fluid-filled nodules sometimes shrink. Solid nodules usually stay the same or grow slowly, which is why they are rechecked.
Only if your whole thyroid is removed, or if the remaining tissue cannot make enough hormone. RFA treats only the nodule, so the rest of the gland usually keeps working.
Thyroid nodules are evaluated and treated by endocrinologists, radiologists, pathologists and endocrine and head and neck surgeons.
Endocrine cancer teams shrink benign nodules with radiofrequency ablation and treat the few that prove to be cancer.
Learn More About CancerEndocrinologists check thyroid hormone levels, order the ultrasound and decide which nodules need a needle biopsy.
Learn More About EndocrinologyRadiologists image the nodule by ultrasound and guide the thin needle used for a biopsy or ablation.
Learn More About RadiologyThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or...
Learn More About Thyroid CancerEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very...
Learn More About Parathyroid CancerA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male reproductive organs: the prostate, testicles and penis. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments, and urologists and oncologists treat all of them.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because you saw blood in your urine, a scan found a spot on a kidney, a PSA test came back high, or you felt a lump. You may be waiting on a result or have just heard a diagnosis. Either way, it helps to know where your question fits.
Urologic cancer is the name for any cancer of the organs that make, store and pass urine, along with the male reproductive organs. Women can develop cancers of the kidney, bladder, ureter and urethra; men can develop any of them. These cancers behave very differently from one another, and each has its own page in this library.
This page shows you the family, explains how doctors find out which type a person has and lists the warning signs that need care right away. Many urologic cancers are found early, sometimes by accident on a scan done for another reason, and many can be treated with surgery through small incisions, focused radiation or medicines that preserve how the body works.
The urinary tract starts with the two kidneys, which filter the blood and make urine. Two thin tubes, the ureters, carry urine to the bladder, where it is stored until it leaves the body through the urethra. In men, the prostate wraps around the urethra below the bladder, and the testicles and penis make up the rest of the reproductive organs. A cancer in any of these is a urologic cancer.
They are among the most common cancers. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. Bladder and kidney cancer are each among the ten most common cancers in the United States. Testicular, penile, ureter and urethral cancers are much less common.
Smoking is the strongest preventable risk. It raises the risk of bladder, kidney and ureter cancer. Being overweight and having high blood pressure raise the risk of kidney cancer.
Some run in families. Inherited conditions such as Lynch syndrome and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome raise the risk of certain kidney, ureter and bladder cancers, and inherited BRCA gene changes raise the risk of prostate cancer. Genetic counseling can tell you whether you have one.
Protecting how your body works is part of the plan. Treatment aims to remove the cancer while keeping urinary, sexual and kidney function where possible.
The steps usually follow a symptom, a screening result or a finding on a scan done for something else.
Urine tests. A urinalysis looks for blood you cannot see. Urine cytology looks for cancer cells shed from the bladder or ureters.
Looking inside. In a cystoscopy, a urologist passes a thin, lighted scope through the urethra to look inside the bladder. A ureteroscopy goes further, into the ureters and kidney. Both can take tissue samples.
Imaging. A CT scan, often a CT urogram, shows the kidneys, ureters and bladder. An ultrasound is the first test for a lump in a testicle. An MRI shows the prostate in detail and helps decide whether a biopsy is needed, and a PET-CT scan can show whether a cancer has spread.
Blood tests. The PSA test checks for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the one cancer in this family with a routine screening test, prostate cancer screening, and whether to have it is a choice you make with your doctor. A tumor marker test helps diagnose testicular cancer and track treatment.
A biopsy. A pathologist studies tissue under a microscope to name the cancer and its grade. For a suspected testicular cancer, the whole testicle is removed through the groin, since a needle biopsy through the scrotum could spread the cancer.
Treatment depends on the type. Choices include surgery, often robotic surgery through small incisions; procedures that freeze or heat a small kidney or prostate tumor; radiation therapy, including proton therapy; medicines placed directly into the bladder; and chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and hormone therapy. When the bladder is removed, a surgeon builds a new way for urine to leave the body, such as a urostomy. Each member's page explains its options. Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on each condition's page.
See your doctor if you notice any of these, even if they come and go:
These lists apply to every cancer in this family; each condition's page adds its own signs.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
A urologist is a surgeon who treats the urinary tract and the male reproductive organs. Urologists perform cystoscopies, biopsies and most surgery for these cancers, and they work with medical and radiation oncologists on treatment with medicines and radiation.
Usually it does not. Infections, kidney stones and an enlarged prostate cause blood in the urine far more often. Blood in the urine still always needs a checkup, because it is the most common first sign of bladder and kidney cancer.
Often. Many early bladder cancers are removed through a scope, and many small kidney tumors are treated by removing only the tumor. Ask your care team which options fit your cancer.
Some treatments can, especially surgery or radiation for prostate, bladder and penile cancer. Ask about the chances before treatment. Medicines, devices and reconstructive surgery can help restore sexual and urinary function.
Yes. Quitting at any point lowers the chance of a bladder cancer coming back and helps you heal from surgery and other treatment. Your care team can connect you with help to quit.
Urologic cancers are treated by urologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, working together.
Oncologists plan chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation for kidney, bladder and other urologic cancers.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read urine cytology and tissue samples to name which urologic cancer a person has and its grade.
Learn More About PathologyUrologists use cystoscopy, ureteroscopy and robotic surgery to find and remove cancers of the urinary tract.
Learn More About UrologyProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to...
Learn More About Testicular CancerPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and...
Learn More About Prostate Cancer ScreeningA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most...
Learn More About Tumor Marker TestA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that is not normal for you, especially after menopause, so it is often found early. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat every type.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may be here because you had spotting or bleeding after menopause, because a biopsy of the uterine lining came back abnormal, or because a doctor has just told you the word cancer. Bleeding after menopause has several causes, and most are not cancer, so having it checked is how you find out.
Uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States, and the number of cases has been rising. The good news is that it often causes bleeding early, before it spreads, and many people are cured with surgery alone. A smaller group of uterine cancers grow faster or start in the muscle wall of the uterus, and these need more treatment.
This page explains what uterine cancer is, the signs to know, what raises the risk, how it is found and treated, and what life can look like after treatment.
Uterine cancer forms when cells in the uterus, the organ where a baby grows during pregnancy, grow out of control. It is one of the gynecologic cancers. It is most common after menopause, and the average age at diagnosis is about 60, though it can occur in younger women.
The two main kinds are:
About 9 in 10 people with endometrial cancer have abnormal vaginal bleeding. Signs include:
Bleeding after menopause is never normal, and it should be checked soon, even if it stops.
When you cannot tell which list you are in, call your care team and describe what is happening; if nobody can be reached and it looks like the first list, go.
Most endometrial cancers are linked to estrogen. Estrogen makes the lining of the uterus grow, and progesterone balances it. When the lining is exposed to estrogen for years without enough progesterone, it can thicken, a change called endometrial hyperplasia, and in some people that leads to cancer. Body fat makes estrogen, which is why excess weight is the largest risk factor. Some faster-growing types are not linked to hormones, and why they are becoming more common is not yet known. A small share of uterine cancers come from an inherited condition called Lynch syndrome.
Some risk factors are linked to hormones and health:
Others are part of your history:
Black women are more likely to have faster-growing types and to have them found later, so any unusual bleeding deserves prompt care. Having a risk factor does not mean you will get uterine cancer.
There is no screening test for uterine cancer for people at average risk, so knowing the signs is the most useful step. You can lower your risk:
People with Lynch syndrome may be offered regular checks of the uterine lining and surgery to remove the uterus and ovaries after childbearing. Genetic counseling helps when several relatives have had uterine or colorectal cancer.
Your doctor asks about your bleeding and does a pelvic exam. Tests that help include:
If cancer is found, a CT scan, MRI or PET-CT scan may show whether it has spread. The tumor is also tested with molecular profiling for features such as mismatch repair status, which helps choose treatment and can point to Lynch syndrome. The final stage is set after surgery.
Your plan depends on the type, stage and features of the cancer, your health and what matters to you.
Surgery is the main treatment for most uterine cancers. A hysterectomy removes the uterus and cervix, usually along with both ovaries and fallopian tubes. The surgeon also checks the lymph nodes, often by removing only the first few nodes the cancer would reach, called sentinel nodes, through lymph node removal. Most of these operations can be done through small incisions with robotic surgery, which usually means a shorter hospital stay and a faster recovery. Read more about cancer surgery.
Radiation therapy after surgery lowers the chance the cancer returns for some people. It can be given inside the vagina, called brachytherapy, or from outside the body.
Clinical trials may also be an option; use the Find a Clinical Trial link on this page. Your plan is your own, made with your care team.
After a minimally invasive hysterectomy, most people go home within a day and return to light activity in about two weeks. Removing the ovaries brings on menopause if you have not reached it, and your team can help with the symptoms. After vaginal brachytherapy, a vaginal dilator, used as your team shows you, helps keep the vagina healthy. Swelling in the legs after lymph node removal can be eased with lymphedema therapy. Follow-up visits continue for several years. Staying active and keeping a healthy weight support your overall health, and many people also manage heart disease or diabetes alongside cancer care. Cancer rehabilitation and support groups help you regain strength.
Contact your team about any new bleeding, pain, swelling or side effects. Bring your medicines, your family history of cancer and your questions: what type and stage the cancer is, whether you need treatment after surgery, what the molecular results mean, and whether your family should consider genetic testing.
No. Most often it comes from thinning tissue, polyps or hormone changes. Because it can be the first sign of cancer, it should always be checked.
Many people with early, slow-growing cancer need surgery alone. Your team decides after surgery, based on the stage and the tumor's features.
Not reliably. A Pap test checks the cervix. Bleeding after menopause or between periods is the sign to report.
For a very early, slow-growing cancer, hormone treatment can sometimes delay surgery until after pregnancy. Ask about fertility before treatment starts.
Keeping a healthy weight and staying active support recovery and help with conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Your team can connect you with a dietitian.
Uterine cancer is cared for by gynecologists, gynecologic oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists and nurse navigators.
Gynecologic oncologists remove the uterus, often robotically, and add radiation, chemotherapy or immunotherapy as needed.
Learn More About CancerPathologists grade the tumor and test it for mismatch repair changes that guide treatment and can point to Lynch syndrome.
Learn More About PathologyGynecologists check bleeding after menopause with ultrasound and an office biopsy of the uterine lining.
Learn More About Women'sGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalOrlando Health cancer specialists see patients across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area, for a first opinion or a second one.
Find an OncologistThe tests, procedures and therapies our cancer teams use, from screening and diagnosis to surgery, medicines, radiation and recovery. Each page explains what happens, how to prepare and who provides it near you.
An abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum or in the anus. It ends with a permanent colostomy, an opening on the belly for stool. Many people return to work, travel and the activities they enjoy.
Learn MoreAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar and stress. It is rare, and most growths found in these glands are not cancer. Endocrine specialists, surgeons and oncologists work together to find it and treat it, most often with surgery.
Learn MoreAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to HPV, a common virus. Because it forms where a doctor can see and reach it, it is often found early, and most people are treated without surgery.
Learn MoreAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes often clear on their own, and high-grade changes can be found with screening and treated in the office before they ever become cancer.
Learn MoreAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few minutes, needs no sedation, and helps find the cause of bleeding, pain, itching or a lump.
Learn MoreAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for appendicitis and sometimes to treat or confirm a tumor of the appendix. Most are done through small incisions, and you can live a full, healthy life without an appendix.
Learn MoreAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are found during surgery for appendicitis. Some grow slowly, and Orlando Health care teams treat them with surgery, chemotherapy and, for some people, HIPEC.
Learn MoreA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat the bowel so it shows clearly on X-rays. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes and needs no sedation.
Learn MoreBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of esophageal cancer, though most people with it never develop cancer. Regular checks and treatment of early changes keep that risk low.
Learn MoreBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp, and very rarely spreads. Treated early, usually with a short office procedure, it is almost always cured.
Learn MoreA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for certain whether an area is cancer, and most biopsies are quick, done with numbing medicine, and let you go home the same day.
Learn MoreBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine. Most bladder cancers are found before they grow into the bladder wall, when they respond well to treatment.
Learn MoreA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy blood-forming cells, from you or a donor. It is used for some leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and other blood and immune conditions, and for some, it offers a chance of cure.
Learn MoreBone marrow transplant and cellular therapy, with evaluation, treatment and follow-up care in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can cause pain and weaken the bone. Treatments can ease pain, protect the bone and slow the cancer, and many people live with it for years.
Learn MoreA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or repairing. It can find cancer that has spread to the bones and other bone problems, and most of the appointment is waiting while the tracer reaches the bones.
Learn MoreBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and many are not. They are cared for by teams of neurosurgeons, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists who plan each person's treatment together.
Learn MoreA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly. They are treated with surgery, radiation and medicine, often in combination, by teams of brain surgeons, cancer doctors and radiation specialists working together.
Learn MoreA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that you or your doctor felt. Most are done with a needle and numbing medicine, and most biopsies find no cancer.
Learn MoreBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers, and found early it is among the most treatable. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it, with nurse navigators to guide you.
Learn MoreBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average risk start at age 40. Your age, family history and breast density decide how often you go and whether you need more than a mammogram.
Learn MoreBreast cancer specialists, breast imaging and reconstructive surgery in Orlando, Winter Park, Clermont, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant, tissue from your own body or both. It can happen at the same time as cancer surgery or months or years later, and whether to have it is your choice.
Learn MoreCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and numbness. Most cancer pain can be eased with the right mix of medicines, procedures and support, and telling your care team about it is the first step.
Learn MoreCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer treatment. Physical, occupational and speech therapists work with you on tiredness, weakness, pain, swelling, swallowing and the everyday tasks that cancer and its treatment can make harder.
Learn MoreCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often the main treatment for cancers that have not spread, and it is usually planned with chemotherapy, radiation or other treatment. Many operations are done through small incisions.
Learn MoreCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and when it does happen, finding it early means it can often be treated while your cancer care goes on. Oncologists and cardiologists watch for it together.
Learn MoreCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused by HPV, and screening finds changes years before they become cancer. Orlando Health care teams screen for it, diagnose it and treat it at every stage.
Learn MoreCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become cancer. Most people start at 21 or 25 and are tested every three to five years until 65.
Learn MoreChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with rest in between, and can be used to cure a cancer, shrink it before surgery, lower the chance it returns or ease symptoms. Side effects can be managed.
Learn MoreA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to remove colon cancer or disease that keeps coming back. Many colectomies are done through small incisions, and most people go back to eating and living normally.
Learn MoreColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find polyps and remove them before they turn into cancer. Found early, colon cancer is very treatable, and Orlando Health care teams screen for it and treat it.
Learn MoreA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually asleep or sedated, it takes less than an hour, and polyps can be removed during the same test.
Learn MoreColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at average risk start at 45, and you can choose between a colonoscopy and simpler tests you do at home.
Learn MoreColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless, though some can turn into cancer over many years. A colonoscopy finds them and removes them, and Orlando Health care teams offer screening and polyp care.
Learn MoreColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the healthy ends again. Many operations are done through small incisions, and your surgeon plans the approach around your body, your diagnosis and your goals.
Learn MoreA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool leaves the body into a pouch. It may be temporary while your bowel heals or permanent, and with practice most people return to work, travel, exercise and the foods they enjoy.
Learn MoreA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and painless, and it helps your care team find a problem, see its size and location, plan treatment and check how treatment is working.
Learn MoreEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in hormone-making cells spread through the body. Thyroid cancer is the most common, and most are very treatable. Each type has its own signs and tests, and surgery is often the first treatment.
Learn MoreThyroid, adrenal, parathyroid and neuroendocrine cancer specialists in Ocoee, with surgical and nonsurgical care.
Learn MoreEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most common early sign is food that feels stuck when you swallow. Treatment often combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, planned by one team.
Learn MoreExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound with stitches. It is usually done in the office with numbing medicine, you go home the same day, and the tissue is checked under a microscope.
Learn MoreGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often found after gallbladder surgery for gallstones. Orlando Health care teams diagnose it and treat it with surgery, medicine and radiation.
Learn MoreColon, rectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for you, and what the result would mean. A genetic counselor reviews your family history, explains your options and helps you plan screening or prevention.
Learn MoreGynecologic oncologists caring for ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers in Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments. Gynecologic oncologists treat all of them, with surgery, radiation and medicines, and with care to protect fertility when possible.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden, with free screening.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer surgery. Surgeons often move skin, muscle or bone from another part of your body to restore how you eat, swallow, speak and breathe, and to bring back your appearance as closely as they can.
Learn MoreA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of cancer before you notice symptoms. It takes a few minutes and involves no needles. It is most useful for people who use tobacco or alcohol, and it is never a substitute for checking a symptom.
Learn MoreHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head and neck. Tobacco, alcohol and HPV are the main causes of many of them. Specialist teams combine surgery, radiation and medicines, with care to protect speaking, swallowing and appearance.
Learn MoreA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its full size within a few months, so many people can have a large part removed safely. It can be done through small incisions or one larger one, and recovery takes a few weeks.
Learn MoreHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon first removes all the tumor that can be seen, then bathes the inside of the abdomen with heated chemotherapy during the same operation. It is a major operation for carefully chosen patients.
Learn MoreHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no incisions, no needles and no radiation. You are asleep for it, it often takes about an hour, and many people go home the same day.
Learn MoreHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It treats many breast and prostate cancers and some uterine cancers, given as pills or shots, often for years, to shrink a cancer, slow it or help keep it from returning.
Learn MoreImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and treats many cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder and some breast cancers. Its side effects differ from chemotherapy and need prompt attention.
Learn MoreYoga, art, music, acupuncture, massage and support groups that ease stress and side effects during and after cancer care.
Learn MoreLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system, and each has many types. Hematologist-oncologists, doctors who specialize in blood diseases and cancer, diagnose and treat them.
Learn MoreSpecialists in leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and blood disorders, in downtown Orlando, Ocoee and Lake Mary.
Learn MoreLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a liver already scarred by hepatitis, alcohol or fatty liver disease. Found early, it can often be removed or destroyed, and many other treatments can control it when it cannot.
Learn MoreFellowship-trained physicians for primary and secondary liver cancer, including histotripsy, in downtown Orlando.
Learn MoreA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is a major operation with a careful evaluation beforehand, and most people who receive one go on to live active lives for many years.
Learn MoreA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep most of your breast. Most people go home the same day, and radiation therapy usually follows to treat any cancer cells left in the breast.
Learn MoreLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or treated with the goal of cure, and yearly screening helps find it early in people at higher risk. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists and lung specialists plan care together.
Learn MoreLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles or dye, and can find lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.
Learn MoreA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old infection or inflammation and are not cancer. Lung specialists decide whether a nodule needs no follow-up, another scan or a biopsy.
Learn MoreLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see whether cancer has spread to them. The result helps set the stage of the cancer and guides the rest of your treatment.
Learn MoreLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after cancer surgery or radiation. A trained therapist uses gentle massage, wraps, compression garments, exercise and skin care, and teaches you to manage it at home.
Learn MoreLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen lymph node. There are two main kinds, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin, and many types within them. Many lymphomas respond well to treatment, and some can be cured.
Learn MoreA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes about 20 minutes, and most results are normal. If you are asked to come back for more pictures, that is common.
Learn MoreA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk of breast cancer. Many people go home the same day or after one night, and you can choose reconstruction now, later or not at all.
Learn MoreMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a growth such as a thymus tumor or a cyst. Many of these operations are done through small incisions, and recovery from a minimally invasive operation often takes three to four weeks.
Learn MoreMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and more likely to spread, so early detection matters. Found early, it is usually cured with surgery, and newer medicines help many people with advanced melanoma.
Learn MoreDermatology, surgery and oncology specialists for melanoma and skin cancer in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For most melanomas found early, surgery is the main treatment and is often the only one needed. Most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no cancer remains. It saves as much healthy skin as possible, which matters most on the face, and it takes place in the office with numbing medicine.
Learn MoreMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which treatments are most likely to work for you, such as a targeted medicine or immunotherapy, and which ones you may be able to skip, such as chemotherapy.
Learn MoreAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It helps find a growth, shows its size and where it is, and checks how treatment is working. You lie still in a scanner for 30 to 60 minutes.
Learn MoreA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes pictures of your heart as it beats. It is often done before and during cancer treatments that can affect the heart, to keep your heart safe.
Learn MoreNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built from your CT scan, so a doctor can take a small tissue sample. It needs no incision, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreBrain and spinal cord tumor specialists in downtown Orlando, Dr. Phillips and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost anywhere, most often in the intestines, pancreas, appendix, rectum and lungs. Many grow slowly, some make hormones that cause symptoms, and most can be treated or controlled for a long time.
Learn MoreOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or feeling full fast, are easy to mistake for everyday problems, so a change that lasts deserves a check. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat it.
Learn MorePancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control blood sugar. It often causes few signs early on, so a fast, clear plan matters. Treatment combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, chosen for where the tumor is and how far it reaches.
Learn MoreParathyroid cancer starts in one of the four tiny glands in the neck that control the calcium in your blood. It is very rare, and most problems with these glands are not cancer. The usual first sign is a high calcium level. Surgery to remove the gland and the tissue around it is the main treatment.
Learn MorePenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in skin color. Found early, it can often be treated in ways that keep the penis and how it works.
Learn MorePeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from cancers of the appendix, colon, stomach or ovary. Treatment depends on where it started, and Orlando Health care teams offer medicine and, for some people, surgery with HIPEC.
Learn MorePost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow a mastectomy or a lumpectomy. It is common, it has a cause, and medicines, therapy and procedures can ease it.
Learn MoreProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and when found early, many men have several good choices for care.
Learn MoreProstate cancer diagnosis and treatment, from active surveillance to robotic surgery and precise radiation.
Learn MoreProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and when to start is a choice you make with your doctor, usually in your 50s, or earlier if you are Black or prostate cancer runs in your family.
Learn MoreProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at the tumor and very little beyond it, which can lower the dose to healthy tissue nearby. It is used for some cancers in children and adults, often near sensitive organs.
Learn MoreRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so they stop growing. Most forms treat only the area they are aimed at. It can be used to cure a cancer, alongside surgery or medicines, or to ease pain and other symptoms.
Learn MoreRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and releases tiny beads that hold radiation straight into the tumor. It needs only a small nick in the skin, and most people go home the same day.
Learn MoreRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it before it starts. Treatment often combines medicine, radiation and surgery, and Orlando Health care teams plan each step with you to protect bowel control where they can.
Learn MoreA rectal spacer is a soft gel placed between the prostate and the rectum before radiation for prostate cancer. It moves the rectum a little farther from the radiation to help protect it. Placement is a short outpatient procedure, and your body absorbs the gel on its own over several months.
Learn MoreLung, esophageal and chest cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Ocoee and Winter Garden.
Learn MoreSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage or bone. It often shows up as a lump that grows over weeks or months. Teams that include surgeons, oncologists and radiation oncologists plan its care together.
Learn MoreBone and soft tissue cancer specialists in downtown Orlando, Lake Mary and Ocoee who plan your care together.
Learn MoreA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of your colon for polyps, cancer and other changes. It needs only a simple bowel prep, and most people have it without sedation.
Learn MoreSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is the most common cancer in the United States, and when it is found early, nearly every case can be treated successfully, often with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreSkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as it should and looks as natural as possible. It ranges from a few stitches to moving skin from nearby or another part of the body.
Learn MoreA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles unless a spot needs testing, and pairs with checking your own skin each month to find changes early.
Learn MoreA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many start as cancer elsewhere that has spread to the spine. Back pain is the most common sign. Orlando Health teams diagnose spinal tumors and treat them together.
Learn MoreSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most often on skin that gets a lot of sun. Found early, it is very treatable, usually with a short procedure in the office.
Learn MoreStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions instead of several weeks. It treats some early lung and prostate cancers, some tumors of the liver, pancreas and spine, and tumors that have spread, without an incision or a hospital stay.
Learn MoreStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or feeling full fast, are easy to miss, so a lasting change deserves a check. Orlando Health care teams find it, stage it and treat it with medicine and surgery.
Learn MoreSubmucosal tunneling endoscopic resection, or STER, removes a tumor from deep in the wall of the esophagus or stomach using a flexible scope passed through the mouth. There is no cut on the skin, and most people stay in the hospital for a day or two.
Learn MoreTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only when your cancer has that target, so a test of your tumor comes first. Many targeted medicines are pills taken at home, and others are given by infusion.
Learn MoreTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to 40. It is also one of the most treatable cancers: most men are cured, often with surgery alone, and go on to have children and full lives.
Learn MoreThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall and the lining around the lungs. Thoracic surgeons, oncologists, radiation oncologists and lung and digestive specialists care for them together.
Learn MoreThyroid cancer starts in the butterfly-shaped gland at the base of the neck. It is often found as a lump during an exam or on a scan for something else. Most thyroid cancers grow slowly and are very treatable, and surgery is the main treatment, sometimes followed by radioactive iodine.
Learn MoreA thyroid nodule is a lump in the thyroid gland at the base of the neck. Nodules are very common, and most are harmless. An ultrasound and sometimes a needle biopsy tell which few need treatment. Many only need watching, and those that cause symptoms can be shrunk or removed.
Learn MoreA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still be able to have a baby. Gynecologic oncologists perform it, often through small incisions.
Learn MoreTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It needs no large incision, many people go home the same day, and it can treat small tumors in the liver, kidney, lung, bone and other organs when surgery is not the best choice.
Learn MoreTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor through a thin tube placed in an artery at the groin or wrist. It is most often used for liver tumors, and it can also make some tumors safer to remove with surgery.
Learn MoreA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most often used to track how well cancer treatment is working and to watch for cancer coming back. A high result on its own does not mean you have cancer.
Learn MoreTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your own tumor, grown into billions in a lab and returned to your body through an IV to attack the cancer. It involves surgery, a hospital stay and close care from a specialized team.
Learn MoreBladder, kidney, penile and testicular cancer care, with robotic surgery, in Orlando, Dr. Phillips, Lake Mary and Ocoee.
Learn MoreUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male reproductive organs: the prostate, testicles and penis. Each type has its own signs, tests and treatments, and urologists and oncologists treat all of them.
Learn MoreA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer work. Urine drains through a small opening on the belly, called a stoma, into a flat pouch you empty several times a day.
Learn MoreUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that is not normal for you, especially after menopause, so it is often found early. Orlando Health gynecologic oncologists diagnose and treat every type.
Learn MoreNo pages match. Clear a filter or try another word.
An abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum or in the anus. It ends with a permanent colostomy, an opening on the belly for stool. Many people return to work, travel and the activities they enjoy.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your surgeon has recommended an abdominoperineal resection, often shortened to APR, you are probably facing two big things at once: cancer surgery and life with a colostomy. Both bring questions, and it is natural to feel uneasy about the stoma in particular. Surgeons recommend this operation when a tumor is too close to the muscles that control the bowels to remove it safely any other way, so it gives the best chance of removing the cancer completely.
The operation removes the rectum, the anus and the muscles around them, along with nearby fat and lymph nodes. Because the anus is removed, the end of the colon is brought out through the belly wall as a permanent colostomy, and stool collects in a small pouch you empty and change. Before surgery, an ostomy nurse helps you plan where the stoma will go and teaches you how to care for it.
This page explains what the operation is, who needs it, how to prepare, what recovery looks like and how life goes on afterward.
An abdominoperineal resection is an operation done in two areas: the abdomen, or belly, and the perineum, the skin between the legs around the anus. Working through the belly, the surgeon frees the rectum and the tissue around it, called the mesorectum, which holds the lymph nodes where rectal cancer tends to spread first. Working from below, the surgeon removes the anus and the sphincter muscles. The tissue comes out in one piece so a pathologist can check that the edges are clear of cancer.
The surgeon then closes the wound between the legs and creates the colostomy. You are asleep under general anesthesia for the whole operation, which usually takes several hours.
An APR is used to remove cancer that lies too low to save the anal sphincter while still removing all of it. The main reasons are:
Many people with rectal cancer have chemotherapy and radiation therapy first, which can shrink the tumor. Sometimes that allows a sphincter-saving operation instead, so your surgeon will review your scans again after this treatment.
You may be a candidate if your tumor involves or lies very near the sphincter muscles, if saving them would leave cancer behind or leave you with poor bowel control, and if you are healthy enough for major surgery. Your surgeon, oncologists and you decide together, after looking at your pelvic MRI, your response to earlier treatment and your own priorities.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]An IV is placed and anesthesia puts you to sleep. A urinary catheter is placed. The surgeon frees the rectum through the belly, removes the rectum and anus through the perineum, closes the wound there and brings the colon through the belly wall to form the stoma.
You wake in a recovery area, then move to a hospital room. Most people stay several days. Nurses help you walk the first day, start you on liquids and then food, and teach you to empty and change your pouch. The catheter usually stays a few days.
Full recovery takes six to eight weeks or longer. The wound between the legs heals more slowly than the belly incisions, and a soft cushion helps for a while. Avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon clears you. A home health or ostomy nurse may visit to help with the stoma and the wound.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage from either wound, a stoma that turns dark or stops putting out stool, or trouble passing urine.
Your surgical team takes many steps to lower these risks. They include:
The goal is to remove all of the cancer with clear edges, and for many people it does. A pathologist's report on the removed tissue shows the final stage and guides any further treatment. The colostomy is permanent. Over time most people manage their pouch in a few minutes a day, eat a regular diet, and return to work, exercise, travel and intimacy. Follow-up visits, scans and blood tests continue for several years.
Yes. Because the anus is removed, the colostomy stays for life.
Usually not. Modern pouches are flat and odor-proof, and fit under everyday clothes.
Most people stay several days. Your team will tell you what to expect for your operation.
Many people can. Talk with your surgeon about nerve-sparing technique, and ask about treatments for any changes.
Yes. Ostomy nurses, support groups and the United Ostomy Associations of America offer practical help and people who have been there.
Abdominoperineal resection is performed by colon and rectal surgeons and surgical oncologists, sometimes with a plastic surgeon to close the wound.
Plastic surgeons close a large wound between the legs with a tissue flap when more muscle is removed.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveOncologists plan chemotherapy and radiation around this surgery for very low rectal and anal cancers.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove the lower rectum and anus and create the permanent colostomy.
Learn More About Colon & RectalAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool...
Learn More About ColostomyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few minutes, needs no sedation, and helps find the cause of bleeding, pain, itching or a lump.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may have been told you need an anoscopy because of bleeding, pain or itching around the anus, or to follow up an abnormal anal Pap test. It is natural to feel embarrassed or uneasy about an exam in this part of the body. Doctors who do anoscopy do it often, and the exam is short.
Most of the problems an anoscopy finds are common and treatable, such as hemorrhoids, small tears called fissures, or an infection. It can also find changes in the lining of the anus that need watching or treatment, so they never have the chance to become cancer.
An anoscopy is different from a colonoscopy. It looks only at the last few inches of the bowel, so there is usually no bowel prep and no sedation, and you can go straight back to your day.
This page explains what an anoscopy is, why doctors order it, what happens during the exam and what your results mean.
An anoscopy is an exam of the anal canal and the lowest part of the rectum. The anal canal is the short passage, about 1 to 2 inches long, at the end of the digestive tract where stool leaves the body.
The doctor uses an anoscope, a small, smooth tube about 3 to 4 inches long, with a light. It is gently placed a short way into the anus, and the doctor looks at the lining as it is slowly drawn back. If something looks unusual, the doctor can take a tiny tissue sample, called a biopsy, during the same visit.
Because the anoscope reaches only the end of the bowel, an anoscopy cannot check the rest of the colon. When the whole colon needs to be seen, your doctor will order a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy.
An anoscopy helps find the cause of symptoms and checks the lining of the anus for changes that need care. Doctors order one to look for:
You may need an anoscopy if you have:
People at higher risk for anal cancer may also have regular anal cancer screening, which can include an anal Pap test and high-resolution anoscopy. This includes people living with HIV, people who have had an organ transplant, and people with a history of cervical, vaginal or vulvar cancer or precancer. Ask your doctor whether screening fits your situation.
Some of these symptoms come from conditions that are minor. Rectal bleeding should still be checked, rather than put down to hemorrhoids without an exam.
Most people need little or no preparation for a standard anoscopy. Your care team will tell you what to do.
For a high-resolution anoscopy, you may be asked to avoid enemas, douches, creams in the anal area and anal sex for 24 hours beforehand, since these can affect what the doctor sees.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You undress from the waist down and cover up with a sheet or gown. You lie on your left side with your knees drawn up toward your chest, or lean forward over an exam table.
The doctor usually starts with a digital rectal exam, gently feeling inside the anus with a gloved, lubricated finger. Then the lubricated anoscope is slowly placed a short way into the anus. You may feel pressure, or feel as if you need to have a bowel movement. Taking slow, deep breaths and relaxing your muscles helps it pass easily.
The doctor looks at the lining while drawing the anoscope out. If a biopsy is needed, you may feel a quick pinch. A numbing medicine may be used first.
A standard anoscopy takes only a few minutes. A high-resolution anoscopy takes longer, often 15 to 30 minutes. You can drive yourself home and go back to your normal activities right away.
An anoscopy is a low-risk exam.
Call your care team if bleeding is heavier than a small streak or does not stop within a couple of days, or if you develop a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher or pain that gets worse. Go to the emergency room or call 911 for bleeding that will not stop.
Your doctor can often tell you what was seen before you leave.
Most people feel only pressure or mild discomfort for a minute or two. Relaxing and breathing slowly makes the exam easier. Tell your doctor if it hurts, especially if you have a fissure.
No. There is no sedation for a standard anoscopy, so you can drive yourself and go back to work the same day.
An anoscopy looks only at the last few inches of the bowel and takes minutes in an office. A colonoscopy looks at the whole colon, needs a full bowel prep and is done under sedation.
A colonoscopy passes quickly through the anal canal and may not show it in detail. An anoscopy gives a close look at that short area, where hemorrhoids, fissures and HPV-related changes appear.
Often not, if the cause of your symptoms is found and treated. People being watched for anal dysplasia have repeat exams on a schedule their doctor sets.
Anoscopy is performed by colon and rectal surgeons, gastroenterologists and some primary care doctors. High-resolution anoscopy is done by clinicians with special training in it.
Oncology teams take over care when an anoscopy and biopsy show cancer of the anus.
Learn More About CancerColorectal surgeons use anoscopy in the office to find hemorrhoids, fissures, fistulas and HPV-related changes.
Learn More About Colon & RectalPathologists grade the tissue taken during high-resolution anoscopy as normal, dysplasia or cancer.
Learn More About PathologyAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for appendicitis and sometimes to treat or confirm a tumor of the appendix. Most are done through small incisions, and you can live a full, healthy life without an appendix.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you have been told you need your appendix removed, it may be happening quickly, often after a trip to the emergency room with belly pain. Or you may be planning the operation weeks ahead, after an infection has calmed down or after a scan or an earlier surgery found something in the appendix. Either way, appendectomy is one of the most common operations performed, and most people recover in a few weeks.
The appendix is a narrow tube about the length of a finger, attached where the small and large intestines meet in the lower right belly. When it becomes blocked and inflamed, it can burst and spread infection, which is why appendicitis is usually treated promptly. Your body does not need the appendix to digest food or stay healthy.
Every appendix that is removed is examined by a pathologist. Rarely, this finds a small tumor, and for many small tumors, no other treatment is needed. This page explains how the operation is done, who needs it, how to prepare and what recovery is like.
An appendectomy removes the whole appendix. The surgeon closes off the base of the appendix where it joins the large intestine, closes off its blood supply, and lifts it out. If the appendix has burst, the surgeon also washes out the belly and may leave a small drain.
The operation is done under general anesthesia, so you are asleep and feel nothing. A simple laparoscopic appendectomy usually takes about an hour.
The most common reasons are:
Most people with appendicitis are advised to have surgery. For some adults with mild appendicitis that has not burst, antibiotics alone are an option, though the appendicitis returns for some people and they then need surgery. Your surgeon will talk through which choice fits your scans, your health and your preferences. For a tumor, the type and size decide whether an appendectomy alone is enough.
For appendicitis, preparation happens quickly in the hospital: you stop eating and drinking, an IV is placed, and you receive fluids, pain medicine and antibiotics. For a planned operation:
Your surgical team will give you written instructions that fit your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You meet your surgical team and anesthesia puts you to sleep. In a laparoscopic or robotic operation, the surgeon fills the belly with gas to make room to see, removes the appendix through one of the small incisions in a protective bag, then closes the incisions with stitches or glue.
You wake in a recovery area where nurses watch your breathing and pain. After a laparoscopic appendectomy for appendicitis that has not burst, many people go home the same day or the next day. After a burst appendix, the stay is often several days, with antibiotics through an IV.
Soreness at the incisions, and shoulder pain from the gas, are common for a few days. Most people walk the same day and return to light activity and desk work within one to two weeks. Avoid heavy lifting for a few weeks, or as your surgeon advises; recovery takes longer after open surgery or a burst appendix. Eat light meals at first.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, vomiting blood or black, tarry stools, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, belly pain that is getting worse, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, vomiting that keeps you from drinking, or no bowel movement for several days.
Appendectomy is a common operation with a low rate of serious problems. The risks include:
Your surgeon will talk through the risks as they apply to you.
Removing the appendix cures appendicitis, and it almost never comes back. Digestion and the immune system work normally without the appendix. The pathology report usually confirms simple inflammation. If it finds a tumor, your surgeon will explain the type and size; a small neuroendocrine tumor fully removed often needs no more treatment beyond follow-up, while others may need more surgery or other care planned with a cancer team.
Yes. Your body does not need the appendix, and most people notice no change in digestion or health after it is removed.
For some adults with mild appendicitis that has not burst, antibiotics alone may work. Some of these people later need surgery when it returns. Your surgeon will help you weigh the choice.
Many people return to desk work or school within one to two weeks after a laparoscopic operation. Heavy lifting and sports wait for your surgeon's clearance.
Every removed appendix is examined under a microscope, and rarely this finds a tumor nobody expected. Many are small and fully removed by the operation itself.
A laparoscopic or robotic operation leaves two or three small scars that usually fade. An open operation leaves one short scar in the lower right belly.
Appendectomy is performed by general surgeons, and by colon and rectal surgeons and surgical oncologists when a tumor is involved.
Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health colorectal surgeons treat appendiceal cancers with surgery.
Most appendectomies for appendicitis begin with a visit to an emergency room.
Cancer teams plan next steps when the removed appendix shows a tumor, from follow-up to more surgery.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove part of the large intestine with the appendix for some appendix tumors.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGeneral surgeons remove an inflamed appendix, most often laparoscopically, for appendicitis.
Learn More About General SurgeryAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor...
Learn More About Tumor EmbolizationYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat the bowel so it shows clearly on X-rays. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes and needs no sedation.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your doctor may have ordered a barium enema to look at the shape of your colon and rectum, or because another test could not show all of it. It is an older exam than a colonoscopy, and today doctors use it for a narrower set of questions, often where its X-ray outline of the whole bowel answers something a scope cannot.
The exam is done in an imaging department by a radiologist, a doctor trained to read X-rays. It is not painful, though you will feel full and crampy while the barium is in place, and you need the same kind of bowel prep the day before as for a colonoscopy.
A barium enema can show narrowed areas, pouches in the bowel wall, twists, leaks, and growths such as polyps or tumors. It cannot remove polyps or take tissue samples, so a finding usually leads to a colonoscopy.
This page explains why the exam is ordered, how to prepare, what happens on the day and what your results mean.
A barium enema, also called a lower GI series, is an X-ray exam of the large intestine. The large intestine is made up of the colon and the rectum.
Soft tissue such as the bowel wall barely shows on an ordinary X-ray. Barium sulfate is a chalky, white liquid that X-rays cannot pass through. When it coats the inside of the colon, the outline of the bowel shows up clearly, along with anything that changes its shape.
The barium is given through a small, soft tube placed a short way into the rectum. The radiologist watches the barium move through the colon on a live X-ray screen, called fluoroscopy, and takes still pictures from several angles.
Doctors may order a barium enema to:
Most people never need a barium enema. Colonoscopy and CT colonography have largely replaced it for finding polyps and cancer, and it is not among the tests the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends for colorectal cancer screening. Your doctor may order one when its outline of the whole bowel answers a specific question, or when another test was not possible or not complete.
If you have symptoms such as rectal bleeding or a lasting change in bowel habits, ask your doctor which test is best for you.
Your colon needs to be empty so the barium can coat the lining and the pictures are clear. Follow the written instructions you are given, which may differ from these general steps.
Children need a different prep, often milder, and their care team will explain it.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown and lie on your side on an X-ray table. A first X-ray checks that the colon is empty.
The technologist or radiologist places a small, lubricated tube a short way into your rectum. A small balloon near its tip may be gently filled to help you hold the liquid in. The barium then flows slowly into your colon. You will feel full, crampy and as if you need to have a bowel movement. Breathing slowly through your mouth and tightening your buttocks helps you hold it.
For a double-contrast exam, air is added next, which can make you feel more bloated. You will be asked to turn onto your back, your stomach and your sides, and to hold your breath while pictures are taken. The table may tilt.
When the pictures are finished, the tube is removed and you go to the bathroom to pass most of the barium. A last X-ray may be taken. The whole exam usually takes 30 to 60 minutes.
Afterward, you can eat normally and go back to your day. Drink extra water for a day or two. Your stools will be white or light gray for a few days as the barium passes. Your doctor may suggest a mild laxative to help clear it.
A barium enema is a safe test. Possible risks include:
Call your care team if you have not passed the barium within two to three days or cannot have a bowel movement. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher or belly pain that is getting worse. Go to the emergency room or call 911 for severe belly pain, especially with a fever, or for rectal bleeding that will not stop.
The radiologist studies the X-rays and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the exam, usually within a few days. That doctor will go over the results with you.
A barium enema can miss small polyps, so a normal result may still be followed by other tests if your symptoms continue.
It is uncomfortable rather than painful. Most people feel full, crampy and an urge to have a bowel movement while the barium is in, and that eases once it is passed.
No. You stay awake so you can turn into different positions and hold your breath, and you can usually drive yourself home.
Often a colonoscopy is the better test, since it can remove polyps and take samples. A barium enema shows the outline and shape of the whole bowel, which is the point for some questions, and it can be used when a colonoscopy could not be completed.
That is the barium passing out of your body. It is normal for a few days. Drinking extra water helps it pass.
Yes. It is used in infants and children to look for causes of constipation and blockage, with a smaller tube and a prep suited to their age.
A barium enema is performed in a hospital or outpatient imaging department by radiologists and radiologic technologists. It is ordered by gastroenterologists, colon and rectal surgeons, general surgeons, pediatricians and primary care doctors.
When a barium enema shows a growth, cancer specialists plan care once colonoscopy confirms the diagnosis.
Learn More About CancerColorectal surgeons order a barium enema to study rectal prolapse, narrowing and leaks after bowel surgery.
Learn More About Colon & RectalRadiologists fill the colon with barium and read the X-rays that outline its shape.
Learn More About RadiologyA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool...
Learn More About ColostomyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for certain whether an area is cancer, and most biopsies are quick, done with numbing medicine, and let you go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended a biopsy, you may be worried about what it could show. That worry is natural. It helps to know that many biopsies find no cancer at all, and that a biopsy is often the step that ends weeks of uncertainty with a clear answer.
Scans and blood tests can show that something looks unusual. They cannot say for certain what it is. A biopsy can, because a specialist doctor called a pathologist looks at the cells themselves. That answer guides everything that comes next, whether it is reassurance, watchful follow-up or a treatment plan made for the exact type of cancer you have.
There are several ways to take a sample. Some use a thin needle through the skin, some use a scope passed into the body, and some use a small surgical cut. The kind you have depends on where the area is and how easy it is to reach.
This page explains the main kinds of biopsy, why one is ordered, how to prepare, what happens on the day, the risks, and how to understand your results.
A biopsy removes a small piece of tissue, or a small number of cells, from an area of concern. The sample goes to a lab, where a pathologist prepares it and studies it under a microscope.
The pathologist looks at the size, shape and pattern of the cells. This shows whether the area is cancer, a different condition such as an infection or inflammation, or normal tissue. If it is cancer, the sample also shows the type and how fast the cells appear to be growing.
Many samples now go through further lab tests as well. These can look for changes in the cancer's genes or proteins, which helps your care team choose treatments that target those changes. You can read more on the molecular profiling page.
A biopsy is ordered when an exam, a scan or a blood test finds something that needs a closer look. The goals are:
You may need a biopsy if you have a lump, a lung nodule, a growth found during a scope test, a mole that has changed, swollen lymph nodes that do not go away, or blood test results that point to a problem in the bone marrow. Your doctor will explain why yours was ordered and which kind fits.
Your care team will give you instructions for your exact biopsy. Follow those instructions over anything on this page. In general:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Most needle and skin biopsies are done as an outpatient visit while you are awake. The area is cleaned and numbed with an injection, which stings for a moment. You may feel pressure as the needle goes in, and you will be asked to lie still for a short time. Many needle biopsies take less than an hour, including the time spent setting up.
For an endoscopic biopsy, you usually receive medicine to make you sleepy and relaxed, and the samples are taken during the scope test. A surgical biopsy may be done with sedation or general anesthesia, and the cut is closed with stitches or skin glue.
Afterward, a small bandage covers the site. Most people go home the same day and return to light activity within a day or so. Your care team will tell you how to care for the site and when you can shower, exercise and lift.
A biopsy is generally safe. Possible risks include:
Call your care team the same day for redness, warmth or swelling at the site that keeps growing, drainage from the site, or a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for bleeding that will not stop, chest pain or trouble breathing, or fainting.
The pathologist writes a report and sends it to the doctor who ordered the biopsy. Results often take a few days. Some special tests on the sample can take a week or longer. Ask when to expect yours and how you will hear.
The report will say whether cancer cells were found. If they were not, the area may be benign, which means not cancer, and your doctor will explain whether any follow-up is needed. If cancer was found, the report names the type and describes features such as the grade, which tells how different the cells look from normal ones. Further results on the cancer's genes or proteins may follow.
Sometimes a result is unclear. That can happen when the sample is small, and your doctor may suggest another biopsy or a different test. Your care team will meet with you to explain what the results mean for you and plan the next step together.
Most people feel a quick sting from the numbing medicine, then pressure. Soreness afterward is usually mild and eased with over-the-counter pain medicine your care team approves.
This worry is common, and the risk is extremely low. Doctors use careful techniques to prevent it, and the information a biopsy gives is needed to plan the right treatment.
A scan shows the size and location of an area. A biopsy shows what the cells are, which a scan cannot confirm.
No. Many biopsies show a benign condition. A biopsy is how your doctor finds out for certain.
Yes, and it often helps. A family member or friend can take notes, ask questions and drive you home if you receive sedation.
Biopsies are performed by surgeons, radiologists who use imaging to guide a needle, gastroenterologists and other specialists who use scopes, and dermatologists. A pathologist studies every sample.
Biopsies are done at Orlando Health locations across Central and West Florida.
Cancer teams order a biopsy to confirm a diagnosis, learn the cancer type and plan treatment around it.
Learn More About CancerPathologists study every biopsy sample under a microscope and write the report that names what the cells are.
Learn More About PathologyRadiologists use ultrasound, CT or MRI to guide a needle to an area that cannot be felt from outside.
Learn More About RadiologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAnal dysplasia means abnormal cells in the lining of the anus, most often caused by HPV. It is not cancer. Low-grade changes...
Learn More About Anal DysplasiaAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBarrett's esophagus is a change in the lining of the esophagus, usually after years of acid reflux. It raises the chance of...
Learn More About Barrett's EsophagusBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy blood-forming cells, from you or a donor. It is used for some leukemias, lymphomas, myeloma and other blood and immune conditions, and for some, it offers a chance of cure.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has raised a bone marrow transplant, you may be picturing major surgery. In fact, the transplant itself is an infusion through an IV, much like a blood transfusion, and you are awake for it. The hard part is the weeks around it: the strong treatment that comes first, and the time it takes your new cells to grow and your immune system to recover.
Your bone marrow is the soft, spongy tissue inside your bones. It holds stem cells that grow into red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. When a blood cancer or another disease damages the marrow, or when the strong treatment needed to control a cancer would destroy it, a transplant gives you a fresh supply of healthy stem cells.
The healthy cells can be your own, collected and stored ahead of time, or they can come from a donor. Which one you have depends on your condition. This page explains how a transplant works, what it treats, how to get ready, what each stage is like, the side effects and what to ask your team.
A bone marrow transplant puts healthy blood-forming stem cells into your bloodstream. The cells find their way to your bone marrow, take hold and begin making new blood cells. This is called engraftment.
Before the transplant, you receive high doses of chemotherapy, sometimes with radiation. This step, called conditioning, destroys cancer cells and clears space in the marrow. With a donor transplant, it also lowers your immune defenses so your body accepts the donor's cells.
A transplant works in one of two ways, depending on where the cells come from:
Today, most stem cells are collected from the blood rather than taken from the marrow itself, though the name bone marrow transplant has stayed.
The same programs often give cellular therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy, which reprograms your own immune cells to fight a blood cancer. See immunotherapy.
Blood cancers, most often:
Other conditions of the marrow and immune system, including aplastic anemia and other bone marrow failure conditions, sickle cell disease, thalassemia, some inherited immune deficiencies and metabolic disorders, and, in children, neuroblastoma.
A transplant can be the main treatment, or it can follow chemotherapy to keep a cancer from returning. Your team weighs your condition, its stage and how it responded to earlier treatment.
The evaluation. Your transplant team makes sure a transplant is right for you and that your body is ready for it. Tests may include blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, CT or MRI scans, heart tests such as an echocardiogram and an electrocardiogram, lung function tests, X-rays and tissue typing (HLA typing) to match a donor. You also meet with a counselor or psychologist, because a transplant asks a lot of you and your family.
Your fitness. Being able to stay active is a good sign. Heart, lung or kidney disease, an active infection or very limited mobility can make a transplant unsafe.
Finding a donor. Brothers and sisters are tested first. When no family member matches, the team searches national donor registries, such as NMDP.
A caregiver. Most programs ask you to name a family member or friend who can stay with you, drive you and help at home during recovery.
Practical planning. You may need a central line, a thin tube placed in a large vein, for treatment and blood draws. Ask about fertility preservation before conditioning, time off work and a dental check.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Collecting the cells. For cells from the blood, you or your donor receive shots for several days to move more stem cells into the bloodstream. The cells are then collected through a machine that filters the blood, a process called apheresis. For your own cells, they are frozen until they are needed.
Conditioning. You receive high-dose chemotherapy, and sometimes radiation, for five to 10 days. Most people stay in the hospital from this point.
Transplant day, Day Zero. The stem cells are infused through your IV, which usually takes about 30 minutes. You are awake, and it is not painful. Your team counts the days after as Day +1, Day +2 and onward.
Waiting for engraftment. For the next two to four weeks, your blood counts are very low while the new cells take hold. You may need blood and platelet transfusions and medicines to prevent infection. The usual hospital stay is two to four weeks, and some transplants are done entirely as an outpatient.
Going home and recovery. Recovery after a transplant with your own cells takes about two to three months; after a donor transplant, six months to a year. Your immune system can take up to 12 months to return to normal, so you will have frequent clinic visits, hand washing, and care to avoid crowds and people who are sick. You keep a transplant patient card with your team's contact details for any other doctor who treats you.
If you have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher while your counts are low, it needs care right away: call your transplant team's urgent number or go to the emergency room.
A transplant is a demanding treatment, and its risks are serious. Your team watches closely for each of these.
Most side effects can be controlled. Your team will explain which risks apply most to you and the kind of transplant you are having.
For some blood cancers, a transplant offers a chance of cure when chemotherapy alone is unlikely to provide one. For others, it can keep the cancer in remission longer. For conditions such as aplastic anemia or sickle cell disease, it can restore a marrow that makes healthy blood. What it can do depends on your condition, its stage and your health, and your team will tell you what to expect for you.
The infusion itself does not hurt. Collecting stem cells from the blood is usually comfortable, and side effects of conditioning are treated as they come.
Your brothers and sisters are tested first, and parents and children may be half matches. Your team can also search national registries for an unrelated volunteer.
Yes. Children are evaluated by specialists to make sure a transplant is a good choice for them.
Many people return within a year. Your immune system can take up to 12 months to recover, and your team will tell you when it is safe.
Usually one is enough. Some conditions, such as myeloma, can call for a second, planned in advance.
Bone marrow transplants are given by transplant teams led by hematologist-oncologists, with pathologists, radiologists, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, researchers and counselors.
Transplant oncologists use high-dose treatment and new stem cells to treat leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read the marrow biopsies and tissue typing that decide who needs a transplant and which donor matches.
Learn More About PathologyLung specialists test lung function before transplant and treat breathing problems and serious infections after it.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaLymphoma is a cancer of the lymphocytes, white blood cells that help fight infection. It often starts as a painless swollen...
Learn More About LymphomaTesticular cancer starts in one of the testicles, most often as a painless lump or swelling. It is most common in men 20 to...
Learn More About Testicular CancerImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or repairing. It can find cancer that has spread to the bones and other bone problems, and most of the appointment is waiting while the tracer reaches the bones.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has ordered a bone scan, you may be wondering why, and what it could show. A bone scan is often part of the routine tests that help your care team understand the full picture, especially for cancers that can reach the bones. Ordering one does not mean your doctor has found a problem.
A bone scan is a nuclear medicine test. A small amount of a radioactive substance, called a tracer, is injected into a vein. Over a few hours it travels through your blood and collects in your bones, more so in places where bone is breaking down or rebuilding. A special camera then picks up the tracer and makes pictures of your whole skeleton.
Those busy areas can be caused by cancer. They can also be caused by things that are not cancer at all, such as arthritis, an old injury or a healing fracture. That is why a bone scan is read alongside your symptoms and other tests.
This page explains why a bone scan is ordered, how to prepare, what happens on the day, the risks and what your results mean.
Bone is living tissue that is always being broken down and rebuilt. When something affects a bone, such as a tumor, an infection or a fracture, the bone usually reacts by rebuilding faster in that spot. The tracer used in a bone scan is drawn to bone that is rebuilding, so those areas collect more of it.
On the pictures, areas with more tracer look darker or brighter than the bone around them. These are often called hot spots. Areas with less tracer than expected, called cold spots, can also mean something.
A bone scan shows the whole skeleton at once, which makes it useful for checking many bones in a single test. It is very good at finding changes in bone. It is less able to say what caused a change, so other tests often follow.
You may also hear it called bone scintigraphy. Sometimes extra three-dimensional pictures are taken of one area, called SPECT, or the camera is combined with a CT scan to show more detail.
In cancer care, a bone scan is most often used to:
Outside cancer care, bone scans can help find hidden fractures, bone infections, arthritis and other bone diseases.
Not everyone with cancer needs a bone scan. Your doctor decides based on the type and stage of the cancer, your symptoms and your blood tests. For example, a bone scan may be ordered when prostate cancer has a higher chance of spreading, or when someone has new bone pain. For some cancers, such as multiple myeloma (see leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma), other imaging tests show the bone damage better, and your doctor may choose a CT scan, an MRI or a PET-CT scan instead.
A bone scan needs little preparation, and you can usually eat and take your medicines as normal. Follow the instructions you are given.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The injection. A technologist places a small needle in a vein, usually in your arm, and injects the tracer. You may feel a quick sting. The tracer itself does not make you feel any different.
The wait. It takes about two to four hours for the tracer to collect in your bones. During this time you will be asked to drink extra water and to empty your bladder often, which helps clear tracer that the bones do not take up and makes the pictures clearer.
The scan. You lie on your back on a table while a camera passes slowly close over your body. The camera does not touch you or make noise you need to worry about, and you do not feel anything. Lying still is the main thing asked of you. The scan usually takes 30 to 60 minutes, sometimes longer if extra pictures are needed.
Afterward. You can go back to your normal activities right away. Keep drinking water and emptying your bladder for the rest of the day to help the tracer leave your body.
A bone scan is a safe, common test.
Call your care team the same day for redness, swelling or pain at the injection site that keeps getting worse.
A nuclear medicine doctor or radiologist reads the pictures and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the scan. Your doctor will go over the results with you.
A normal result means the tracer spread evenly through your bones, with no areas of concern.
An abnormal result means one or more areas took up more or less tracer than expected. This is a common finding and is often not cancer. Arthritis, past injuries, healed fractures and other bone conditions can all show up. The pattern and the location of the spots help the doctor judge what is likely.
When a spot needs a closer look, your doctor may order an X-ray, a CT scan, an MRI or a PET-CT scan, and sometimes a biopsy of the bone. If cancer has reached the bone, your care team will explain what it means for your treatment plan, which can include medicines that strengthen bone, radiation to ease pain and treatment for the cancer itself.
A small amount of tracer stays in your body for a short time and leaves mostly through your urine. Your care team will tell you if you need any precautions, such as around young children or someone who is pregnant.
No. For most people, the brief sting of the needle and lying still on the table are the main discomforts.
Often, yes. Many people step out for a meal or run errands, as long as they drink water and return on time. Ask the staff on the day.
Not necessarily. Many hot spots come from arthritis or old injuries. Your doctor looks at the pattern and may order other tests before reaching any conclusion.
A bone density scan measures how strong your bones are, to check for thinning bones. A bone scan uses a tracer to find areas of bone that are changing, such as where cancer may have spread.
Bone scans are performed by nuclear medicine technologists and read by nuclear medicine doctors or radiologists. Your cancer care team orders the scan and uses the results to plan your care.
Bone scans are done at Orlando Health imaging locations.
Cancer teams order a bone scan to see whether a cancer has reached the bones and to plan treatment.
Learn More About CancerNuclear medicine doctors and radiologists inject the tracer, take the pictures and read the whole skeleton.
Learn More About RadiologyUrologists may order a bone scan when prostate cancer has a higher chance of spreading to bone.
Learn More About UrologyBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerSarcoma is a rare cancer that starts in the body's connective tissues, such as fat, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage...
Learn More About SarcomaA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes...
Learn More About MUGA ScanYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that you or your doctor felt. Most are done with a needle and numbing medicine, and most biopsies find no cancer.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Being told you need a breast biopsy is unsettling, and the wait for results can feel long. It helps to know that a biopsy is a common next step and that most breast biopsies do not find cancer. Imaging can show that an area looks different, but it cannot say for certain what the area is. Looking at the cells under a microscope is the only way to know.
Most breast biopsies today use a thin, hollow needle guided by imaging, so the doctor can reach a spot too small to feel. You stay awake, the breast is numbed, and you go home the same day, usually able to return to most of your normal routine by the next day. A surgical biopsy, which removes a larger piece through a small cut, is needed less often.
If the result does show cancer, the same sample tells your care team a great deal about it, which helps them plan treatment from the start.
A breast biopsy removes a small amount of breast tissue, or sometimes fluid, so a pathologist can examine it under a microscope. A pathologist is a doctor who studies cells and tissue to find disease.
Most biopsies are done by a breast radiologist, a doctor who specializes in breast imaging, using a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI to guide the needle to the exact spot. During many needle biopsies, a tiny marker, about the size of a sesame seed, is left in the breast to show where the sample was taken. It is safe to leave in place, and if surgery is needed later, it shows the surgeon where to go.
The kind you have depends on what the area looks like, where it is, how big it is and which imaging shows it best.
A biopsy is ordered to find out what an unusual area is: a benign change, a change that raises future risk, or breast cancer. It is ordered when:
Anyone whose imaging or exam shows an area that cannot be called benign by its look alone. A biopsy does not mean your doctor expects cancer. Many areas biopsied turn out to be benign growths such as fibroadenomas, which are common in women in their teens to thirties, or cysts. Some findings that look clearly benign are watched with follow-up imaging instead.
Tell your care team about blood thinners. This includes aspirin, other prescription blood thinners and some supplements, such as fish oil or vitamin E. You may be told to stop them for a few days before the biopsy, and only your care team can tell you whether that is safe for you.
Tell them about allergies, especially to numbing medicine, and if you might be pregnant or are breastfeeding.
For a stereotactic biopsy, skip deodorant, powder and lotion on your underarms and breasts that day, since they can show up on the images.
Wear a two-piece outfit so you only need to undress from the waist up, and bring a supportive bra to wear afterward.
For an MRI-guided biopsy, tell the team about any metal or devices in your body and whether small spaces make you anxious.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown and lie on a table, on your back for ultrasound, face down for MRI, and face down or seated for a stereotactic biopsy. The doctor cleans the skin and numbs the area with an injection, which stings for a moment. After that, most people feel pressure rather than pain.
The doctor makes a nick in the skin a few millimeters long and guides the needle to the spot with imaging. You may hear a click or a whirring sound as each sample is taken. Several samples are usually collected. A marker may then be placed, and a short mammogram may follow to check its position.
The doctor presses on the area to stop bleeding and closes the nick with a small strip of tape; no stitches are needed. The whole visit usually takes about an hour, much of it positioning. Afterward, an ice pack and a supportive bra ease soreness. Avoid heavy lifting and strenuous exercise for about a day.
Bruising and soreness are common and fade over a week or two.
Bleeding or a small collection of blood under the skin happens in fewer than 1 in 100 needle biopsies.
Infection is rare.
A sample that does not answer the question. Sometimes the result does not match what the imaging showed, and a repeat or surgical biopsy is needed.
Call your care team the same day for swelling that keeps growing, redness or warmth that spreads, drainage from the site, or a fever.
Results usually take a few business days. A radiologist or the doctor who ordered the biopsy calls you or reviews them at a visit. The pathology report places the sample in one of three groups:
Benign. No cancer. Your doctor checks that this fits the imaging and tells you when to have your next mammogram or follow-up scan.
Atypical or high risk. Changes that are not cancer but raise the chance of cancer later, such as atypical hyperplasia. Your doctor may suggest removing the area with surgery, closer screening or a visit with a breast specialist.
Cancer. The report names the kind of cancer and tests it for hormone receptors and a protein called HER2. These features guide treatment. You will usually meet a breast surgeon, an oncologist or a nurse navigator soon after.
No. A biopsy is how your doctor finds out. Most breast biopsies show no cancer.
The numbing shot stings briefly. After that, most people feel pressure. The area may be sore and bruised for a few days.
No. There is no good evidence that a needle biopsy causes cancer to spread.
No. The marker is very small and made of materials that are safe in an MRI and do not set off metal detectors.
Most people can return to desk work the same or next day. Avoid heavy lifting and hard exercise for about a day.
Breast biopsies are performed by breast radiologists, and surgical biopsies by breast surgeons. Find a doctor to see who performs breast biopsy near you.
Orlando Health imaging services also perform stereotactic biopsy and MRI-guided breast biopsy, the latter by a fellowship-trained breast radiologist.
When a breast biopsy finds cancer, the cancer team plans what comes next with you.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists guide most breast biopsies with ultrasound, mammogram or MRI so the needle reaches the right spot.
Learn More About RadiologyBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average...
Learn More About Breast Cancer ScreeningBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average risk start at age 40. Your age, family history and breast density decide how often you go and whether you need more than a mammogram.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Screening is a check for people who feel fine. Its purpose is to find breast cancer when it is small and has not spread, when treatment is simplest and works best. Many cancers found this way are too small to feel.
For most women, screening means a mammogram every one or two years starting at age 40. Some women need more: a yearly mammogram from a younger age, or a breast MRI added to it, because of their genes, their family history or radiation to the chest when they were young. Women with dense breasts may be offered added imaging as well.
The groups that write screening guidelines agree on the most important point: start in your 40s and keep going. They differ on details such as whether to go every year or every other year, so the best plan is one you make with your doctor, based on your own risk. This page explains the options, what to expect and what your results mean.
A breast cancer screening is a test done on a regular schedule in people with no breast symptoms. It differs from a diagnostic exam, which is done to check a lump, pain, nipple discharge or another change you have noticed. If you have a symptom, tell your doctor or the technologist before your appointment, because you may need a diagnostic mammogram or ultrasound instead.
Mammograms lower the chance of dying from breast cancer. No test finds every cancer, so knowing how your breasts normally look and feel, and reporting changes, matters even with a recent normal mammogram.
Screening finds cancer early, often years before it could be felt. Cancers found early are usually smaller and less likely to have spread, and they more often need less treatment. Regular screening is a simple step toward finding breast cancer early.
Women at average risk, meaning no personal history of breast cancer, no known gene change that raises risk, no strong family history and no chest radiation before age 30:
Women at higher risk, including those with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene change, a parent, sibling or child with one, a lifetime risk of about 20 percent or more, or chest radiation between ages 10 and 30, are usually advised to have a mammogram and a breast MRI every year, often starting at age 30. By age 30, it is worth asking your doctor to assess your risk. Genetic counseling can help if your family history is strong.
Men do not have routine screening, and transgender people should ask their doctor about a plan that fits their history and hormone use.
At Orlando Health imaging locations, a screening mammogram needs no order from a doctor; a diagnostic mammogram does.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You stand in front of the mammogram machine. A technologist places one breast at a time on a flat plate, and a second plate presses down to flatten it for a few seconds while the images are taken. Most people feel firm pressure, and some find it painful for a moment. Two views of each breast are usual. If you have implants, the technologist takes extra views and moves the implant aside.
The appointment often takes as little as 20 minutes. A breast MRI takes longer: you lie face down with your breasts in openings in the table, and contrast dye is given through a vein.
Callbacks and false alarms. About 1 in 10 women are called back for more imaging after a screening mammogram, and most of them do not have cancer. Waiting can be stressful, and some need a biopsy that turns out benign.
Missed cancers. Mammograms miss some cancers, more often in dense breasts.
Overdiagnosis. Some cancers found by screening would never have caused harm, and treating them brings side effects.
Radiation. A mammogram uses a very low dose of radiation. Its benefits outweigh this small risk for women of screening age.
A radiologist reads your images, and your results go to you and your doctor, usually within a few days. Results come with a category from 0 to 6. Most are normal or benign, and you go back on your usual schedule. A result needing more imaging means a closer look at an area, often with a diagnostic mammogram or ultrasound. If an area still looks unusual, a breast biopsy is the next step.
Your report also says whether your breasts are dense. Dense breast tissue is common, can hide cancers and slightly raises risk, so ask your doctor whether added imaging such as ultrasound or MRI makes sense for you.
For women at average risk, at age 40. Women at higher risk often start earlier, sometimes at 30, with added MRI. Ask your doctor about your risk.
Both are within current guidelines for women at average risk. Yearly screening finds slightly more cancers and leads to more callbacks. Talk with your doctor about which fits you.
Yes. Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of it.
Most insurance plans cover a screening mammogram. Check your plan's benefits before you schedule.
Yes. Tell the technologist about your implants. They take extra views to see as much breast tissue as possible.
Screening is usually ordered or recommended by a primary care doctor or gynecologist, and the images are read by breast radiologists. Find a doctor to see who provides breast cancer screening near you.
Radiologists read screening mammograms and call you back when a closer look is needed.
Learn More About RadiologyWomen's care doctors help you decide when to start breast screening and how often to repeat it.
Learn More About Women'sBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant, tissue from your own body or both. It can happen at the same time as cancer surgery or months or years later, and whether to have it is your choice.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you are facing breast cancer surgery, reconstruction may be one more decision on a long list, and it can feel like a lot at once. It helps to know that there is no single right answer. Some people want reconstruction at the same operation as their mastectomy, some wait until other treatment is finished, and some decide to stay flat. Each of these is a sound choice.
Reconstruction rebuilds the shape, size and contour of the breast. It can also reshape the breast after a lumpectomy, balance the other breast so the two match, and restore a nipple and areola. Newer techniques can bring back some feeling to the skin of the new breast.
The best plan comes from your breast surgeon and a plastic surgeon working together from the start, so your reconstruction fits around the rest of your treatment. This page explains the main kinds of reconstruction, how timing works, what recovery is like and what results to expect.
Breast reconstruction is a set of operations done by a plastic surgeon to recreate a breast after cancer surgery. It may be immediate, starting right after the mastectomy while you are still asleep, or delayed, done months or years later. Many reconstructions happen in stages, with a first operation to build the breast and one or more shorter procedures later to fine-tune its shape and match the other side.
Timing often depends on other treatment. Radiation therapy can change how the skin and tissue heal, so your team plans the order of each step with radiation in mind.
People choose reconstruction to feel whole after cancer surgery, to fit clothing and swimwear without a breast form, and to see a familiar shape in the mirror. Reconstruction is used after:
Choosing to stay flat, with or without a breast form, is also a choice your team fully supports.
Most people who have breast cancer surgery can have some form of reconstruction. Your plastic surgeon looks at your overall health, your body shape, whether you will need radiation and what you want. Smoking, diabetes and some other conditions raise the chance of healing problems, and a very thin body may leave too little tissue for a flap. Before a DIEP flap, a CT scan maps the blood vessels in your belly.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are under general anesthesia. In an immediate reconstruction, the breast surgeon removes the breast tissue and the plastic surgeon then places an expander or implant, or builds the breast from your own tissue. An implant operation usually takes one to two hours. A flap can take many hours, because the surgeon moves the tissue and reconnects its blood vessels. Some surgeons also reconnect nerves, a technique called neurotization, to help bring back some feeling.
After an implant or expander, many people go home the same day or the next day. After a flap, the hospital stay is usually about three days, and nurses check the color and warmth of the new breast often. Most people go home with drains, small tubes that collect fluid, which stay in place for about one to two weeks.
Recovery after an implant takes a few weeks. Recovery after a flap is longer, often six to eight weeks, because there are two healing areas: the new breast and the place the tissue came from. If you have an expander, you return to the office for fills over several weeks before the next stage. Lifting and reaching overhead are limited at first, and your team will tell you when to resume each activity.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing or bleeding that will not stop. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness or warmth that spreads across the breast, drainage from an incision, a breast that swells or turns firm on one side, or a change in the color of the new breast.
Reconstruction is generally safe, and your surgeon works to lower each risk. They include:
Reconstruction rebuilds a breast shape that looks natural in clothing and, for many people, out of it. A reconstructed breast will not match a natural breast exactly, and tissue reconstruction tends to change with your body over time much as a natural breast does. Implants do not last a lifetime and may need to be replaced, often after 10 to 20 years. Feeling in the breast is often reduced, and newer nerve techniques can restore some of it. Most people need one or more smaller procedures to perfect the result.
A federal law, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, requires most health plans that cover a mastectomy to also cover reconstruction, including surgery on the other breast to match. Check your own plan's details.
Your care team can still check the area for changes after reconstruction, and your doctor will explain which follow-up exams or imaging you need.
Yes. Radiation can affect the timing and the type, so your plastic surgeon plans around it. Some people have an expander during radiation and finish later.
Feeling is usually reduced. Some sensation often returns over time, and nerve reconnection during surgery can help restore more.
There is no deadline. You can decide before your cancer surgery or years afterward.
Breast reconstruction is performed by plastic and reconstructive surgeons, including microsurgeons for flap reconstruction, working with breast surgeons.
Plastic surgeons rebuild the breast with an implant or your own tissue, at the time of a mastectomy or later.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveYour breast surgeon and plastic surgeon plan reconstruction around your cancer treatment.
Learn More About CancerBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk...
Learn More About MastectomyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average...
Learn More About Breast Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer treatment. Physical, occupational and speech therapists work with you on tiredness, weakness, pain, swelling, swallowing and the everyday tasks that cancer and its treatment can make harder.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Cancer and its treatment can change what your body is able to do. Surgery can leave a shoulder stiff or an arm swollen. Chemotherapy can cause numbness in the hands and feet and a tiredness that sleep does not fix. Radiation to the head and neck can make it hard to open your mouth or swallow. Many people notice these changes and assume they simply have to live with them.
Cancer rehabilitation exists for exactly these problems. It is care from licensed therapists who understand cancer treatment and its effects, with a plan built around your diagnosis, your treatment and the activities that matter to you, whether that is going back to work, lifting a grandchild or walking the dog.
Rehabilitation can start before treatment, a step called prehabilitation, and continue through treatment and long after it ends. Starting early can help you go into treatment stronger and catch problems while they are easier to treat. This page explains what cancer rehabilitation is, who it helps, how to start and what a visit is like.
Cancer rehabilitation is a group of therapies that treat the physical and functional effects of cancer and its treatment. A therapist first measures where you are: your strength, balance, range of motion, endurance, swelling, speech or swallowing, and how you manage at home and work. Together you set goals, and the therapist builds a plan of exercises, hands-on treatment and practical strategies to reach them.
It works by keeping muscles, joints and the lymph system moving and by retraining the body after an injury from surgery, radiation or medicines. Regular, safe exercise during and after treatment helps with tiredness, strength and mood, and studies show that people who are more active before and during treatment tend to recover better and have fewer problems with pain, fatigue and loss of function.
Rehabilitation is part of your cancer care. Your therapists stay in touch with your oncologists and adjust the plan as your treatment changes.
Rehabilitation can help with:
It also helps caregivers, who learn safe lifting and body mechanics so they can help without injuring themselves.
A referral. Ask your oncologist, surgeon or nurse navigator for a referral. Many people can start at diagnosis, before treatment begins. Check with your insurance plan about therapy visits.
Your first evaluation. The therapist asks about your cancer, your treatment plan and your goals, then measures your strength, movement, balance and endurance. If you are at risk of lymphedema, they may take baseline measurements of your arms or legs to compare against later.
Tell your therapist about low blood counts, bone that cancer has weakened, a port or drain, recent surgery, numbness, dizziness and any pain. These shape which exercises are safe for you.
Bring loose clothes and walking shoes, a list of your medicines and a family member if they help with your care.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your visits. A session usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour, often once or twice a week. Sessions mix exercise, hands-on treatment such as stretching or lymphatic massage, and teaching you what to do at home.
Your home program. Most of the progress happens between visits. Your therapist gives you exercises sized to your energy that day and shows you how to step them up or down as treatment goes on. A goal for many people is about 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days, with light strength training twice a week, reached gradually.
As treatment changes. Your plan adapts when you start chemotherapy or radiation, have surgery or finish treatment. On harder days, the goal may simply be to keep moving.
After treatment. When you can manage on your own, your therapist helps you move to an ongoing routine, which may include a community exercise program for people after cancer.
Call your care team the same day for new swelling in an arm or leg, a red, warm or painful area of swelling, or new pain in a bone. Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting, or new weakness or numbness in your legs.
Cancer rehabilitation is safe for most people when it is planned around your treatment and health.
Stop and tell your therapist about dizziness, unusual shortness of breath or sudden pain during exercise.
Rehabilitation can help you stay stronger through treatment, recover function faster afterward and return to the activities that matter to you. It can ease tiredness, pain and swelling, improve balance, swallowing and speech, and lower the chance of falls. Many people also find it lifts their mood and confidence. What it can do for you depends on your cancer, your treatment and your goals, and your therapist will track your progress with you.
The earlier the better. Starting at diagnosis lets your therapist record a baseline and prepare you for treatment.
For most people, yes, with a plan sized to your energy and blood counts. Your therapist and oncologist will tell you what is safe.
Yes. Late effects such as stiffness, swelling or nerve pain can be treated long after treatment ends.
Many plans cover physical, occupational and speech therapy with a referral, sometimes with a limit on visits. Check your plan before you start.
Yes. Therapists often teach caregivers safe ways to help with lifting, moving and home exercises.
Cancer rehabilitation is given by physical, occupational and speech therapists, including certified lymphedema therapists, working with your cancer care team.
Physical, occupational and speech therapists treat weakness, stiffness, swallowing trouble and swelling after cancer.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationOncologists and nurse navigators refer patients to rehab before, during and after treatment to keep strength and function.
Learn More About CancerPain specialists work with therapists on nerve pain and post-surgical pain so people can move and exercise safely.
Learn More About Pain ManagementAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk...
Learn More About MastectomyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often the main treatment for cancers that have not spread, and it is usually planned with chemotherapy, radiation or other treatment. Many operations are done through small incisions.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has said you need surgery for cancer, you may be thinking about the operation itself, the recovery, and whether it will remove all of the cancer. Those are the right questions to bring to your surgeon. Surgery has treated cancer for a long time, and for many cancers found before they spread, it offers a strong chance of a cure.
Cancer surgery is planned differently from other operations. Surgeons who specialize in cancer, called surgical oncologists, work alongside medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists. Together they decide whether surgery should come first or after other treatment, and how much tissue to remove.
Many operations today are done through small incisions with a camera, sometimes with a robotic system, which can mean less pain and a shorter recovery. Others need a traditional open incision. This page explains the kinds of cancer surgery, the reasons for it, how to prepare and what recovery looks like. Pages on specific operations, such as a mastectomy or a colectomy, go into detail.
Cancer surgery is any operation used to find, stage, treat or relieve cancer. When the goal is to remove a tumor, the surgeon takes out the tumor with a rim of normal tissue around it, called a margin. A pathologist then examines the tissue to confirm the type of cancer and check whether the margins are clear of cancer cells.
Surgeons often remove nearby lymph nodes too, because cancer can spread through them first. Checking the nodes helps stage the cancer and guides the next steps. See lymph node removal.
By its purpose:
By its approach:
Surgery is used for many solid tumors, such as cancers of the breast, colon, lung, skin, pancreas and prostate. It is usually combined with other treatment. Chemotherapy or radiation may come first to shrink a tumor, which is called neoadjuvant treatment, or after surgery to lower the chance of the cancer returning, called adjuvant treatment.
Your care team weighs the type, size and stage of your cancer, where it is, and your overall health and wishes. Surgery is usually not the main treatment for blood cancers such as leukemia, or for cancer that has spread widely, though it may still help with symptoms. Your surgeon will explain what surgery can and cannot do for you, and you decide together.
Your surgical team will give you written instructions that fit your operation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Most cancer operations are done under general anesthesia, so you are asleep. Some smaller procedures use local anesthesia with medicine to help you relax. The surgeon removes the tumor and any lymph nodes needed, and the tissue goes to the pathologist. Length depends on the operation, from under an hour to many hours.
You wake in a recovery area where nurses check your breathing, pain and vital signs. Some people go home the same day; after a larger operation, you may stay several days. You will be encouraged to walk early, which helps prevent blood clots and pneumonia.
Recovery depends on the operation. Expect some pain, tiredness and limits on lifting for a few weeks; your team will help control pain with medicine and other methods. Your surgeon reviews the pathology results with you, usually within one to two weeks, and these results guide whether you need more treatment. Some people have lingering pain where tissue was removed; tell your team so it can be treated.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, vomiting blood or black, tarry stools, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, pain that is getting worse, pain and swelling in one leg, or vomiting that keeps you from drinking.
The risks depend on the operation and your health. They can include:
Your surgeon will talk through the risks of your operation and how they are lowered.
The pathology report tells you whether the tumor was removed with clear margins and whether cancer was found in the lymph nodes. Clear margins and nodes without cancer often mean surgery has removed all the cancer that can be seen, and the team may recommend follow-up visits or more treatment to lower the chance of a return. If cancer cells reach a margin, your team may advise more surgery, radiation or medicines. You will have regular follow-up visits and scans.
For many cancers found early, surgery removes all the cancer that can be seen. The pathology report shows whether the margins and lymph nodes are clear, and your team uses it to decide whether you need more treatment.
Treatment before surgery can shrink a tumor, so the operation is smaller or more likely to remove it completely. It also shows how the cancer responds to medicines.
Surgeons follow careful steps to prevent this, such as removing the tumor in one piece and handling it as little as possible. It is a rare concern, and you can ask your surgeon about it.
Many people do, especially before a major operation. It is a normal part of cancer care, and your surgeon will not be offended.
Your team will give you a pain plan before you leave, often combining medicines with walking, ice or heat. Tell your team if pain is not controlled or returns weeks later.
Cancer surgery is performed by surgical oncologists and by surgeons who specialize in one area of the body, working with medical and radiation oncologists.
Care is given at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
Reconstructive surgeons restore the breast, face or other areas after a tumor is removed.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveSurgical oncologists remove tumors and lymph nodes and plan surgery with chemotherapy and radiation.
Learn More About CancerPathologists check the removed tissue for clear margins and cancer in the lymph nodes, guiding next steps.
Learn More About PathologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk...
Learn More About MastectomyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon...
Learn More About HIPECBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistCervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become cancer. Most people start at 21 or 25 and are tested every three to five years until 65.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. It grows slowly, usually over many years, and it almost always starts with a long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Before cancer forms, the cells of the cervix go through changes that a screening test can find. Those changes can then be watched or treated, so cancer never has the chance to develop.
Since the Pap test came into wide use, deaths from cervical cancer in the United States have fallen sharply. Most cervical cancers today are found in people who have not been screened regularly, or who have not been screened at all.
A screening visit takes only a few minutes. The cells are collected during a pelvic exam, and the results come back to you within one to three weeks. For most people with normal results, the next test is three or five years away.
This page explains the tests, who should be screened and how often, how to prepare and what your results mean.
The cervix is the lower, narrow end of the uterus that opens into the vagina. A cervical cancer screening collects a small sample of cells from the cervix and checks them in a lab for cervical cancer, for the cell changes that come before it, or for the HPV types that cause it.
Screening is for people who feel well and have no symptoms. If you have bleeding between periods, bleeding after sex or after menopause, pelvic pain or unusual discharge, see your doctor. Those symptoms call for an exam to find their cause, whatever your screening schedule says.
Three tests are used, and all three can be done from the same sample.
| Test | What it looks for | How often, with normal results |
|---|---|---|
| Pap test (Pap smear) | Abnormal cells on the cervix | Every 3 years |
| Primary HPV test | The high-risk HPV types that cause most cervical cancers | Every 5 years |
| Co-test (Pap and HPV together) | Both abnormal cells and high-risk HPV | Every 5 years |
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a Pap test every three years from 21 to 29. From 30 to 65, any of the three tests is a good choice. The American Cancer Society prefers a primary HPV test every five years from age 25, and accepts the co-test or a Pap test alone where an HPV test is not available. Your doctor will help you choose the schedule that fits you.
Self-collected HPV testing. Some offices now offer an HPV test in which you collect the sample yourself with a soft swab, in private, instead of having a pelvic exam. Ask whether it is an option for you.
Screening does two things. It finds cell changes early, so they can be treated before they become cancer. And when cancer has already formed, it finds it at an early stage, when treatment works best and is most likely to cure it.
Most people with a cervix, from age 21 or 25 to age 65. That includes transgender men and nonbinary people who have a cervix. Screening is advised whether or not you have had the HPV vaccine, because the vaccine does not cover every HPV type that can cause cancer.
You may need screening more often, or past 65, if you:
You may be able to stop screening if you are over 65 and have had several normal results in a row over the past 10 years, with no history of a high-grade precancer. You may also not need it if you have had a total hysterectomy, which removed your uterus and cervix, for a reason other than cancer or precancer. Ask your doctor before you stop.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The test is usually done during a pelvic exam at your doctor's office. You lie on an exam table with your knees bent and your feet resting in supports. Your doctor places a speculum, a smooth instrument that holds the walls of the vagina open, so the cervix can be seen.
Using a small brush or spatula, your doctor takes a sample of cells from the surface of the cervix. You may feel pressure or a brief cramp. The sample goes to a lab for a Pap test, an HPV test or both. Collecting the sample takes a minute or two, and you can return to your usual activities right away.
If you are self-collecting an HPV sample, you will be shown how to place the swab in your vagina, turn it and seal it in its container.
Tell your doctor if you feel tense or uncomfortable. Slow breathing helps the muscles relax, and you can ask to stop at any time.
Cervical cancer screening is very safe. Some people have light spotting for a day afterward. Call your doctor the same day for heavy bleeding, pain that does not ease, or a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher in the days after the test.
Like every screening test, it is not perfect. A test can occasionally miss changes, which is one reason screening is repeated on a schedule. A test can also show changes that would have gone away on their own, which can lead to more testing. The schedules above are set to find the changes that matter while limiting extra tests.
Results usually come back within one to three weeks.
When a precancer is found, it can usually be removed in a short office or outpatient procedure that takes away the abnormal area. Your doctor will explain your result and the next step.
At 21 for a Pap test every three years, following the Task Force. The American Cancer Society suggests starting at 25 with an HPV test every five years. Your doctor can help you choose.
Yes. The vaccine prevents most of the HPV types that cause cancer, but not all of them, so screening is still recommended on the same schedule.
No. A pelvic exam checks your reproductive organs by sight and touch. A Pap test collects cells from the cervix, usually during a pelvic exam, and sends them to a lab.
No. Most people have HPV at some point, and the body usually clears it. A positive result means you need closer follow-up, so any changes are found early.
Yes, until 65. After that, many people can stop if their past results were normal. Bleeding after menopause should always be checked by your doctor.
Most cervical cancer screening is done by primary care doctors, gynecologists, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives during a routine or annual visit. When results need more testing or show cancer, gynecologic oncologists take part in care.
When screening finds cervical cancer, gynecologic oncologists stage it and plan treatment.
Learn More About CancerPathologists read Pap test cells and biopsy samples to sort normal results from precancer and cancer.
Learn More About PathologyGynecologists and midwives collect Pap and HPV samples at routine visits and follow up abnormal results with colposcopy.
Learn More About Women'sCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still...
Learn More About TrachelectomyAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with rest in between, and can be used to cure a cancer, shrink it before surgery, lower the chance it returns or ease symptoms. Side effects can be managed.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has said the word chemotherapy, you may be bracing for the hardest months of your life. Many people picture what they have seen in films or heard from a friend. The real picture is usually more manageable than that. Chemotherapy is planned around your cancer and your health, side effects are treated as they come, and most people have their treatment as an outpatient and go home the same day.
Chemotherapy is not one medicine. There are more than 100 chemotherapy drugs, and your oncologist chooses the ones most likely to work for your type of cancer, often in a combination. Some people have chemotherapy alone. Many have it alongside surgery, radiation therapy or other medicines.
You will not go through it alone. Oncologists, oncology nurses, pharmacists and support staff guide you through each step, and they want to hear how you are feeling. This page explains how chemotherapy works, what it is used for, how to get ready, what a treatment day is like, the side effects and the questions people ask most.
Chemotherapy is a group of medicines that destroy cancer cells or stop them from dividing. Cancer cells grow and divide quickly, and chemotherapy targets cells that divide quickly.
Because it travels through the bloodstream, chemotherapy can reach cancer cells almost anywhere in the body, including cells too small to show on a scan. That is what sets it apart from surgery and radiation, which treat one area.
Some healthy cells also divide quickly, in hair roots, the lining of the mouth and gut, and the bone marrow. That is why chemotherapy can cause hair loss, mouth sores, nausea and low blood counts. Healthy cells recover, which is why treatment is given in cycles: a treatment, then a rest period, then the next treatment.
Chemotherapy is described by when it is given and how it is given.
Chemotherapy is different from immunotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy, though your plan may include them.
By condition: chemotherapy is used for many cancers, including breast, lung, colon, rectal, anal, pancreatic, stomach, ovarian, testicular and head and neck cancers, sarcoma, brain tumors and blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. High-dose chemotherapy also prepares the body for a bone marrow transplant.
Not everyone with cancer needs chemotherapy. For many early breast cancers, for example, testing of the tumor itself shows whether chemotherapy would add benefit.
Choosing your plan. Your oncologist looks at your type of cancer, its stage, the makeup of the tumor's cells, your other health conditions and how you responded to any earlier treatment. Then they explain the plan: which medicines, how often, for how long and the goal.
Tests first. Blood tests check your blood counts, liver and kidneys. Some medicines call for a heart or hearing test first.
Your medicines. Tell your team about every medicine, vitamin and supplement you take, since some can interact with chemotherapy. Talk with them before starting any herbal or alternative remedy.
A port. If you will have many IV treatments, a small device called a port may be placed under the skin of your chest so nurses can give medicine and draw blood without a new needle in your arm each time.
Other planning. Ask about fertility preservation if you may want children, and plan for time off work.
Learning what to expect. A nurse or pharmacist meets with you before your first treatment. Orlando Health offers chemotherapy classes for new patients and a family member or support person, in English and Spanish.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]On a treatment day, your blood counts are checked, then a nurse starts your IV or accesses your port. An infusion can take from under an hour to several hours. Wear a loose shirt if you have a port, and bring a blanket, something to read and, for the first visit, a driver.
Your schedule depends on your plan. Treatment is usually given in cycles, such as once every one, two or three weeks, over three to six months. Some treatments need a short hospital stay. Pills are taken at home on a set schedule.
Between treatments, you go about your life as much as you feel able. Many people keep working. Your team checks your blood counts and side effects at each visit and adjusts the plan if needed.
When to get care right away. A fever of 100.4 degrees or higher during chemotherapy is an emergency because infection can move quickly when blood counts are low: call 911 or go to the emergency room, and tell them you are having chemotherapy. Call your oncology team the same day for vomiting or diarrhea that keeps you from drinking, mouth sores that keep you from eating, or new numbness in your hands or feet.
Side effects depend on the medicines, the dose and you. Many people have only mild ones, and most go away after treatment ends. Common side effects include:
Some medicines have longer-term risks, such as effects on the heart, lungs, hearing or fertility, and rarely a second cancer years later. Your team tells you which apply to your plan and watches for them. Tell them about any side effect, since many can be eased by a change in dose or schedule or by another medicine.
Chemotherapy can cure some cancers, including some leukemias, lymphomas and testicular cancers. For others, it lowers the chance of the cancer returning after surgery, shrinks a tumor so surgery can remove it, or slows a cancer that has spread and eases its symptoms. What it can do depends on your cancer and its stage, and your oncologist will tell you the goal of your treatment.
If chemotherapy stops helping, your team will talk with you about other options and about care that focuses on comfort, so your choices are your own.
The medicine itself does not hurt going in. You may feel a quick pinch when the IV is placed or the port is accessed. Tell your nurse right away about any burning or pain at the site.
Not always. It depends on the medicines. When hair loss happens, it usually starts a few weeks into treatment and grows back after treatment ends.
Many people do, sometimes with a lighter schedule around treatment days. It depends on your treatment and how you feel.
Yes. Wash your hands often, avoid people who are sick, and ask your team about handling body fluids for a couple of days after each treatment.
Yoga, massage, meditation and acupuncture can ease stress and some side effects alongside chemotherapy, never in place of it. Ask your team first. See the Integrative Medicine Program.
Chemotherapy is planned by medical oncologists, or hematologist-oncologists for blood cancers, and given by oncology nurses with oncology pharmacists.
Medical oncologists choose the chemotherapy medicines, dose and schedule, and oncology nurses give each treatment.
Learn More About CancerDigestive specialists help with nausea, diarrhea and mouth or gut problems that chemotherapy can cause.
Learn More About Digestive HealthPathologists read the biopsy and blood counts that decide which medicines fit and whether it is safe to give the next cycle.
Learn More About PathologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon...
Learn More About HIPECImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to remove colon cancer or disease that keeps coming back. Many colectomies are done through small incisions, and most people go back to eating and living normally.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended a colectomy, you may have just learned that a colonoscopy found a tumor, or that a polyp was too large to remove during the test. You may also have a bowel condition that other treatment has not controlled. It helps to know that people live full lives after this operation, and that the colon has length to spare.
The colon is about five feet long. It absorbs water from digested food and moves stool toward the rectum. When a section is removed, the surgeon usually joins the healthy ends, so bowel movements continue the usual way.
This page explains the kinds of colectomy, who is a candidate, how to prepare, what recovery is like and the risks to go over with your surgeon.
A colectomy, also called a colon resection or bowel resection, is an operation to remove part or all of the colon. When only a section is removed, it is a partial colectomy. When the whole colon is removed, it is a total colectomy.
When cancer is the reason, the surgeon removes the tumor with a margin of healthy colon on each side, along with the blood vessels and lymph nodes that serve that section. A pathologist then examines the lymph nodes to see whether cancer has spread, which tells your team the stage of the cancer and whether more treatment would help.
After the section is removed, the surgeon joins the two healthy ends with stitches or staples. This joining is called an anastomosis. You are asleep under general anesthesia for the whole operation.
Colectomies are named for the part of the colon removed:
Each of these can be done in one of three ways:
See also colorectal surgery.
For most people with colon cancer, surgery to remove the tumor is a key part of treatment. A colectomy is used for:
You may be a candidate if testing shows a tumor or disease in the colon that surgery can remove, and if your heart, lungs and overall health can handle anesthesia and recovery. For cancer, surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists often review your scans and biopsy results together and recommend the order of treatments. You decide together with them.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]An IV is placed and anesthesia puts you to sleep. In a laparoscopic or robotic operation, the surgeon fills the belly with gas to make room to see, frees the section of colon, divides its blood vessels and lifts it out through one slightly larger incision. The healthy ends are then joined. If the ends cannot be joined safely, the surgeon brings the bowel to an opening on the belly called a stoma, and stool passes into a pouch. This is a colostomy, or an ileostomy when the small intestine is used, and it may be temporary or permanent. Most take two to four hours.
You wake in a recovery area and then move to a hospital room. You are encouraged to get up and walk the same day or the next, and you start with liquids and move to soft food as your bowels wake up. Many people go home in two to four days after a minimally invasive colectomy, and an open operation usually means a longer stay.
Expect tiredness and soreness for a few weeks. Your bowel movements may be loose or come more often at first, and they usually become regular over several weeks. Avoid lifting more than about 10 pounds until your surgeon clears you, often for four to six weeks. Most people return to desk work in two to four weeks and to full activity in about six weeks.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, severe belly pain with a hard, swollen belly, vomiting blood or black, tarry stools, bleeding from the rectum that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, nausea or vomiting that keeps you from drinking, no stool or gas for more than a day, or swelling or pain in one leg.
Your surgeon will go over how these apply to you:
For early colon cancer, a colectomy alone can remove the cancer completely. When the lymph nodes show cancer, your team may recommend chemotherapy after you recover, to lower the chance of the cancer returning. After cancer surgery, you will have follow-up visits with exams, blood tests, scans and colonoscopies over several years. For conditions other than cancer, a colectomy often ends the repeated attacks, bleeding or blockage that led to it.
Most people having a colectomy do not. If you do, it is often temporary and is closed in a second, smaller operation a few months later. Your surgeon will tell you beforehand if it is likely.
Your body adjusts well to losing a section of colon. Even after a total colectomy, people live full lives, with more frequent bowel movements.
Many people have looser or more frequent bowel movements for a few weeks. After a larger operation, changes can last longer, and diet and medicine help.
Most people return to a regular diet over a few weeks. Small meals, plenty of fluids and adding fiber slowly can help.
The pathologist's report on the removed colon and lymph nodes usually comes back within about a week or two. Your surgeon or medical oncologist will go over the stage and what it means for your next steps.
A colectomy is performed by colorectal surgeons, surgical oncologists and general surgeons, who work with gastroenterologists and medical and radiation oncologists when cancer is the reason. Care is offered at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida.
Surgical, medical and radiation oncologists plan colectomy with chemotherapy when colon cancer needs more than surgery.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove the diseased section of colon, often through small incisions or with robotic help.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists find the tumor or large polyp at colonoscopy and refer you to a surgeon when it must be removed.
Learn More About Digestive HealthAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool...
Learn More About ColostomyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually asleep or sedated, it takes less than an hour, and polyps can be removed during the same test.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe you just turned 45, a stool test came back abnormal, or you have noticed a change in your bowel habits. A colonoscopy is one of the most common tests in medicine, and most people find the day far easier than they expected.
A colonoscopy does two jobs at once. It finds colorectal cancer early, when it is most treatable, and it can stop many cancers from forming at all. Most colorectal cancers start as small growths called polyps, and a polyp found during the test can usually be removed right then. No other screening test looks at the whole colon and removes polyps in the same visit.
Newer bowel preps come in smaller amounts and even as tablets, and a few simple steps make them easier.
This page explains why a colonoscopy is ordered, how to prepare, what happens on the day and what your results mean.
A colonoscopy is a look at the inside of your large intestine, which is your colon and rectum. A doctor gently passes a long, thin, flexible tube called a colonoscope into the rectum and guides it through the whole colon. A small camera and light on its tip send a clear video to a screen.
Small tools pass through the tube, so the doctor can remove polyps, take tiny tissue samples called biopsies, and treat a spot that is bleeding.
A colonoscopy can be a screening test or a diagnostic test:
A sigmoidoscopy is a shorter version that looks at only the lower part of the colon.
Doctors order a colonoscopy to:
Children sometimes need one too, to find the cause of belly pain, diarrhea or bleeding.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends colorectal cancer screening for adults 45 to 75 at average risk. With a colonoscopy, that usually means one test every 10 years when the results are normal. Between 76 and 85, whether to keep screening is a choice to make with your doctor.
You may need a colonoscopy earlier and more often if:
Rectal bleeding at any age should be checked, rather than put down to hemorrhoids without an exam.
Your colon needs to be empty so the doctor can see its lining clearly. Follow the written instructions from your care team, which can differ from the steps below.
To make the prep easier: chill the solution, drink it through a straw, and stock the bathroom with soft toilet paper and wipes. If nausea is a problem, ask about other prep options.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown, and a nurse places a small IV in your arm for the sedation. Most people are asleep or deeply relaxed and remember little or nothing.
You lie on your left side. The doctor passes the colonoscope into the rectum and gently fills the colon with air or carbon dioxide so the walls open up for a clear view. The doctor then slowly looks over the lining while drawing the scope back. Any polyp found is usually removed with a tiny wire loop or forceps and sent to the lab.
The test itself takes about 30 to 60 minutes. Afterward you rest in a recovery area for a short time while the sedation wears off. You may feel bloated or pass gas, which settles within hours.
Most people can eat normally afterward, starting with light meals. Rest for the rest of the day, and do not drive or sign important papers until the next day.
A colonoscopy is a common and safe test. Problems are uncommon:
Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher. Go to the emergency room or call 911 after a colonoscopy for severe belly pain, dizziness or fainting, or rectal bleeding that will not stop.
The doctor who did the test usually talks with you about what was seen before you go home. Results from any polyps or biopsies take longer, often one to two weeks, and someone from the office will contact you.
Most people are sedated and feel little or nothing. Some feel bloated or crampy afterward, which passes within a few hours.
Plan on two to three hours from check-in to leaving. The test itself usually takes 30 to 60 minutes, and the rest is preparing and recovering.
For many people at average risk, yes. A stool test is done at home and needs no prep, but it has to be repeated every one to three years, and a positive result means you will still need a colonoscopy. Ask your doctor which test fits your risk.
Call your care team. They may give you extra steps or move the test, since an unclear view can mean polyps are missed.
Most people go back to work and normal activities the next day. If a large polyp was removed, your doctor may ask you to avoid heavy lifting or certain medicines for a few days.
Colonoscopies are done by gastroenterologists and by colon and rectal surgeons, usually in an endoscopy center or hospital. If a colonoscopy finds cancer, the cancer teams below take up diagnosis and treatment.
If a colonoscopy biopsy shows cancer, oncologists and surgeons stage it and plan treatment.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons perform colonoscopy and remove large or difficult polyps.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists perform colonoscopy to screen for cancer, remove polyps and find the cause of bleeding.
Learn More About Digestive HealthAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at average risk start at 45, and you can choose between a colonoscopy and simpler tests you do at home.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States, and one of the most preventable. Most colorectal cancers grow slowly from small growths called polyps, over about 10 years. Screening finds those polyps and early cancers while they are small, and many can be removed before they ever become cancer.
When colorectal cancer is found early, before it spreads, it can very often be cured. Yet about four in ten adults who should be screened are not up to date. Cases are also rising in adults younger than 55, which is why screening now starts at 45 for people at average risk.
The good news is that you have choices. A colonoscopy every 10 years is one option. A stool test you do at home is another. The best test is the one you will actually do, and your doctor can help you choose.
This page explains the tests, who should be screened and when, and what your results mean.
A colorectal cancer screening is a test that looks for colon cancer, rectal cancer and colorectal polyps in people who have no symptoms.
Screening tests work in one of two ways:
Screening is for people who feel well. If you have symptoms such as rectal bleeding, blood in your stool or a change in bowel habits that lasts, see your doctor. You need a diagnostic test, usually a colonoscopy, whatever your age.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American Cancer Society accept several tests. Each is repeated on its own schedule when results are normal.
| Test | What it is | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) | A small stool sample collected at home and checked for hidden blood | Every year |
| Stool DNA test with FIT | A whole bowel movement collected at home and checked for blood and DNA changes | Every 1 to 3 years |
| Guaiac-based stool test (gFOBT) | Samples from three bowel movements checked for hidden blood | Every year |
| Colonoscopy | A thin, flexible scope looks at the whole colon, and polyps are removed during the test | Every 10 years |
| CT colonography | A CT scan builds a 3-D picture of the colon, sometimes called a virtual colonoscopy | Every 5 years |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | A scope looks at the lower part of the colon | Every 5 years, or every 10 years with a yearly FIT |
A blood test that looks for signs of colorectal cancer in a blood sample was approved by the FDA in 2024 for adults at average risk. It finds fewer polyps than the tests above and is not yet among the Task Force's recommended tests. Ask your doctor whether it is an option for you.
A colonoscopy is the one test that looks at the whole colon and removes polyps in the same visit. With every other test, an abnormal result needs a follow-up colonoscopy to finish the screening.
Screening does two things. It finds colorectal cancer early, when treatment works best. And by finding polyps so they can be removed, it can prevent many cancers from forming at all.
Adults at average risk. The Task Force recommends screening from age 45 to 75. Between 76 and 85, whether to keep screening depends on your health and past results, and is a choice to make with your doctor. Most people over 85 no longer need screening.
People at higher risk may need to start before 45, be screened more often, or use colonoscopy rather than a stool test. You may be at higher risk if:
Tell your doctor about any family history of cancer, even if you are not sure of the details.
How you prepare depends on the test you choose.
Check your coverage. Most insurance plans cover screening for adults 45 and older. Ask whether a follow-up colonoscopy after an abnormal stool test is also covered, since plans differ.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A stool test at home. You place a collection paper or container in the toilet, take a sample with the tool in the kit, seal it and mail it or drop it off. It takes a few minutes, and there is no pain and no time off work.
A colonoscopy. You are sedated and lie on your side while the doctor guides a thin scope through the colon and removes any polyps. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes, and you go home the same day.
CT colonography. A thin tube placed in the rectum fills the colon with air while you lie on a CT table. The scan takes about 10 to 15 minutes, needs no sedation, and you can drive yourself home.
A sigmoidoscopy. A short, flexible scope looks at the lower colon, usually in a doctor's office and often without sedation. It takes about 10 to 20 minutes.
Stool tests and blood tests carry no physical risk. They can give a positive result when no cancer is present, which leads to a colonoscopy, and they can miss some polyps and cancers. That is why they are repeated more often.
Colonoscopy carries small risks of bleeding, especially after a polyp is removed, a rare tear in the colon wall, and a reaction to sedation.
CT colonography uses a low dose of radiation and can find spots outside the colon that need more tests, most of which turn out to be harmless.
For people who meet the guidelines, the benefit of finding colorectal cancer early, or preventing it, outweighs these risks.
Screening works only if it is repeated. Keep your next date even when results are normal.
At 45 if you are at average risk. If a close relative had colorectal cancer or you have other risk factors, ask your doctor whether you should start earlier.
Both are recommended. A stool test is easier and is done at home, but it must be repeated more often, and a positive result needs a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy can remove polyps on the spot.
Yes. Early colorectal cancer and polyps usually cause no symptoms, which is exactly why screening is done in people who feel well.
Most plans cover colorectal cancer screening from age 45. Check your plan, including how it covers a colonoscopy after an abnormal stool test.
See your doctor. Rectal bleeding or a lasting change in bowel habits should be checked at any age, even between screenings.
Screening usually starts with your primary care doctor, who helps you choose a test and orders it. Gastroenterologists and colon and rectal surgeons perform colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies, and radiologists perform CT colonography.
Screening finds colorectal cancer early or prevents it, and cancer teams treat any cancer it finds.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists do screening colonoscopies and the follow-up colonoscopy after an abnormal stool test.
Learn More About Digestive HealthRadiologists perform CT colonography, the virtual colonoscopy option repeated every five years.
Learn More About RadiologyColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of...
Learn More About SigmoidoscopyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the healthy ends again. Many operations are done through small incisions, and your surgeon plans the approach around your body, your diagnosis and your goals.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended colorectal surgery, you may have just learned you have colon or rectal cancer, or a polyp too large to remove during a colonoscopy, or a bowel condition that keeps coming back. It helps to know that surgery on the colon and rectum is common, that most people return to eating and living normally, and that your care team will walk you through each step.
The colon and rectum make up the large intestine, the last part of your digestive tract. The colon absorbs water and moves stool along, and the rectum holds stool until you have a bowel movement. Colorectal surgery treats problems in these organs and in the anus, from an early cancer removed through the rectum to an operation that takes out a section of bowel.
This page explains the kinds of colorectal surgery, why it is recommended, how to prepare and what recovery is like.
Colorectal surgery is the group of operations on the colon, rectum and anus. Most often, the surgeon removes the part of the bowel that holds a tumor or disease, along with a margin of healthy tissue, and then joins the two healthy ends so stool can pass the usual way. When cancer is the reason, the surgeon also removes the nearby lymph nodes and blood vessels, so a pathologist can check whether cancer has spread and your team can plan any further treatment.
You are asleep under general anesthesia for most of these operations.
Each of these can be done through one larger incision, an open operation, or through several small incisions with a camera, called laparoscopic surgery. Orlando Health surgeons also operate with robotic help. See robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery.
For most people with colon cancer, surgery to remove the tumor is a key part of treatment. Colorectal surgery is also used for:
You may be a candidate if testing shows a tumor or disease that surgery can remove, and if your heart, lungs and overall health can handle anesthesia and recovery. For cancer, a team of surgeons, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists often reviews your case together and recommends the order of treatments. The decision is one you make with them.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]An IV is placed and anesthesia puts you to sleep. In a laparoscopic or robotic operation, the surgeon fills the belly with gas to make room to see, works through several small incisions and removes the diseased section through a slightly larger one. The surgeon then joins the healthy ends with stitches or staples, or creates a stoma. Depending on what is removed, the operation takes about two to four hours or longer.
You wake in a recovery area and then move to a hospital room. You are up and walking soon, often the same day or the next, and you start with liquids and move to soft food as your bowels wake up. Many people go home in two to four days after a minimally invasive operation, and an open operation usually means a longer stay.
Expect tiredness and soreness for a few weeks. Your first bowel movements may be loose or come often, especially after rectal surgery, and this usually improves over weeks to months. Avoid lifting more than about 10 pounds until your surgeon clears you, often for four to six weeks. Most people return to desk work in two to four weeks.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, severe belly pain with a hard, swollen belly, vomiting blood, bleeding from the rectum that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, nausea or vomiting that keeps you from drinking, no stool or gas for more than a day, or swelling or pain in one leg.
Your surgeon will go over the risks as they apply to you. They include:
For early colon and rectal cancers, surgery alone can remove the cancer completely. For more advanced cancers, surgery is one part of a plan that may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both. After surgery, you will have follow-up visits with exams, blood tests and colonoscopies to watch for any return of cancer. For conditions other than cancer, surgery often ends the repeated attacks or bleeding that led to it.
Most people having colon surgery do not need one. If you do, it is often temporary, and your surgeon will tell you beforehand if it is likely.
Many colorectal operations can. Your surgeon decides based on the location and size of the tumor, your past surgeries and your health.
Bowel habits often take a few weeks to return to a steady pattern after colon surgery and can take several months after rectal surgery. Diet changes and medicine can help in the meantime.
It depends on the stage found in the removed tissue. Your medical oncologist will go over the results with you and recommend whether more treatment would help.
Start with small, soft meals, add foods as you feel ready and drink plenty of fluids. A dietitian can help with an ostomy or ongoing bowel changes.
Colorectal surgery is performed by colorectal surgeons and surgical oncologists, who work alongside medical and radiation oncologists when cancer is the reason.
Surgical, medical and radiation oncologists plan colon and rectal cancer surgery alongside chemotherapy and radiation.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons remove tumors, large polyps and diseased bowel, often through small incisions.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists find the tumors and polyps that lead to surgery and do the follow-up colonoscopies afterward.
Learn More About Digestive HealthRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool...
Learn More About ColostomyHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon...
Learn More About HIPECAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool leaves the body into a pouch. It may be temporary while your bowel heals or permanent, and with practice most people return to work, travel, exercise and the foods they enjoy.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has told you that you may need a colostomy, it is natural to have many questions about what it will look like, how it will feel and how your daily life will change. Many people worry most about the pouch. It helps to know that many colostomies are temporary, that the pouch lies flat under ordinary clothes, and that nurses who specialize in ostomy care will teach you everything you need before you go home.
A colostomy gives stool a new way out of the body when the lower colon, rectum or anus needs to heal or has been removed. The surgeon brings a part of the colon through the wall of the belly and stitches it to the skin, making a stoma. The stoma has no nerve endings, so it does not hurt to touch. Stool collects in a pouch that sticks to the skin around it, and you empty or change the pouch yourself.
This page explains the kinds of colostomy, why one is needed, how to prepare, what recovery is like and what risks to talk over with your surgeon.
A colostomy is a surgically made opening between the colon and the outside of the belly. It is one kind of ostomy, the general word for an opening that lets waste leave the body by a new route. When the opening comes from the small intestine it is called an ileostomy, and when it carries urine it is called a urostomy.
A colostomy is usually made as part of a larger operation on the colon or rectum, such as a colectomy or other colorectal surgery. It can be done through small incisions or through one larger incision, under general anesthesia.
Colostomies are also named for the part of the colon they come from. One made from the lower colon, on the left side of the belly, usually passes formed stool. One made higher in the colon passes looser stool.
A colostomy is recommended when stool cannot or should not pass through the lower bowel, including for:
Your surgeon will recommend a colostomy only when it is the safest way to treat your condition or protect a healing bowel. Before surgery, they will tell you whether it is likely, whether it is planned as temporary, and what would decide whether it can be reversed later. You make the decision together.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Anesthesia puts you to sleep. The surgeon completes the main operation, then makes a small round opening in the belly at the marked spot, brings the colon through it and stitches the edge to the skin. A clear pouch goes on in the operating room so your team can watch the stoma.
At first the stoma is swollen and bright pink or red, like the inside of your mouth, and it shrinks over the next six to eight weeks. It may pass gas and loose stool within a few days. Before you go home, an ostomy nurse teaches you and a family member how to empty the pouch, change it, care for the skin around the stoma and measure the stoma so the pouch fits. Most people stay in the hospital for several days, depending on the main operation.
Avoid lifting more than about 10 pounds for four to six weeks, which also protects the belly wall around the stoma. Start with soft, low-fiber foods, chew well and drink plenty of fluids, then add foods back one at a time. Gas and odor are usually manageable with diet and pouches made to control them. A home health nurse may visit to check on you.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding from the stoma that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a stoma that turns dark purple, black or very pale, no stool or gas from the stoma for more than four hours with cramping or nausea, watery output that fills the pouch quickly, a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, or skin around the stoma that is raw or breaking down.
Your surgeon and ostomy nurse will talk through how these apply to you:
Many of these are treated with skin barrier products, a better-fitting pouch, medicine or, now and then, a small operation to revise the stoma.
A colostomy lets you recover from the condition that made it necessary while your body still clears waste. With a temporary colostomy, a later operation usually reconnects the bowel, and bowel movements pass the usual way again. With a permanent colostomy, most people adjust within a few months and go back to work, exercise, swimming, travel and intimacy. Regular follow-up with your care team helps catch skin or stoma problems early.
Most people will not know unless you tell them. Modern pouches are thin and lie flat under everyday clothes, and they are made to keep odor in.
A temporary colostomy is usually reversed with a second, shorter operation once the bowel has healed. A permanent colostomy is not reversed. Your surgeon will tell you which kind you have.
Most people empty the pouch a few times a day and change the skin barrier every three to seven days, depending on the system and your skin.
Yes. Water does not hurt the stoma. You can shower with or without the pouch, swim with it on, and return to exercise as your surgeon allows, building up core strength slowly.
Your ostomy nurse will help you choose products and set up a supplier before you leave the hospital, and can help if your needs change.
A colostomy is made by colorectal surgeons and surgical oncologists, and ostomy nurses teach and support you before and after the operation.
Cancer surgeons make a colostomy when colon, rectal or anal cancer surgery leaves bowel that cannot be rejoined yet.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons create, care for, revise and later reverse colostomies for cancer and other bowel conditions.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGeneral surgeons make an emergency colostomy for a torn, infected or blocked bowel, as in severe diverticulitis.
Learn More About General SurgeryAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer...
Learn More About UrostomyA colectomy is surgery to remove part or all of the colon, the longest part of the large intestine. It is most often done to...
Learn More About ColectomyColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and painless, and it helps your care team find a problem, see its size and location, plan treatment and check how treatment is working.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you have a CT scan scheduled, it may be one of the first tests after a symptom or an unusual result, or one of many during cancer care. Either way, the scan itself takes only minutes, and knowing what to expect can make the day feel easier.
CT stands for computed tomography. You may also hear it called a CAT scan. A regular X-ray takes one flat picture. A CT scan takes many X-ray pictures from different angles as you move through a ring-shaped machine, and a computer puts them together into cross-section images, like looking at the slices of a loaf of bread. Your doctor can see organs, bones, blood vessels and soft tissue in far more detail than a plain X-ray shows.
In cancer care, CT scans are one of the most common imaging tests. They help find tumors, show whether cancer has spread, guide a biopsy needle and track how a tumor responds to treatment.
This page explains the kinds of CT scans, why one is ordered, how to prepare, what happens during the scan, the risks and how your results are shared.
A CT scanner is a large, open ring with a table that slides through it. Inside the ring, an X-ray tube turns around you and sends thin beams through the body. Detectors on the other side measure how much of each beam passes through. Dense tissue such as bone blocks more X-rays than soft tissue, fat or air, and the computer uses those differences to build the images.
The images can be viewed slice by slice or combined into three-dimensional pictures. A radiologist, a doctor who specializes in reading imaging tests, studies them and writes a report.
A CT scan can help your care team:
Your doctor orders a CT scan when the answer to a question depends on a detailed picture. A CT scan is helpful in many conditions, and it has limits. It does not replace a colonoscopy for finding colon cancer or polyps, for example, and a mammogram remains the test used to screen for breast cancer. Your doctor will choose the test that fits your question, which may be an MRI or ultrasound instead.
Follow the instructions your care team or the imaging center gives you, since they depend on the part of the body being scanned and whether contrast is used.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A technologist will bring you to the scanner room and help you lie on the table, usually on your back. If you are having contrast through a vein, a small IV line is placed in your arm.
The table moves slowly through the ring. The technologist watches from the next room, can see and hear you the whole time, and will talk you through each step. You may hear buzzing or clicking. You will be asked to hold still and to hold your breath for a few seconds at a time, because movement blurs the pictures.
When contrast goes in, you may feel warm all over or notice a metallic taste. Some people feel as if they need to urinate. These feelings pass within a minute or two.
The scan itself usually takes only a few minutes. The whole visit, including any contrast you drink, can take longer. Afterward, you can usually go back to your normal activities right away. Drink plenty of fluids to help your body clear the contrast.
Call your care team the same day for a rash, hives or itching that starts after your scan, or swelling or pain where the IV was placed.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for trouble breathing, swelling of your face or throat, chest pain, or fainting.
A radiologist reads your images and sends a report to the doctor who ordered the scan. Your doctor will share the results with you and explain what they mean. Results are often ready within a few days. Many patients can also see the report in the patient portal, sometimes before their doctor has reviewed it, so it is fine to wait for your appointment to talk it through.
The report describes what the radiologist saw: the size and location of any area of concern, and whether lymph nodes or organs look normal. A scan can show that something is there, and often what it is likely to be. Confirming cancer usually takes a biopsy.
During cancer care, your scans are compared over time to see whether a tumor is shrinking, stable or growing. Your care team reviews your scans together and uses them to plan your next step.
No. A CT scan uses X-rays and is very fast. An MRI uses magnets and radio waves, takes longer and shows some soft tissues in more detail. Your doctor picks the one that answers your question best.
The CT ring is short and open at both ends, so most people do not feel enclosed. Tell your care team if you are anxious, since medicine to help you relax may be an option.
Usually, yes. Unless you were given medicine to relax, you can drive and return to your day right away.
Each scan shows how the cancer is responding, which lets your care team adjust your treatment when needed. The schedule is planned to give useful answers while limiting radiation.
Most guidance says breastfeeding can continue after iodine contrast. Ask your care team what they recommend for you.
CT scans are performed by radiologic technologists and read by radiologists. Your cancer care team uses the results to plan treatment.
CT scans are available at Orlando Health locations across Central and West Florida.
Cancer teams use CT scans to find and stage a tumor, plan treatment and check how it is responding.
Learn More About CancerLung specialists use CT to follow lung nodules and to find blood clots in the lungs.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareTechnologists perform the scan and radiologists read every image and send the report to your doctor.
Learn More About RadiologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound with stitches. It is usually done in the office with numbing medicine, you go home the same day, and the tissue is checked under a microscope.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended excisional surgery, you may have just learned that a spot on your skin is cancer, or that a mole or growth needs to come out to be checked. Hearing the word surgery can make it sound bigger than it is. For most people this is a short visit, with medicine that numbs only the area being treated, and you stay awake and go home the same day.
Excision is one of the most common ways to treat skin cancer. The doctor removes the growth along with a margin, a border of normal-looking skin, because cancer cells can reach slightly past the edge you can see. A lab then examines the removed tissue to make sure the edges are clear. When they are, the cancer is usually gone for good.
The same procedure removes moles, cysts and other growths, and it is also a way to take a biopsy of a spot that looks concerning. This page explains how excisional surgery works, who it helps, how to prepare and what healing looks like.
Excisional surgery, also called surgical excision, removes a growth from the skin with a scalpel. The doctor draws an outline around the growth that includes the margin, numbs the area, cuts along the outline and lifts out the skin in one piece. The removed tissue goes to a pathologist, a doctor who examines it under a microscope and reports whether cancer reaches the edges.
The wound is usually shaped like a narrow football, which lets the skin close in a straight line. Most excisions are closed with stitches, often a layer that dissolves under the skin and a layer on top that comes out later.
Excision removes the whole growth and lets the lab confirm it is gone. It is used for:
You may be a candidate if your skin cancer has clear borders and is on skin with enough room to close neatly, such as the back, chest, arms or legs. On the nose, eyelids, lips and ears, or for a cancer that came back, your doctor may suggest Mohs surgery to save more healthy skin. People taking blood thinners can usually still have an excision. Your doctor weighs the type, size and location of the growth with your health, and you decide together.
Your care team will tell you anything else your procedure needs.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You stay awake. The doctor cleans the skin, marks the outline and injects a numbing medicine, which stings for a few seconds. After that you may feel pressure or tugging, but no sharp pain. Removing the growth and placing stitches usually takes 15 to 60 minutes, depending on the size and location.
A bandage goes over the stitches, and you go home the same day. As the numbing wears off, the area may ache. Acetaminophen usually controls it; ask before taking ibuprofen or aspirin. Keep the first bandage dry and in place for a day or two, then clean the area each day as your team shows you.
Bruising and swelling are common for a few days, especially near the eyes. Avoid heavy lifting, hard exercise and stretching the area while it heals, usually one to two weeks. Stitches come out in about one to two weeks, sooner on the face. The lab report usually comes back within a week or two, and your team calls you with it.
Call 911 for bleeding that will not stop after 20 minutes of firm pressure, chest pain or trouble breathing, or swelling of the face or throat. Call your care team the same day for redness that spreads, warmth, pus, a fever over 100.4 degrees, pain that keeps getting worse, or a wound that opens.
Excision is a common, low-risk procedure. Possible problems include:
Your doctor will talk through the risks for your location and health.
When the lab finds clear margins, excision cures most basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers and most early melanomas. If cancer reaches an edge, your doctor may remove more skin, recommend Mohs surgery or suggest another treatment. Larger wounds may be repaired with a flap or graft; see skin cancer reconstruction. Because one skin cancer raises the chance of another, regular skin exams continue after you heal.
The numbing shot stings briefly. After that, most people feel only pressure. Soreness for a day or two afterward is common and usually eased with acetaminophen.
The scar is usually about three times longer than the growth was wide, because of the shape needed to close the skin flat. Most scars fade over the following year.
Your doctor removes more tissue, either with another excision or with Mohs surgery, or discusses other treatment. Finding cancer at an edge is common and treatable.
Most people wait one to two weeks, until the stitches are out. Your doctor will tell you what is safe for the location of your wound.
Keep it clean and covered, and apply petroleum jelly as directed so it heals moist. Protect the scar from the sun for a year so it fades evenly.
Excisions are performed by dermatologists, dermatologic surgeons, general and surgical oncologists and plastic surgeons.
Dermatologists cut out a skin cancer with a margin of healthy skin and check the edges under a microscope.
Learn More About DermatologyPathologists look at the removed skin to confirm the cancer and that the edges are clear.
Learn More About PathologyBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgeryMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgerySkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ReconstructionA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for you, and what the result would mean. A genetic counselor reviews your family history, explains your options and helps you plan screening or prevention.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Maybe your mother and her sister both had breast cancer. Maybe you were diagnosed younger than most people, or a relative has tested positive for a gene change. Questions like these can bring a lot of worry, about yourself and about your children. Genetic counseling is a way to get clear answers and a plan.
Most cancer is not inherited. About 5 to 10 percent of cancers are linked to a gene change passed down from a parent. When a family has one of these changes, knowing about it can change a great deal: when screening starts, which tests are used, what steps can lower risk, and sometimes which treatment is chosen for a cancer that has already been found.
A genetic counselor is a health professional trained in both genetics and counseling. They help you decide whether testing is right for you, arrange it if you choose it, and explain your results in plain words. You never have to decide anything on the spot.
Genetic counseling is a conversation, and sometimes a test, focused on your inherited risk for cancer. Your genetic counselor will:
Some genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, help protect against cancer. When one of these genes has a harmful change, called a mutation or variant, it does not work as it should, and the risk of certain cancers goes up. A positive result means a higher risk. It does not mean you will get cancer.
A hereditary cancer syndrome is an inherited gene change that raises the chance of certain cancers. These are among the most common:
For people without cancer, it helps you understand your own risk and decide on screening or prevention. It may be recommended if:
For people with cancer, it can help explain why the cancer happened, guide treatment and surgery choices, show whether you have a higher chance of a second cancer, and give your relatives information they can act on. It is often offered for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and some endocrine cancers.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your first visit. Your genetic counselor reviews your personal and family history, explains hereditary cancer syndromes and goes over the benefits, risks and limits of testing. If testing makes sense and you want it, the test and any insurance approval can be started at this visit. Testing usually involves a blood draw.
Waiting for results. Results often take two to four weeks.
Your second visit. Your counselor shares the results, explains your chance of developing cancer and your options for managing it. At the Orlando Health Cancer Institute, genetic counseling typically takes up to two visits.
Your results. There are three main kinds:
Genetic testing has no physical risks beyond those of a blood draw or a saliva sample. The risks are mostly about feelings and information:
No. Counseling helps you decide. Many people meet with a counselor and choose not to test, or to test later.
No. A negative result means no harmful change was found in the genes tested. You still have the same everyday risk as others, and family history can still raise it.
Not necessarily. Most cancers that appear in families are not inherited, and shared habits or surroundings can explain some family patterns. A counselor can help sort out your own risk.
Yes. Men can have and pass on BRCA changes, and some changes raise the risk of breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer in men.
Testing for adult-onset cancer risk is usually offered once children are adults and can decide for themselves. Your counselor can explain the right timing for your family.
Genetic counseling is provided by board-certified genetic counselors, working with your doctors.
Genetic counseling is offered at Orlando Health Cancer Institute locations across Central Florida.
Genetic counselors on the cancer team assess inherited risk and guide screening, prevention and treatment choices.
Learn More About CancerGastroenterologists refer families with early colon cancer or many polyps, and adjust colonoscopy timing to the result.
Learn More About Digestive HealthGynecologists and OB-GYNs flag family histories of breast and ovarian cancer and refer for counseling.
Learn More About Women'sAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsEndocrine cancers start in the glands that make hormones, such as the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands, or in...
Learn More About Endocrine CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes...
Learn More About MUGA ScanYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer surgery. Surgeons often move skin, muscle or bone from another part of your body to restore how you eat, swallow, speak and breathe, and to bring back your appearance as closely as they can.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your surgeon has said you will need reconstruction, you may be facing an operation that removes part of your tongue, jaw, cheek, palate, throat or skin. That news often brings a second worry on top of the cancer: what you will look like afterward, and whether you will be able to eat and talk the way you do now.
Reconstruction exists to answer that worry. In most cases it happens during the same operation that removes the cancer, so you wake up with the gap already filled. Surgeons use tissue from your own body, shaped to fit, and sometimes a custom prosthesis, to restore both how the area works and how it looks.
Recovery takes time, and many people work with speech and swallowing therapists afterward. Most regain much of their ability to eat, speak and swallow, and many return to the activities they enjoyed. This page explains the kinds of reconstruction, who needs it, how to prepare, what recovery is like and the risks to know about.
Head and neck cancer reconstruction is surgery that restores tissue removed to treat a cancer of the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, jaw, skin or neck. It can also repair damage from radiation, and the same methods treat severe injuries to the face.
The head and neck hold the structures you use to breathe, eat, swallow, speak and show expression. Removing even a small area can change how these work. A plastic and reconstructive surgeon plans the repair together with the head and neck surgeon who removes the cancer, often before the operation, so that both steps happen under the same anesthesia.
The method depends on the size of the gap, where it is and what it needs to do.
Reconstruction is performed to restore:
Most people who need surgery for a larger cancer of the head and neck are candidates, and the plan is made before the cancer operation. Reconstruction is also offered later to people whose earlier surgery or radiation left a gap, and to people with severe injuries. Your surgeons look at your overall health, smoking, blood vessels and any planned radiation when choosing a method.
Your surgical team will give you written instructions for your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are asleep under general anesthesia. The head and neck surgeon removes the cancer, and the reconstructive surgeon then builds the repair. For a free flap, the surgeon takes tissue from the donor site, shapes it to fit and joins its tiny blood vessels to those in the neck. The operation often takes many hours. A temporary breathing tube in the neck, called a tracheostomy, may be placed to protect your airway while the swelling goes down.
Most people spend several days to about a week in the hospital, sometimes starting in intensive care. Nurses check the flap often for color, warmth and blood flow. You may receive nutrition through a feeding tube until you can swallow safely. Speech and swallowing therapists begin working with you, and physical therapists help you get moving.
Swelling in the face and neck goes down over weeks. The donor site, such as the forearm or leg, heals at the same time and may need a dressing or a brace for a while. Many people begin radiation four to six weeks after surgery. Speech and swallowing therapy often continues for months.
Call your surgeon's team right away, day or night, if the flap turns pale, blue, dark or cold. Call 911 for trouble breathing or bleeding that will not stop. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, or trouble with your feeding tube.
Reconstruction is major surgery. The risks include:
Your surgeons will talk through the risks as they apply to you.
Reconstruction cannot make the area exactly as it was, and the goal is to bring function and appearance as close to before as possible. Many people return to eating by mouth, speak clearly enough to be understood and regain a natural look in clothing and daily life. Results depend on how much tissue was removed and on radiation. Some people choose later touch-up procedures, dental implants or a prosthesis to improve the result.
Many people regain much of their ability, though it can take months of therapy. How much depends on the area treated, and your team will tell you what to expect.
Yes, at the surgery site and the donor site. Surgeons place incisions in natural creases where they can, and scars fade over time.
Usually. Repairing the area in the same operation lets healing and any radiation start sooner. Some people have reconstruction later.
A well-healed flap brings its own blood supply, which helps the area tolerate radiation. Your teams plan the timing together.
Some people do for a few weeks while the mouth or throat heals. A dietitian and swallowing therapist help you return to eating by mouth.
Head and neck cancer reconstruction is performed by plastic and reconstructive surgeons working with head and neck cancer surgeons, with speech and swallowing therapists, dietitians and physical therapists supporting recovery.
Speech, swallowing and physical therapists help people eat, talk and move again after the repair heals.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationPlastic surgeons move skin, muscle or bone from elsewhere in the body to rebuild the jaw, mouth, throat or face.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveHead and neck cancer surgeons plan the repair with the reconstructive team so both steps happen in one operation.
Learn More About CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA head and neck cancer screening is a quick exam of your mouth, throat, neck, face and skin to look for early signs of cancer before you notice symptoms. It takes a few minutes and involves no needles. It is most useful for people who use tobacco or alcohol, and it is never a substitute for checking a symptom.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Most people have never had their head and neck checked for cancer, and many do not know such a check exists. A dentist may look at your mouth at a cleaning, but a full screening also checks your throat, neck, face and skin with cancer in mind.
Head and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or skin above the collarbone. Found early, many are treated with smaller operations or less treatment, and with less change to how you eat, speak and look. A screening looks for the early signs: a sore, a patch, a lump or a change on one side.
No national guideline recommends routine screening for every adult, and the exam does not diagnose cancer. It looks for anything that needs a closer look. This page explains what the exam includes, who may benefit, what happens during it and what your results mean.
A head and neck cancer screening is a physical exam for people with no symptoms. A doctor, dentist or nurse looks at and feels the areas where these cancers start, and asks about habits that raise the risk. It is a visual and hands-on check, with no blood test or scan.
Screening is different from a visit for a symptom. If you already have a sore that will not heal, a lump in your neck or a voice that has stayed hoarse, you need an exam to find the cause, and you should book one with your doctor rather than wait for a screening. Learn about these cancers on the head and neck cancers page.
The goal is to find cancer or a precancerous patch early, when it is smaller and easier to treat. Screening also gives you a chance to learn the warning signs and to talk about lowering your risk.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has found too little evidence to recommend for or against routine oral cancer screening in adults without symptoms. That leaves the choice to you and your doctor. Many dentists check the mouth at every visit, and some cancer teams offer screening events to reach people at higher risk.
A screening may be most useful if you:
HPV, a common virus, causes many cancers of the tonsils and back of the tongue. No screening test finds these early, and the HPV vaccine protects against the types that cause them.
A screening needs no special preparation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The exam takes a few minutes. Your doctor or dentist will:
If anything needs a closer look, a specialist may use a thin, flexible camera passed through the nose to see the back of the throat and voice box, usually with numbing spray.
The exam itself has no real risk. A gloved finger in the mouth can cause a brief gag.
The main drawbacks are those of any screening. A normal-looking area or a harmless sore can lead to more visits or a biopsy. And an exam can miss a cancer deep in the throat that cannot be seen, so a symptom that lasts still needs checking even after a normal screening.
Normal. Nothing was found that needs follow-up. Keep up regular dental visits, learn the warning signs and see your doctor if a change lasts more than two or three weeks.
Something to recheck. A sore or patch that may be from an injury or infection is often looked at again in two to three weeks. Many go away.
Something to evaluate. A lump, a patch that will not heal or another concern means a visit with a specialist, often an ear, nose and throat or head and neck surgeon. The next steps may include a closer look with a small camera, a biopsy, or imaging such as a CT scan or MRI. Only a biopsy can tell whether a spot is cancer.
They overlap. A dentist checks your mouth, and a full screening also checks your throat, neck, face and skin.
There is no set schedule for people at average risk. If you use tobacco or alcohol or have had cancer before, ask your doctor or dentist how often to be checked.
Prevention and screening services are covered by many plans. Check your benefits before you schedule.
A sore, red or white patch in the mouth that does not heal, a lump in the neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing or ear pain on one side that lasts two to three weeks.
Not reliably, because these cancers often start deep in the tonsils. Watch for a lasting sore throat, trouble swallowing or a neck lump, and ask about the HPV vaccine.
Head and neck cancer screenings are done by primary care doctors, dentists, ear, nose and throat doctors and head and neck surgeons.
Head and neck cancer teams hold screening events and see people whose exam finds a sore, patch or lump.
Learn More About CancerEar, nose and throat doctors look at the throat with a small camera when a screening finds something to check.
Learn More About ENT / OtolaryngologyHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIHead and neck cancer reconstruction rebuilds the parts of the mouth, jaw, throat, face or neck removed during cancer...
Learn More About Head and Neck Cancer ReconstructionAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its full size within a few months, so many people can have a large part removed safely. It can be done through small incisions or one larger one, and recovery takes a few weeks.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended a hepatectomy, you may have learned that you have a tumor in your liver, either one that started there or cancer that has spread from another organ such as the colon. Hearing that surgery is possible is often good news, because it means your team believes the tumor can be removed. This page will help you understand what that involves.
The liver is a large organ in the upper right side of the abdomen. It filters the blood, makes bile to digest fat, stores energy and makes proteins that help blood clot. It also has a rare ability: the part left behind after surgery grows back to near its original size, usually within a couple of months. That is why surgeons can often remove a large share of a healthy liver.
This page explains the kinds of hepatectomy, who is a candidate, how to prepare, what recovery is like and the risks to talk over with your surgeon.
A hepatectomy, also called a liver resection, is an operation to remove part of the liver along with a margin of healthy tissue around the tumor. When only a portion is removed it is called a partial hepatectomy, which is what most people have. Removing the whole liver, a total hepatectomy, is done only as part of a liver transplant.
The liver is divided into eight sections, each with its own blood supply and bile drainage. This lets a surgeon remove one or more sections and leave the rest working. You are asleep under general anesthesia, and the surgeon uses ultrasound during the operation to find every tumor and map the blood vessels.
Surgery is often the first choice for liver tumors that can be removed completely while leaving enough healthy liver behind. It is used for:
Surgery works best when the tumors are small, limited in number and away from the major blood vessels. Your surgeon checks how well your liver works, whether you have cirrhosis or another liver disease, and how much healthy liver would remain. Your heart, lungs and overall health matter too. If too little liver would remain, a procedure called portal vein embolization can block blood flow to the part being removed, so the rest grows first. If surgery is not the right choice, other treatments can destroy or shrink liver tumors, such as tumor ablation, tumor embolization, radioembolization and histotripsy.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]An IV and other lines are placed, and anesthesia puts you to sleep. The surgeon examines the liver with ultrasound, controls the blood flow to the section being removed, divides the liver tissue and seals the blood vessels and bile ducts. A drain may be left near the liver for a few days. The operation usually takes three to five hours or longer, depending on how much liver is removed.
Some people spend the first night in an intensive care or step-down unit. Your team checks your blood counts and liver function closely while the liver starts to regrow. You get up and walk soon, begin drinking and eating within a day or two, and most people go home in about three to seven days.
Expect to feel tired for several weeks while your liver regrows. Most people return to light activity within a few weeks and to full activity in about six to eight weeks, sooner after a minimally invasive operation. Avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon clears you, and avoid alcohol until your team says it is safe.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, vomiting blood, bleeding that will not stop, sudden confusion or unusual sleepiness, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, yellowing of the skin or eyes, a belly that is swelling, redness or drainage at the incision, nausea or vomiting that keeps you from drinking, or swelling or pain in one leg.
Your surgeon will go over how these apply to you:
When all the tumors can be removed, a hepatectomy offers many people with early liver cancer, or with limited spread from colon cancer, a real chance of long-term control or cure. Your pathology report shows whether the edges of the removed tissue are clear of cancer. Because liver cancer can return in the remaining liver or elsewhere, you will have regular scans and blood tests afterward, and some people have chemotherapy or other treatment after recovery.
A healthy liver regrows to near its original size, usually within a couple of months. A liver with cirrhosis regrows more slowly, which is part of why your surgeon measures it carefully before surgery.
In a healthy liver, surgeons can often remove up to about two thirds. With cirrhosis, they leave more behind.
Sometimes. It depends on how well your liver works and the pressure in its blood vessels. If surgery is not safe, a liver transplant or treatments that destroy the tumor may be options.
Some people do, before or after surgery, especially when cancer has spread from the colon. Your medical oncologist and surgeon plan the order with you.
Eat regular meals with enough protein to help your liver rebuild, drink plenty of fluids and avoid alcohol until your team says it is safe.
A hepatectomy is performed by liver surgeons, also called hepatobiliary surgeons, and surgical oncologists, working with gastroenterologists, radiologists and medical and radiation oncologists.
Liver surgeons remove liver tumors, whether they started in the liver or spread there from the colon.
Learn More About CancerLiver specialists treat cirrhosis and hepatitis and judge whether the liver is healthy enough for surgery.
Learn More About Digestive HealthInterventional radiologists shrink tumors or grow the remaining liver before surgery through an artery or vein.
Learn More About RadiologyColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is...
Learn More About Liver TransplantTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor...
Learn More About Tumor EmbolizationRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and...
Learn More About RadioembolizationHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no...
Learn More About HistotripsyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistHIPEC, or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, treats cancer that has spread to the lining of the abdomen. The surgeon first removes all the tumor that can be seen, then bathes the inside of the abdomen with heated chemotherapy during the same operation. It is a major operation for carefully chosen patients.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has mentioned HIPEC, you have likely learned that cancer has reached the peritoneum, the thin lining of the abdomen and the organs inside it. That can be hard news to hear. HIPEC gives some people with this kind of spread a treatment aimed squarely at it, and your team will take time to see whether it fits your situation.
Cancer cells can spread to the peritoneum from cancers of the appendix, colon, rectum, stomach and ovary, or start there, as in peritoneal mesothelioma. Chemotherapy given through a vein reaches the peritoneum poorly, because the lining forms a barrier between the bloodstream and the abdominal cavity. HIPEC places a high dose of chemotherapy directly on the surfaces where the cancer grows, while much less of it reaches the rest of the body.
HIPEC is almost always paired with cytoreductive surgery, an operation to remove every tumor the surgeon can see. The two steps happen in one long operation. This page explains how the treatment works, who may be a candidate, how to prepare and what recovery is like.
HIPEC stands for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. Hyperthermic means heated, and intraperitoneal means inside the abdominal cavity. It is the second step of a two-step operation:
You are asleep under general anesthesia for the whole operation. You lie on a cooling blanket to keep your body temperature safe, and the team rocks you from side to side so the chemotherapy reaches every surface.
Your surgeon chooses the technique and the chemotherapy medicine based on the type of cancer and how far it has spread.
HIPEC treats cancer that has spread within the abdomen but not to distant organs. It is used for:
Your team looks at several things together. The type of tumor matters, because HIPEC works far better for some cell types than others. The amount of disease matters, because the treatment works best when the surgeon can remove all visible tumor. Your overall health and fitness, how well your heart, lungs, liver and kidneys work, and your nutrition all count, because the operation is long and recovery is demanding. With a favorable tumor type, a surgeon may operate even when the disease is widespread; with a less favorable type, only when the amount of disease is small. Scans, a review of your tissue and sometimes a short laparoscopy help answer these questions.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The full operation often lasts many hours, and in complex cases up to about 14. Your family can wait nearby, and the team will update them during and after surgery.
Most people spend the first day or more in an intensive care unit, then move to a surgical floor. You may have tubes for a while, such as a drain in the belly, a tube through the nose to rest the stomach and a urinary catheter. You start walking with help soon, and you return to eating slowly as your bowels wake up. Hospital stays often last one to two weeks or longer.
Full recovery often takes two to three months. Tiredness is common, and appetite and energy come back gradually. Avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon clears you. Some people have chemotherapy given through a vein after they recover, depending on the cancer type.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for a fever in the weeks after HIPEC, because the chemotherapy can lower blood counts; chest pain or trouble breathing; vomiting blood; bleeding that will not stop; or fainting. Call your care team the same day for redness, swelling or drainage at the incision, nausea or vomiting that keeps you from drinking, no bowel movement or gas for more than a day, or swelling or pain in one leg.
Cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC is a major operation, and your surgeon will go over the risks as they apply to you:
For carefully selected people, especially those with pseudomyxoma peritonei or low-grade appendix tumors, removing all visible tumor and following it with HIPEC can control the cancer for many years and, for some, clear it. For other cancers, the goal may be longer survival and better control of symptoms such as fluid buildup. Results depend most on the type of tumor and on whether all visible tumor could be removed. After recovery, you will have regular scans and blood tests to watch for any return of cancer.
It uses some of the same medicines, but they go directly into the abdomen during surgery, at a higher strength on the surfaces where the cancer grows. Depending on the tumor type, one dose in the operating room may be all you need.
Hair loss is uncommon after HIPEC, because most of the medicine stays in the abdomen. If you also have chemotherapy through a vein, your oncologist will tell you what to expect from it.
Your surgeon will review your scans, the type of tumor and your overall health. Sometimes a short laparoscopy is needed to see how much disease is present before deciding.
Some people do, depending on the type of cancer. Your surgeon and medical oncologist plan the order of treatments with you.
Yes. Because HIPEC is a major decision, a second opinion is a reasonable step, and your team can help send your records.
HIPEC is performed by surgical oncologists trained in cytoreductive surgery, working with anesthesiologists, medical oncologists and critical care teams.
Surgical oncologists remove visible tumor in the abdomen, then give heated chemotherapy there in the same operation.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons offer HIPEC when colon or appendix cancer has spread to the lining of the abdomen.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGynecologic oncologists may use HIPEC for some ovarian cancers that have spread within the abdomen.
Learn More About Women'sAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerPeritoneal carcinomatosis means cancer has spread to the peritoneum, the thin lining of the belly. It most often comes from...
Learn More About Peritoneal CarcinomatosisStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or...
Learn More About Stomach CancerA colostomy is an operation that brings the end of the colon to a small opening on your belly, called a stoma, so stool...
Learn More About ColostomyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no incisions, no needles and no radiation. You are asleep for it, it often takes about an hour, and many people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has mentioned histotripsy, you may be hearing the word for the first time. It is one of the newest ways to treat a tumor in the liver, and it is natural to want to know exactly what it involves before you agree to it. This page explains how it works, who it may suit, what the day looks like and what to expect afterward.
Histotripsy is a way to destroy a liver tumor without surgery. A treatment head placed on the skin of your belly sends short, powerful pulses of ultrasound into the tumor. The pulses create a cloud of tiny bubbles inside the tumor that breaks its tissue apart, while the tissue around it is largely spared. Your body then clears away the broken-down tissue over the following weeks.
It can treat cancer that started in the liver and cancer that has spread to the liver from another part of the body. It can also be used along with other liver treatments, before or after them, and it does not close the door on any of them.
Histotripsy is a noninvasive procedure that destroys tumor tissue with focused sound waves. The word comes from "histo," meaning tissue, and "tripsy," meaning to break apart.
The device has a treatment head that rests on your belly over the tumor, with a soft, water-filled membrane between it and your skin so the sound travels into the body. The sound pulses are very short and very strong. Where they meet inside the tumor, they make gas bubbles that are already present in the tissue expand and collapse in a fraction of a second. This bubble cloud breaks the tumor cells apart. The doctor moves the focus point through the tumor, piece by piece, while watching on ultrasound.
Histotripsy is different from other ways of destroying a tumor without surgery:
The US Food and Drug Administration cleared histotripsy for destroying liver tumors in 2023, after more than 20 years of research.
Histotripsy is used to destroy tumors in the liver, including:
It may be part of a plan that also includes surgery to remove part of the liver, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, tumor embolization or other treatments.
Anyone with a tumor in the liver may be considered. Whether histotripsy suits you depends mostly on whether the sound can reach the tumor clearly. A tumor the doctor can see well on ultrasound, without ribs, bowel gas or a major blood vessel in the way, is more likely to be a good fit. The number and size of the tumors, your liver function and your overall health also count. Your liver team will review your scans with you and talk through how histotripsy compares with the other choices for your situation.
Your team will give you written instructions that fit your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]On the day of treatment, your doctor uses ultrasound to confirm the size and location of the tumor. You then receive general anesthesia, so you are asleep and feel nothing. Anesthesia also keeps you perfectly still and lets the team control your breathing, which helps the treatment stay precise.
The treatment head is positioned on your skin over the tumor. The doctor plans the area to treat on the ultrasound screen, and the device works through it while more ultrasound images track progress. The procedure often takes about an hour. More tumors, or a tumor in a harder-to-reach spot, can extend it to several hours.
You wake in a recovery area. Some pain in the belly is common at first, and some people run a mild fever. Most people go home the same day. Some stay one night in the hospital, depending on how they feel.
Most people return to their normal activities within a few days. Tiredness and soreness usually ease quickly.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, vomiting blood, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for belly pain that is getting worse, a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, yellowing of your skin or eyes, or nausea that keeps you from drinking.
Histotripsy is generally well tolerated, and serious problems are uncommon. Your doctor will talk through the risks as they apply to you. They include:
Because histotripsy is new, research on how well it controls tumors over many years is still under way. Your team will explain what is known for a tumor like yours.
The treated tissue breaks down and is absorbed by your body over the weeks and months that follow. Your care team checks the area with a CT scan or MRI, usually within the first couple of months, to see whether the whole tumor was treated. Follow-up scans then continue at regular intervals. If a tumor remains or a new one appears, histotripsy can often be repeated, and other treatments remain open to you.
You are asleep under general anesthesia during the procedure, so you feel nothing. Afterward you may have some belly pain or a fever, which usually passes within a few days.
The treatment is very precise. Anesthesia keeps you still and lets the team control your breathing, so the liver moves as little as possible while the sound is focused on the tumor.
Most people go home the same day. If you have pain afterward, your doctor may keep you overnight to manage it.
Yes. Histotripsy has been used before and after other treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Talk with your doctor about how it fits your plan.
If you have a tumor in the liver, you may be a candidate. Your liver specialist will look at where the tumor is and whether ultrasound can see it clearly, then talk through your options with you.
Histotripsy is performed by doctors trained in the procedure, working within a team that treats liver tumors, including liver surgeons, interventional radiologists, gastroenterologists and medical oncologists.
Liver cancer teams weigh histotripsy beside surgery, ablation and embolization when planning care for a liver tumor.
Learn More About CancerLiver specialists check liver function and manage cirrhosis or hepatitis before and after a tumor is treated.
Learn More About Digestive HealthCT and MRI scans plan the treatment, and follow-up scans show whether the whole tumor was destroyed.
Learn More About RadiologyLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and...
Learn More About RadioembolizationA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It treats many breast and prostate cancers and some uterine cancers, given as pills or shots, often for years, to shrink a cancer, slow it or help keep it from returning.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
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Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended hormone therapy, you may be wondering whether it is the same as the hormones some people take for menopause. It is close to the opposite. Hormone therapy for cancer takes hormones away from cancer cells that depend on them, and for many people it is a pill a day or a shot every few months.
Some cancers grow in response to the body's own hormones. Many breast cancers are fed by estrogen or progesterone, and most prostate cancers are fed by testosterone and other male hormones. Lowering those hormones, or keeping them from attaching to cancer cells, can shrink these cancers, slow them and lower the chance they come back.
Hormone therapy is often one part of a plan that includes surgery, radiation therapy or other medicines. It can last for months or for many years. This page explains how it works, the kinds, who it helps, how to get ready, what treatment is like, the side effects and the questions people ask most.
Hormone therapy, also called endocrine therapy, treats cancers that use hormones to grow. Cancer cells of this kind have receptors, like locks, that a hormone fits into like a key. When the hormone attaches, it signals the cell to grow.
Hormone therapy works in one of two ways:
Before recommending it, your care team tests the cancer. For breast cancer, a pathologist checks the tumor tissue for estrogen and progesterone receptors. A cancer that has them is called hormone receptor positive. Prostate cancer almost always depends on male hormones, called androgens, at least at first.
Hormone therapy reaches cancer cells throughout the body, which is why it can treat a cancer that has spread as well as help keep one from returning.
For other cancers: progestin medicines treat some uterine cancers, and hormone therapy is used for some ovarian, thyroid and neuroendocrine tumors.
Some people take hormone therapy with a targeted therapy, such as a CDK4/6 inhibitor for breast cancer, which helps it work better.
By condition: hormone receptor positive breast cancer, prostate cancer, some uterine cancers and ovarian cancers, thyroid cancer after surgery, and some neuroendocrine tumors.
Hormone therapy only helps cancers that respond to hormones. Breast cancers without hormone receptors, such as triple negative breast cancer, are treated in other ways.
Testing the cancer. Your care team confirms that your cancer is hormone sensitive, from the biopsy or surgery tissue for breast cancer or from blood tests and scans for prostate cancer.
Your health history. Tell your team about blood clots, stroke, heart disease, bone thinning, liver problems and any chance of pregnancy. These shape which medicine is safest for you.
Baseline tests. You may have a bone density scan before starting an aromatase inhibitor or ADT, and blood tests for cholesterol, blood sugar and liver function.
Your medicines. List every medicine and supplement you take, since some interact. Tamoxifen, for example, does not mix well with certain antidepressants.
Pregnancy. Hormone therapy can harm a developing baby. If you could become pregnant, ask your team about reliable birth control that does not use hormones.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Pills are taken at home, usually once a day. Set a routine so you do not miss doses.
Shots are given in your doctor's office or an infusion center, monthly or every few months. Some, such as leuprolide, can be given at home by a nurse, or by you or a caregiver after training.
How long it lasts. For breast cancer after surgery, five years is common and some people continue to 10. For prostate cancer, ADT may be given for six months to three years with radiation, or long term for cancer that has spread.
Follow-up. You will have regular visits, blood tests such as PSA for prostate cancer, and bone density checks. Tell your team about side effects; switching medicines often helps.
Get care right away for chest pain or trouble breathing: call 911. Call your care team the same day for swelling, warmth or pain in one leg, new vaginal bleeding after menopause while taking tamoxifen, or a new bone pain.
Side effects come from lowering hormones and differ by medicine. Many are manageable, and most ease when treatment ends.
Your team weighs these risks against the benefit for your cancer and checks for them at each visit.
For hormone receptor positive breast cancer, taking hormone therapy after surgery lowers the chance of the cancer returning. For prostate cancer that has spread, ADT shrinks or slows the cancer, often for years, and adding newer medicines can extend that control. For many people it is the treatment they stay on the longest, with fewer hospital visits than other treatments. Your team will tell you what it can do for your cancer.
No. Menopause hormone therapy adds estrogen. Hormone therapy for cancer lowers or blocks hormones the cancer needs.
Take it when you remember that day, then go back to your usual schedule. Do not take two at once. Ask your pharmacist about your specific medicine.
Talk with your team before stopping. Many side effects can be eased, or you can switch to another medicine in the same group.
It can, and pregnancy is not safe during treatment. Ask about fertility preservation before you start if you may want children.
Some cancers learn to grow without hormones over time. Your team then has other options, including other hormone medicines, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
Hormone therapy is prescribed by medical oncologists, and for prostate cancer also by urologists and radiation oncologists, who follow you through treatment.
Oncologists prescribe the pills and shots that lower or block the hormones feeding breast, prostate and uterine cancers.
Learn More About CancerUrologists start and follow hormone therapy for prostate cancer, tracking PSA levels to see how well it is working.
Learn More About UrologyGynecologists watch for bleeding and other changes in the uterus in women taking tamoxifen for breast cancer.
Learn More About Women'sBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerA spinal tumor is a growth in or near the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and some are not, and many...
Learn More About Spinal TumorsTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your...
Learn More About Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and treats many cancers, including melanoma, lung, kidney, bladder and some breast cancers. Its side effects differ from chemotherapy and need prompt attention.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your oncologist has recommended immunotherapy, you may have heard it described as a breakthrough, and you may be wondering what it will actually be like. For most people, it is an IV infusion every few weeks at an outpatient center, and many keep up much of their daily life during treatment.
Your immune system protects you from germs, and it can also attack cancer cells. Cancer cells often find ways to hide from it or switch it off. Immunotherapy takes those defenses away or gives the immune system extra strength, so it can recognize the cancer and fight it.
Immunotherapy does not work for every cancer or every person, and it is often given with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Its side effects are different from chemotherapy's, because they come from an immune system that is working harder. This page explains how it works, the kinds, what it treats, how to get ready, what treatment is like, the side effects and what to ask your team.
Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses your immune system to fight cancer. Chemotherapy attacks cancer cells directly. Immunotherapy works through your immune cells, especially T cells, the white blood cells that find and destroy cells that do not belong.
Your immune system has built-in brakes, called checkpoints, that keep it from attacking healthy tissue. Many cancers press on those brakes to avoid being attacked. Some immunotherapy medicines release the brakes. Others mark cancer cells so the immune system can find them, or add immune cells trained in a lab to attack the cancer.
Because the immune system can remember what it has learned, the response to immunotherapy can last a long time in some people, even after treatment ends.
By condition: immunotherapy is used for melanoma and other skin cancers, lung cancer, kidney and bladder cancer, head and neck cancers, triple negative breast cancer, some colon, rectal, stomach, esophageal and liver cancers, cervical and uterine cancers, lymphoma and some sarcomas.
Whether it fits your cancer can depend on tests of the tumor, such as PD-L1 levels or certain gene changes.
Testing your tumor. Your oncologist may test the tumor tissue for markers that predict whether immunotherapy is likely to help.
Your health history. Tell your team about any autoimmune condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, Crohn's disease or thyroid disease, and about any organ transplant. Immunotherapy can make these flare, though many people with them can still be treated safely.
Baseline tests. Blood tests check your thyroid, liver, kidneys and blood sugar before treatment, so changes can be found early.
Your medicines. List every medicine and supplement. Steroids and other medicines that weaken the immune system can affect how immunotherapy works.
A wallet card. Many programs give you a card saying you are on immunotherapy, to show any doctor or emergency room you visit.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Infusions. Most checkpoint inhibitors are given by IV over about 30 to 60 minutes, every two, three, four or six weeks. Your blood work is checked before each one. Some are now given as a shot under the skin.
How long. Treatment for cancer that has spread may continue for up to two years if it is working and you tolerate it. After surgery, a course often lasts about a year.
Cell therapies such as CAR T-cell and TIL therapy are different: a one-time infusion after a few days to a week of chemotherapy, then close monitoring in or near the hospital for several weeks.
Checking how it works. Scans are repeated every few months. Sometimes a tumor looks larger on an early scan before it shrinks, because immune cells are gathering in it. Your team reads the scans with that in mind.
When to get help. For trouble breathing or chest pain, call 911. Call your care team the same day for diarrhea or belly pain, a new cough, a rash, yellowing skin or eyes, very dark urine, severe headache or unusual tiredness. Side effects can appear months after treatment, so mention immunotherapy to any doctor you see.
Immunotherapy side effects happen when the immune system attacks healthy organs as well as cancer. Many people have mild ones or none. When they are found early, most can be treated, often with steroids, and treatment may pause.
For some cancers that have spread, such as melanoma and some lung cancers, immunotherapy can shrink the cancer and keep it controlled for years, and some people have long remissions. After surgery, it can lower the chance of some cancers returning. Not every cancer responds, and your team will tell you what it can do for yours.
No. Chemotherapy attacks cancer cells directly. Immunotherapy helps your immune system attack them. You may receive both.
Hair loss is uncommon with immunotherapy alone. If you also have chemotherapy, ask about that medicine.
Your team uses scans every few months and how you feel. Some responses take several months to show.
Many people do. Infusions take a few hours, including the wait, and many people feel well between them.
Your team may pause treatment and give medicine, often steroids, to ease the immune reaction. Many people restart once it clears.
Immunotherapy is prescribed by medical oncologists, or hematologist-oncologists for blood cancers, and given by oncology nurses at infusion centers.
Oncologists give checkpoint inhibitors and cell therapies that help the immune system find and attack cancer.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists treat the rashes and itching immunotherapy can cause and care for the skin cancers it treats.
Learn More About DermatologyEndocrinologists treat the thyroid, adrenal and pituitary problems immunotherapy can trigger, often with hormone pills.
Learn More About EndocrinologyAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityA bone marrow transplant, also called a stem cell transplant, replaces diseased or damaged bone marrow with healthy...
Learn More About Bone Marrow TransplantTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your...
Learn More About Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte TherapyMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is a major operation with a careful evaluation beforehand, and most people who receive one go on to live active lives for many years.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If a doctor has raised a liver transplant with you or someone you love, you may be feeling many things at once: worry about the operation, uncertainty about the waiting list, and hope. Those are all reasonable. This page explains what a transplant is, who it helps, how the evaluation and waiting period work, and what life looks like afterward.
A liver transplant is surgery to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy one. The new liver comes either from a person who has died and chose to donate organs, or, in some cases, from a living person who gives part of their liver. The liver is the one internal organ that can regrow to near its full size, so both the donor's remaining liver and the transplanted portion regrow over the following weeks and months.
A transplant is considered when the liver has failed or is failing and other treatments can no longer help, and for some people with early liver cancer whose liver is too damaged for other surgery. After a transplant, you take medicines every day to keep your body from rejecting the new liver.
A liver transplant takes out a liver that is not working and puts a healthy donor liver, or part of one, in its place. Your liver does hundreds of jobs: it filters the blood, makes bile to digest fat, stores energy and makes proteins that help your blood clot. When it fails, those jobs stop, and a transplant can restore them.
The operation is done at a transplant center by a team that includes transplant surgeons, hepatologists (liver specialists), anesthesiologists, transplant coordinators, nurses, social workers, dietitians and pharmacists. The same team follows you for the rest of your life after the transplant.
A liver transplant is considered when the liver can no longer do its work and other treatments have not helped. Common reasons include:
You may be a candidate if your liver is failing and you are healthy enough in other ways to go through a major operation and recover. The transplant team reviews your heart, lungs, kidneys, other illnesses, and your support at home. People who drink alcohol or use other substances are asked to stop and stay stopped. With liver cancer, treatments such as tumor ablation, tumor embolization or radioembolization may be used to keep the cancer in check while you wait.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive general anesthesia and are asleep the whole time. The surgeon makes an incision across the upper belly, removes the diseased liver, and connects the new liver to your blood vessels and bile duct. The operation often takes 6 to 12 hours.
You wake in the intensive care unit, often with a breathing tube for a short time and several drains and lines. Most people move to a regular hospital room within a few days and go home after about one to three weeks. You start anti-rejection medicines right away, and your team teaches you how to take them.
Recovery takes several months. You have frequent clinic visits and blood tests at first, which become less frequent over time. Most people return to work and usual activities within three to six months, avoiding heavy lifting until the incision has healed.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, vomiting blood, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your transplant team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, yellowing of your skin or eyes, dark urine or pale stools, belly pain or swelling, redness or drainage at the incision, or missed doses of your anti-rejection medicine.
A liver transplant is major surgery, and your team will talk through the risks as they apply to you. They include:
For most people, a transplant restores health and energy that liver failure had taken away. Most people live for many years afterward, working, traveling and spending time with family. Lifelong care keeps the new liver healthy: taking your medicines every day, having regular blood tests, protecting your skin from the sun, getting the vaccines your team recommends and avoiding alcohol.
It varies widely, from days to more than a year, depending mostly on how sick your liver is, your blood type and your body size. Your transplant team will tell you what to expect for your situation.
Yes. Anti-rejection medicines are taken every day for life. The doses usually go down over time, and your team watches for side effects with regular blood tests.
Possibly. A living donor must be a healthy adult with a compatible blood type who goes through a full evaluation. Ask your transplant team whether living donation is an option for you.
Some people can, usually when the cancer is early, the tumors are few and small, and it has not spread outside the liver. Your team will look at your scans and liver function to decide.
Many people say they feel better than they have in years once they recover. Fatigue and mood changes are common in the first months, and your team can help with both.
Liver transplants are performed at transplant centers by transplant surgeons and hepatologists. Doctors who treat liver disease and liver cancer evaluate people who may need a transplant, refer them for an evaluation, and often keep caring for them before and after the operation.
Liver cancer teams decide when a transplant suits early liver cancer and treat the tumor while a patient waits.
Learn More About CancerHepatologists care for cirrhosis and liver failure, refer for transplant evaluation and follow the new liver for life.
Learn More About Digestive HealthRadiologists image the liver for the evaluation and open narrowed bile ducts or vessels after a transplant.
Learn More About RadiologyLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor...
Learn More About Tumor EmbolizationRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and...
Learn More About RadioembolizationA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep most of your breast. Most people go home the same day, and radiation therapy usually follows to treat any cancer cells left in the breast.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your surgeon has recommended a lumpectomy, you are likely still taking in a breast cancer diagnosis and a long list of choices. It may help to know that a lumpectomy is the most common surgery for early breast cancer, and that for many people it keeps the breast looking much as it did before. This page explains what the operation removes, who it suits, how to get ready and what recovery is like.
A lumpectomy is also called breast-conserving surgery or a partial mastectomy. The surgeon takes out the tumor with a margin of normal tissue so that no cancer is left at the edges. For most people with early breast cancer, a lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy controls the cancer as well as removing the whole breast.
The decision is personal and is made with your breast surgeon, who weighs the size and position of the tumor, the size of your breast and your own wishes. You can take time to ask questions, and a second opinion is always welcome.
A lumpectomy is an operation that removes a cancer or an abnormal area from the breast together with a rim of healthy tissue, called the margin. The rest of the breast stays in place. A specialist called a pathologist examines the removed tissue under a microscope to check that the margins are clear of cancer.
Many breast cancers found on a mammogram cannot be felt, so the surgeon needs a guide to find the exact spot. One way is a thin wire placed through the skin on the morning of surgery. Another is a marker the size of a grain of rice, placed with imaging on an earlier day. During the operation the surgeon finds that marker with a handheld radar probe, and nothing shows outside the breast in the meantime. Orlando Health Cancer Institute uses this wire-free method.
The surgeon may also check the lymph nodes under your arm in the same operation. See lymph node removal.
A lumpectomy treats breast cancer while keeping the breast. It is used for:
You may be a good candidate if the cancer is in one area of the breast and can be removed with clear margins while leaving a breast you are comfortable with. A lumpectomy may not be the best choice if cancer is found in several areas of the breast, if the tumor is large compared with the breast, if you have had radiation to that breast before, or if you are pregnant and radiation would need to start soon. Some people choose a mastectomy for personal reasons or because of an inherited risk, and your team will support either choice. Genetic counseling can help with that decision.
Your surgical team will give you written instructions for your own operation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Most lumpectomies are done under general anesthesia, so you sleep through it, and some are done with sedation and numbing medicine. The surgeon makes a cut over or near the tumor, often placed where the scar will be less visible, and removes the tumor with its margin. If lymph nodes are checked, a second small cut is made under the arm. The incisions are closed with stitches that usually dissolve. The operation often takes an hour or two.
You wake in a recovery area, and most people go home the same day. Expect soreness, some bruising and swelling, and a firm area where tissue was removed. Over-the-counter pain medicine is often enough. A drain is uncommon unless lymph nodes were removed.
Many people return to light activity and desk work within a week, and heavier lifting waits a little longer, until your surgeon says it is safe. The pathology report usually comes back within about a week, and your surgeon goes over it with you. If radiation is part of your plan, it usually starts a few weeks after surgery, once the incision has healed. See radiation therapy.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing or bleeding that will not stop. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, warmth or drainage at an incision, swelling that keeps growing, or pain your medicine does not ease.
A lumpectomy is a common operation, and serious problems are uncommon. The risks include:
Your surgeon will talk through the risks as they apply to you.
For early breast cancer, studies show that a lumpectomy followed by radiation leads to the same long-term survival as a mastectomy. Most people keep a breast close to its earlier size and shape. When the cancer is removed with clear margins, the next steps depend on the cancer itself, and your care team may recommend radiation, medicine or both to lower the chance of the cancer returning. Regular follow-up visits and mammograms continue after treatment.
For most early breast cancers, a lumpectomy with radiation and a mastectomy lead to the same long-term survival. The best choice depends on the tumor, your breast and what matters to you.
Most people do, because radiation treats any cancer cells left in the breast. Your care team decides based on your age and the features of the cancer.
Your surgeon may recommend a second, shorter operation to remove more tissue from that edge. Some people choose a mastectomy at that point.
Often, yes. A plastic surgeon can rearrange tissue during the lumpectomy, called oncoplastic surgery, so the breast keeps a natural shape. See breast reconstruction.
Many people return to desk work within a week. Jobs with heavy lifting take longer, and your surgeon will tell you when it is safe.
A lumpectomy is performed by breast surgeons, also called surgical oncologists, often working with radiologists, pathologists and plastic surgeons.
Breast surgeons remove the tumor and a rim of healthy tissue, and radiation often follows a lumpectomy.
Learn More About CancerRadiologists mark the tumor before surgery so the surgeon can find a lump too small to feel.
Learn More About RadiologyBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes...
Learn More About MammogramLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk...
Learn More About MastectomyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles or dye, and can find lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you smoke now or smoked for many years, you may have been told you qualify for a lung cancer screening, or you may be wondering whether you should ask for one. It is a quick, painless scan, and it is an important health check for a current or former smoker.
Lung cancer often causes no symptoms until it has spread, which is why it causes more cancer deaths in the United States than any other cancer. Screening looks for it before symptoms start. In large studies, yearly low-dose CT screening of people at high risk lowered the chance of dying from lung cancer by about 20 percent compared with chest X-rays. Most scans are normal or find a small spot that turns out to be harmless, and when cancer is found this way it is far more often at an early stage, when surgery or focused radiation can often cure it.
This page explains who should be screened, what happens at the scan and what your results mean.
A lung cancer screening is a low-dose CT scan of the chest, also called an LDCT, done once a year. A CT scanner takes many X-ray pictures as you lie on a table, and a computer combines them into a detailed, three-dimensional view of your lungs. It can show spots, called lung nodules, as small as a grain of rice.
The low-dose scan uses much less radiation than a standard CT scan of the chest, and no dye or IV is needed. Large studies show that yearly screening with this scan lowers the chance of dying from lung cancer. A chest X-ray does not find lung cancer early enough to do this.
Screening is for people with no symptoms. If you have symptoms such as a cough that will not go away or coughing up blood, see your doctor, who may order a different test.
Screening finds lung cancer at an early stage, before it spreads. Early lung cancer can often be removed with surgery or treated with focused radiation, with a good chance of cure. Once lung cancer has spread, it is much harder to cure.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a yearly screening for adults who meet all three of these:
The American Cancer Society goes further and recommends yearly screening for people 50 to 80 with 20 pack-years no matter how long ago they quit. If you quit more than 15 years ago, ask your doctor which guideline fits you.
Screening usually stops when you have not smoked for 15 years under the Task Force guideline, or when another health problem would make treatment for lung cancer unsafe.
If you do not qualify but have a strong family history, worked with asbestos or radon, or never smoked and are worried, talk with your doctor about your own risk.
Most people need no special preparation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You lie on your back on a narrow table with your arms above your head. The table slides slowly through a large, open ring. You hold your breath for a few seconds while the scanner takes the pictures.
There are no needles, no medicine and no sedation, and the scan does not hurt. The scan itself takes a few minutes, and the whole visit usually takes less than 30 minutes. You can drive yourself, eat normally and go back to your day right away.
A radiologist, a doctor trained to read scans, then reviews the images and sends a report to the doctor who ordered your screening.
False alarms. About 1 in 4 screening scans finds a spot. Most turn out to be harmless, but some lead to more scans, worry and sometimes a biopsy that shows no cancer.
Finding cancers that would not have caused harm. Some slow-growing cancers found by screening might never have caused problems, yet are treated.
Radiation. The dose is low, about the same as several months of natural background radiation. Over many years of screening, it adds a very small risk.
Other findings. The scan can show things outside the lungs, such as calcium in the heart arteries, that may need follow-up.
For people who meet the guidelines, the benefit of finding lung cancer early outweighs these risks.
Results are usually reported with a score called Lung-RADS, from 1 to 4, that guides the next step:
A finding is not a diagnosis. A biopsy shows whether a spot is cancer, and most spots are not. Keep your yearly scans even when results are normal, since a new cancer can appear between scans.
The scan itself takes a few minutes. With check-in and changing, most visits take less than 30 minutes.
Most plans cover yearly screening with no cost to you when you meet the guidelines. Medicare covers it for people 50 to 77 who meet its smoking criteria. Check your plan before you schedule.
Possibly. Risk stays higher than for someone who never smoked. If you have 20 pack-years and are 50 to 80, ask your doctor whether screening is right for you.
You can and should be screened. Your care team can also help you quit, which lowers your risk from the day you stop.
Most findings are scars or other harmless spots. Your doctor will explain the result and the next step, which is often just another scan in a few months.
Lung cancer screening is ordered by your primary care doctor or a pulmonologist and read by radiologists, with thoracic specialists ready if a scan finds something.
Orlando Health Melbourne Hospital and Orlando Health Sebastian River Hospital also offer low-dose CT screening.
When a screening scan finds lung cancer, thoracic cancer specialists take up diagnosis and treatment early.
Learn More About CancerLung specialists review smoking history to confirm who qualifies and follow up any nodule a screening finds.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareRadiologists perform the yearly low-dose CT scan and score each result to set the next step.
Learn More About RadiologyLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a...
Learn More About Mediastinal SurgeryAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see whether cancer has spread to them. The result helps set the stage of the cancer and guides the rest of your treatment.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your surgeon has said they will remove some lymph nodes, you may be wondering what that means for your diagnosis. Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped glands spread through the body, with clusters under the arms, in the neck, in the groin and in the chest and belly. Cancer cells that leave a tumor often reach the nearest nodes first, so checking them is one of the clearest ways to learn how far a cancer has gone.
Lymph node removal is a common part of cancer surgery. It is used for breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer and many other cancers, and it is often done in the same operation that removes the tumor. In many cases only one to a few nodes are needed.
This page explains the two main kinds of lymph node surgery, why each is done, how to get ready, what recovery is like and how to lower the chance of arm or leg swelling afterward.
Lymph node removal is surgery to take out lymph nodes so they can be studied under a microscope. Lymph nodes are part of the lymphatic system, a network of thin vessels that carries a clear fluid called lymph and helps the body fight infection. A pathologist examines each node removed and reports whether any cancer cells are found.
The result helps your care team stage the cancer, which means describing its size and how far it has spread. The stage guides decisions about further treatment, such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy or more surgery. When cancer is already known to be in the nodes, removing them is also part of treating it.
Lymph nodes are also removed as part of many larger cancer operations, such as surgery for colon, stomach, uterine or bladder cancer. A single enlarged node can sometimes be sampled with a needle instead of surgery. See biopsy.
Lymph node removal is done to:
It is part of the care for many cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancers and thyroid cancer.
Your surgeon recommends node surgery based on the type of cancer, its size, what imaging shows and what any earlier biopsy found. For many early breast cancers and melanomas, a sentinel node biopsy is enough. Some people who receive chemotherapy before surgery have a marker placed in a node that held cancer, so the surgeon can find and remove that same node later. The decision is made with you, and you are welcome to ask why each step is planned.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are usually under general anesthesia. For a sentinel node biopsy, the surgeon uses a handheld probe to find the nodes holding the tracer, or looks for nodes stained blue, and removes them through a small cut. A dissection takes longer and removes the group of nodes in that area. The removed nodes go to the pathology lab.
After a sentinel node biopsy, many people go home the same day. After a dissection, a thin drain may be left in place for a week or two to collect fluid, and your team will show you how to empty it. If blue dye was used, your urine may look blue or green for a day or two, and the skin near the injection may stay tinted for a while longer.
Expect soreness and some numbness near the incision. After surgery under the arm, gentle arm and shoulder exercises help you regain movement, and your team or a therapist will show you which ones to do. Most people return to light activity within a few days after a sentinel node biopsy and within a few weeks after a dissection.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing or bleeding that will not stop. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, warmth or drainage at an incision, a drain that stops draining or leaks, or new swelling in the arm, hand or leg on the side of your surgery.
The risks are lower after a sentinel node biopsy than after a dissection, because fewer nodes are taken. They include:
Some surgeons can reconnect lymph vessels to small veins at the time of surgery, called lymphovenous bypass, to lower the chance of lymphedema. Ask your surgeon whether it fits your plan.
The pathology report usually arrives within a week or so and says how many nodes were removed and whether any held cancer cells. Nodes without cancer are good news and often mean the cancer was found early. When nodes do hold cancer, that finding helps your team choose the treatment that fits, which may include radiation, medicine or more surgery.
Cancer cells in a node are often too small to see on a scan. Studying the node under a microscope is the only way to know for sure.
A sentinel node biopsy usually removes one to a few. A dissection removes more, and the number depends on the area.
Yes. You have hundreds of lymph nodes, and your body continues to fight infection without the ones that were taken.
Keep moving the arm or leg as your team advises, protect the skin from cuts and burns, and report new swelling early so treatment can start.
Usually only after a dissection. Your team will show you how to care for it and will remove it once the fluid slows down.
Lymph node removal is performed by surgical oncologists, breast surgeons, thoracic surgeons and other cancer surgeons, depending on where the cancer started.
Rehabilitation therapists help prevent and treat arm swelling after lymph nodes are removed.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationRemoving lymph nodes shows whether cancer has spread, which guides the rest of your cancer treatment.
Learn More About CancerBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaPenile cancer is a rare cancer that most often starts in the skin of the penis, usually as a sore, a lump or a change in...
Learn More About Penile CancerPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgeryA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after cancer surgery or radiation. A trained therapist uses gentle massage, wraps, compression garments, exercise and skin care, and teaches you to manage it at home.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your arm or leg has started to feel heavy or look swollen after cancer treatment, you may be worried that the cancer is back or that the swelling will never go away. Swelling like this is often lymphedema, a known effect of cancer treatment, and there is a lot that can be done for it.
Your lymph system is a network of thin vessels and small glands, called lymph nodes, that moves fluid out of your tissues and back into your blood. When surgery removes lymph nodes, or radiation scars them, the fluid can back up and collect, most often in an arm after breast cancer treatment or a leg after treatment in the pelvis.
Lymphedema therapy is a set of hands-on treatments and daily habits that move the fluid, shrink the swelling and keep it under control. It works best when it starts early. This page explains how it works, what is included, who it helps, how to get ready, what sessions are like, the risks and the questions people ask most.
Lymphedema therapy is treatment by a physical or occupational therapist with special training in lymphedema, often a certified lymphedema therapist. Its main form is called complete decongestive therapy.
Lymph fluid has no pump of its own. It moves when muscles squeeze, when you breathe deeply and when the skin is lightly stretched. Lymphedema therapy uses those same forces. Light, rhythmic massage guides fluid toward working lymph vessels. Wraps and garments press on the tissue so fluid cannot collect again. Exercise uses your muscles as a pump. Skin care protects against infection, which can make swelling worse.
Lymphedema can be lifelong, so the aim is control: reduce the swelling as much as possible, then keep it down with habits you learn to do yourself.
Complete decongestive therapy has two phases:
Its parts are:
Other treatments include a pneumatic compression pump, a sleeve that inflates in timed waves, for home use. For some people whose swelling does not respond, surgeons offer procedures such as lymph node transfer or lymph vessel bypass. See lymph node removal.
By condition: lymphedema after lymph node removal or radiation therapy for breast cancer, melanoma, gynecologic cancers, prostate and other urologic cancers, head and neck cancers and sarcoma. Therapists also treat lymphatic cording, tight rope-like bands under the skin of the arm after breast surgery. Lymphedema can also run in families or follow injury or infection.
A referral. Your oncologist, surgeon or primary care doctor refers you to a lymphedema therapist. Ask about a baseline measurement before surgery, so early changes are easy to spot.
Ruling out other causes. New swelling is checked by your doctor first, since a blood clot, an infection or, rarely, a cancer that has returned can also cause it. You may have an ultrasound of the veins.
Measurements. The therapist measures both limbs with a tape measure or a scanner and checks your skin, movement and strength.
Your health history. Tell the therapist about heart failure, kidney disease, an active infection or a blood clot, which can change or delay treatment.
What to wear. Loose clothing.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]During the reduction phase, you may have sessions several days a week for two to six weeks, each about an hour. The therapist does manual lymphatic drainage, then wraps the limb in bandages you keep on until the next visit.
Learning to do it yourself is a large part of therapy. You learn self-massage, how to wrap or put on garments, exercises and skin care, and a caregiver can learn too.
In the maintenance phase, you are fitted for compression garments, wear them daily and keep up your home routine. Garments are usually replaced every few months as they stretch. Follow-up visits check your measurements.
When to get help. For chest pain or trouble breathing, call 911. Call your care team the same day for redness, warmth or pain in the swollen limb, which can be an infection called cellulitis, or for sudden swelling in one leg or arm.
Lymphedema therapy is safe for most people. Possible problems include:
Lymphedema that is not treated tends to worsen over time, and the skin can harden. Treating it early helps prevent that.
Lymphedema therapy can reduce swelling, make the limb lighter and easier to move, lower the risk of infection and help clothes and jewelry fit again. Most people learn to keep their lymphedema under control at home. Starting early, when swelling is mild, gives the best results.
Mild swelling soon after surgery can fade. Lasting lymphedema usually does not go away completely, but therapy can keep it small and manageable.
Yes. Exercise, including weight training that starts light and builds slowly, is safe for most people and can help. Wear your compression garment if your therapist advises it.
Yes. Ask your therapist whether to wear your garment during the flight, and move around when you can.
Many care teams suggest using the other arm when you can. Ask your team what they recommend for you.
Therapy is often covered with a referral. Medicare now covers compression garments for lymphedema, and many plans do too. Check your plan before you start.
Lymphedema therapy is given by physical and occupational therapists with lymphedema training, working with your oncologist and surgeon.
Lymphedema therapists use drainage massage, wraps, garments and exercise to bring down swelling after cancer care.
Learn More About Advanced RehabilitationPlastic surgeons offer lymph node transfer and lymph vessel bypass when swelling does not respond to therapy alone.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveBreast, gynecologic and melanoma teams measure limbs before surgery and refer patients early when swelling begins.
Learn More About CancerBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainUterine cancer starts in the uterus, most often in its lining, the endometrium. Its most common first sign is bleeding that...
Learn More About Uterine CancerMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA mammogram is a low-dose X-ray of the breast that can find cancer early, often before a lump can be felt. The exam takes about 20 minutes, and most results are normal. If you are asked to come back for more pictures, that is common.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If you have a mammogram coming up, whether it is your first or your tenth, it is natural to feel a little nervous. Knowing what will happen helps. The exam is short, the pressure on the breast lasts only seconds at a time, and the technologist will guide you through each step.
A mammogram is the main test used to screen for breast cancer in people who have no symptoms, and it is also used to look more closely at a lump or other change. Finding breast cancer early gives you more treatment choices, and many of those choices are simpler.
This page explains the two kinds of mammograms, who needs one and when, how to prepare, what happens in the room and how to read your results. It also explains why a call back for more images is a normal part of screening and what usually comes next.
A mammogram uses a small dose of X-rays to take pictures of the inside of the breast. Each breast is placed between two flat plates and pressed flat for a few seconds while the pictures are taken. A doctor who specializes in reading breast images, called a radiologist, looks for changes such as a mass, small calcium deposits called calcifications, or an area that looks different from before.
Most mammograms today are digital, and many are 3D. A 3D mammogram, also called digital breast tomosynthesis, takes a series of images from different angles so the radiologist can look through the breast layer by layer. This helps find small cancers, especially in dense breast tissue, and can mean fewer call backs. Orlando Health imaging centers use digital mammography with 3D imaging.
A mammogram is ordered to:
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a screening mammogram every two years for women ages 40 to 74 at average risk. The American Cancer Society gives women the choice to start yearly screening at 40, recommends yearly mammograms from 45 to 54, and every one or two years from 55 for as long as a woman is in good health. If you have a strong family history, an inherited gene change such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, or radiation to the chest at a young age, you may need to start earlier and add a breast MRI. Anyone with a breast change, at any age and of any gender, should see a doctor. Your doctor can help you choose a schedule; see breast cancer screening.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown or wrap. The technologist places one breast on the plate of the machine and lowers a clear plastic plate to press the breast flat. You hold still for a few seconds while the picture is taken, then the plates release. This is repeated from the side and then for the other breast. For a 3D mammogram, the machine moves in an arc over the breast.
The pressure can feel uncomfortable, and for some people it hurts briefly. Pressing the breast flat keeps the picture sharp and lowers the radiation dose. Tell the technologist if it hurts, since adjustments can often be made. If you have implants, the technologist takes extra pictures with the implant gently moved aside.
A screening visit takes about 20 minutes. A diagnostic visit can take longer if the radiologist asks for more pictures or a breast ultrasound.
Your report will say whether the images are normal, need more pictures or show something that needs a closer look. It will also say whether your breasts are dense, which is common and means more of the breast is gland and fibrous tissue than fat. Dense tissue can make cancer harder to see, so your doctor may suggest an ultrasound or MRI.
If something needs a closer look, the next step is usually a diagnostic mammogram or ultrasound. If an area still looks unusual, a breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue to check it. Most biopsies after a mammogram find no cancer.
Results of a diagnostic mammogram are often given the same day. Screening results can take a few days, and you and your doctor will receive them.
Most people feel pressure, and some feel brief pain. Each squeeze lasts only a few seconds. Telling the technologist helps them adjust.
Not for a screening mammogram at Orlando Health imaging locations. A diagnostic mammogram needs an order from your doctor.
Usually not. A call back often means the radiologist wants a clearer view of an area or more images of dense tissue.
Yes. The technologist takes extra views with the implant moved back so the breast tissue can be seen clearly.
A 2D mammogram takes flat pictures. A 3D mammogram adds images from several angles, which helps in dense breasts and can lower the chance of a call back.
Mammograms are performed by mammography technologists and read by radiologists who specialize in breast imaging.
Radiologists take and read mammograms, including 3D mammograms, at imaging centers across the region.
Learn More About RadiologyWomen's care doctors order your yearly mammogram and go over the results with you.
Learn More About Women'sBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIBreast cancer screening looks for cancer before you have any symptoms, most often with a mammogram. Most women at average...
Learn More About Breast Cancer ScreeningA breast biopsy takes a small sample of tissue from an area that looked unusual on a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI, or that...
Learn More About Breast BiopsyBreast reconstruction is surgery that rebuilds the shape of a breast after a mastectomy or lumpectomy, using an implant,...
Learn More About Breast ReconstructionA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationA mastectomy is surgery to remove all of the breast tissue from one or both breasts, most often to treat or lower the risk of breast cancer. Many people go home the same day or after one night, and you can choose reconstruction now, later or not at all.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
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Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended a mastectomy, you may be weighing it against a lumpectomy, wondering about reconstruction, or simply trying to picture the weeks ahead. Those are a lot of decisions to make at a hard time, and you do not have to make them alone or all at once. Your breast surgeon, your oncologist and a plastic surgeon can walk you through each one.
A mastectomy removes the breast tissue where the cancer started, and sometimes the skin, nipple or nearby lymph nodes as well. For many people it is one part of a larger plan that may also include medicine, radiation or both. Some people choose it to lower their chance of a new cancer because of an inherited risk.
This page explains the kinds of mastectomy, who it is for, how to get ready, what recovery looks like and the risks to talk over with your surgeon.
A mastectomy is an operation that removes the breast tissue. A breast surgeon performs it under general anesthesia, so you are asleep and feel nothing. Depending on the cancer and your wishes, the surgeon may keep the skin of the breast and sometimes the nipple, which helps if you plan reconstruction.
During the same operation, the surgeon often checks the lymph nodes under your arm, because they are the first place breast cancer cells tend to travel. Most often this is a sentinel lymph node biopsy, which removes only the first one to three nodes. Learn more about lymph node removal.
Surgeons use the smallest incision the operation allows, and your surgeon will explain what is possible for your cancer and your reconstruction plan.
A mastectomy is used to treat breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and to lower the risk of breast cancer in people who have an inherited change such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. Your surgeon may recommend it when:
Many people with early breast cancer can choose between a mastectomy and a lumpectomy followed by radiation, and the two give the same chance of long-term survival. A mastectomy often means no radiation afterward, which matters to some people. Some choose to remove both breasts for peace of mind. For people without a high inherited risk, removing the healthy breast lowers the chance of a new cancer there and has not been shown to lengthen life, so it is worth talking through with your surgeon. Genetic counseling can help you understand your own risk before you decide.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]After you are asleep, the surgeon removes the breast tissue and any lymph nodes planned. If reconstruction is starting now, the plastic surgeon begins as soon as the mastectomy is done, often by placing a tissue expander. Small tubes called drains are placed to draw off fluid, and the incision is closed.
Many people go home the same day or after one night in the hospital. A stay may be longer when reconstruction is done at the same time. Your team will show you how to empty the drains and record the fluid. They usually come out at a follow-up visit, often within about two weeks.
Expect soreness, tightness and numbness across the chest and under the arm. Most people manage pain with medicine the team recommends. Lifting is limited for about a month, and simple arm exercises help you regain your range of motion. Many people return to usual activities in about four weeks, longer with reconstruction.
Call 911 for chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, or bleeding that soaks through your dressing. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, warmth or pus at the incision, a drain that stops working, or new swelling in your arm or hand.
A mastectomy is a common operation, and serious problems are uncommon. Risks include:
Your surgeon will go over the risks as they apply to you.
A mastectomy removes the breast tissue where the cancer was found. A specialist called a pathologist studies the tissue and the lymph nodes, and that report helps decide whether you need further treatment, such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy or radiation therapy. After treatment you will keep having checkups, and screening of any remaining breast continues.
No. You can start reconstruction during the mastectomy, wait months or years, or choose not to have it. Learn more about breast reconstruction.
Going flat, or flat closure, means the surgeon closes the chest smoothly with no added volume. Some people wear a breast form for certain clothes, and you can still choose reconstruction later.
Not always. It depends on the size of the tumor, the lymph nodes and other details your team reviews after surgery.
Numbness is common, and some feeling may return over a few years. Tingling as nerves heal is common as well.
Many people drive once the drains are out and they can turn and react without pain. Return to work depends on your job and any reconstruction, often a few weeks.
Mastectomies are performed by breast surgeons and surgical oncologists, often planned with medical and radiation oncologists and plastic surgeons.
Plastic surgeons can start breast reconstruction during the same operation as a mastectomy.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveBreast surgeons remove the breast to treat or lower the risk of breast cancer, with your cancer team.
Learn More About CancerBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerPost-mastectomy pain is nerve pain in the chest wall, underarm or arm that lasts months after breast surgery. It can follow...
Learn More About Post-Mastectomy PainLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalA lumpectomy removes a breast cancer or a suspicious area along with a thin rim of healthy tissue around it, so you keep...
Learn More About LumpectomyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a growth such as a thymus tumor or a cyst. Many of these operations are done through small incisions, and recovery from a minimally invasive operation often takes three to four weeks.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has mentioned the mediastinum, it was probably because a scan showed something in the middle of your chest, often by chance while you were being checked for something else. A mass there can sound alarming. Many mediastinal growths are not cancer, and the ones that are can often be removed completely. Surgery is how your team gets a clear answer and, in many cases, how the growth is treated.
The mediastinum is the space between your lungs. It holds your heart, the large blood vessels, your windpipe, your esophagus, the thymus gland and many lymph nodes. Because so much passes through this small area, doctors usually recommend removing a growth there, even one that looks harmless, so it does not press on your heart, lungs or airway as it grows.
This page explains the kinds of mediastinal surgery, why surgeons recommend it, how to prepare, what recovery looks like and the risks to talk over with your surgeon.
Mediastinal surgery is any operation in the mediastinum. It has two main purposes:
Doctors describe the mediastinum in three parts. The front part holds the thymus and is where thymomas and some lymphomas form. The middle part holds the heart, windpipe and many lymph nodes. The back part runs along the spine and is where nerve tumors usually form. Where a growth is found helps the team decide what it is likely to be and which approach will reach it best.
Mediastinal surgery is done by thoracic surgeons, who specialize in operations in the chest, under general anesthesia, so you are asleep.
Lymph nodes between the lungs can also be sampled without an incision, with a needle passed through a scope in the airway. Your team will choose the approach that fits your scans.
Surgery is recommended to diagnose or remove:
Some people with myasthenia gravis, a condition that causes muscle weakness, have the thymus removed as part of their care, whether or not a tumor is present.
You may be a candidate if a CT scan, MRI or PET-CT scan shows a mass or enlarged lymph nodes in the middle of your chest, if the mass is causing symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath or chest discomfort, or if a sample is needed to plan cancer treatment. Your surgeon will review your scans, your breathing and your heart health before recommending an approach.
Your surgical team will give you written instructions that fit your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are asleep under general anesthesia with a breathing tube in place. The surgeon makes the incisions for the chosen approach, takes the sample or removes the mass, and checks for bleeding. After an operation inside the chest, a thin tube called a chest tube is often left in place for a short time to drain air and fluid.
After a mediastinoscopy, the small cut above the breastbone is tender and your throat may be sore from the breathing tube. Many people go home the same day or the next morning. After the removal of a mass, you stay in the hospital until the chest tube is out and you are breathing and walking comfortably, usually a few days for a minimally invasive operation and longer after open surgery.
Recovery from robotic chest or mediastinal surgery generally takes three to four weeks, compared with six to eight weeks after open surgery. Walking every day helps your lungs and lowers the chance of blood clots. Avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon clears you, and after a sternotomy follow the limits that let the breastbone heal.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, coughing up blood, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, redness, swelling or drainage at an incision, a hoarse voice that is new, or pain that is getting worse.
Your surgeon will talk through the risks as they apply to you. They include:
A pathologist examines the tissue, and results usually come back within about a week. Your surgeon will go over them with you. If the growth was not cancer and was fully removed, you often need no further treatment beyond a follow-up visit and possibly a scan. If it was cancer, the report tells your team the type and how far it reached, which guides whether you need radiation therapy, chemotherapy or regular scans. Some thymomas can return years later, so follow-up scans may continue for a long time.
Not necessarily. Many mediastinal growths are cysts or other growths that are not cancer. A sample or the removed tissue gives the answer.
Space in the middle of the chest is tight. Even a harmless growth can press on the heart, lungs, airway or blood vessels as it grows, and removing it also confirms what it is.
Most mediastinal operations today use small incisions. A larger incision is used for big tumors or ones close to major blood vessels.
Many people drive once they are off prescription pain medicine and can turn without pain. Return to work depends on your job and the approach, often a few weeks.
Your thoracic surgeon and neurologist plan the operation together, getting your symptoms well controlled beforehand and watching your breathing and strength closely afterward.
Mediastinal surgery is performed by thoracic surgeons, working with oncologists, radiation oncologists and pulmonologists when a growth is cancer.
Thoracic surgeons and oncologists remove thymic tumors and sample chest lymph nodes to stage lung cancer.
Learn More About CancerNeurologists prepare people with myasthenia gravis for removal of the thymus and watch their strength after.
Learn More About NeuroscienceLung specialists check breathing before surgery and help manage recovery of the lungs afterward.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerLeukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are the three main kinds of blood cancer. They start in the bone marrow or the immune system,...
Learn More About Leukemia, Lymphoma and MyelomaA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built...
Learn More About Navigational BronchoscopyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For most melanomas found early, surgery is the main treatment and is often the only one needed. Most people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
A melanoma diagnosis can turn an ordinary week upside down. Often the spot has already been removed by a biopsy, and now your doctor is recommending more surgery, which raises a fair question: if the spot is gone, why go back? This page answers that, along with what the operation involves, how to get ready and what healing looks like.
The biopsy tells your team what the spot was and how deep it reached. Melanoma cells can extend a short way past what the eye can see, so the next step removes a wider border of skin around the biopsy site to take any remaining cells. For a thicker melanoma, your surgeon may also check the first lymph nodes the area drains to, because that is where melanoma most often travels first.
For most people with melanoma found early, surgery is the whole treatment. The thickness of the melanoma, measured in millimeters, guides how much skin is removed and whether lymph nodes are checked, and your surgeon will explain how those numbers apply to you.
Melanoma surgery is the operation that removes a melanoma, a skin cancer that starts in melanocytes, the cells that give skin its color. Its main part is a wide local excision: the surgeon removes the melanoma or the biopsy scar along with a set margin of healthy-looking skin and the fat beneath it, then closes the wound.
The margin grows with the melanoma's thickness. Melanoma in situ, which has not grown below the top layer of skin, usually needs a margin of about half a centimeter to one centimeter. Thicker melanomas need one to two centimeters. A pathologist examines the removed tissue to confirm the edges are clear.
Surgery removes the melanoma and the cells that may lie just beyond it, which lowers the chance it returns in the same place. Checking the nearest lymph nodes shows whether melanoma has begun to spread, which sets the stage and guides whether you need treatment after surgery.
Almost everyone diagnosed with melanoma that has not spread widely has surgery. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is usually discussed when the melanoma is thicker than about 0.8 millimeters, has an open sore on its surface (ulceration), or has other features that raise the chance of spread. Your surgeon reviews your biopsy report and your health with you, and you decide together.
Your care team will give you written instructions for your surgery.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A wide local excision on its own is often done with numbing medicine in an office or outpatient center, and you stay awake. When a sentinel lymph node biopsy is added, you usually receive general anesthesia or sedation. The surgeon uses a handheld probe, and sometimes a blue dye, to find the sentinel nodes through a small separate incision. The main wound is closed with stitches, or with a flap or graft if a large area is removed.
Most people go home the same day. Expect soreness, and some tightness where the skin was pulled together. If blue dye was used, your skin and urine may look blue or green for a day or two. Pathology results usually take about one to two weeks.
Keep the wound clean and dry as instructed, and limit lifting and hard exercise for about two weeks, longer after a lymph node dissection. Stitches usually come out in one to two weeks. Your team calls with the pathology report and talks through next steps.
Call 911 for bleeding that will not stop after 20 minutes of firm pressure, chest pain or trouble breathing, or swelling of the face or throat. Call your care team the same day for spreading redness, warmth or pus at a wound, a fever over 100.4 degrees, a swelling that keeps growing under an incision, or new swelling in an arm or leg.
Melanoma surgery is generally safe. Possible problems include:
Your surgeon will go over the risks that apply to your melanoma's location.
For melanoma found early, surgery cures most people. The pathology report sets the final stage. If the lymph nodes show melanoma, or the melanoma has a higher risk of returning, your team may recommend treatment after surgery, such as immunotherapy or targeted therapy. For advanced melanoma, options also include tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy. Follow-up visits and regular skin exams continue for years, because a new melanoma or other skin cancer can appear.
The biopsy may leave melanoma cells just past the edge you could see. The wider excision removes them and lowers the chance the melanoma returns in that spot.
Most wounds close with stitches. A flap or graft is used when a large area is removed or skin is tight, as on the lower leg, scalp or face. See skin cancer reconstruction.
It means melanoma cells were found in the first lymph node. It helps set the stage, and your team will discuss treatment after surgery and closer follow-up.
Pathology usually takes about one to two weeks. Your team will call or see you to explain the findings.
Many people with early melanoma need only surgery and follow-up. Treatment after surgery is more likely when melanoma has reached the lymph nodes or has a higher risk of returning.
Melanoma surgery is performed by surgical oncologists, general surgeons, dermatologic and Mohs surgeons, and plastic surgeons, with medical oncologists joining when more treatment is needed.
Surgical oncologists remove melanoma with a wider margin and check nearby lymph nodes when needed.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists often find the melanoma and refer you for wider surgery after the first biopsy.
Learn More About DermatologyMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgeryImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your...
Learn More About Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no cancer remains. It saves as much healthy skin as possible, which matters most on the face, and it takes place in the office with numbing medicine.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your dermatologist has referred you for Mohs surgery, you probably have a basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer on a spot you care about, such as your nose, eyelid, lip or ear. It is natural to worry about the scar and about how long the day will be. Mohs is built for exactly these places: it removes only the skin that holds cancer and leaves the rest.
During Mohs surgery, the surgeon removes the visible cancer and a very thin layer around it, then examines every edge of that layer under a microscope in a lab on site. If cancer shows up anywhere, the map tells the surgeon exactly where to take the next small layer, and nowhere else. The process repeats until the edges are clear, usually all in one visit.
Because the edges are checked during the procedure, you leave knowing the cancer is out, and the wound is usually repaired the same day. This page explains how Mohs works, who it is for, how to plan for the day and what healing looks like.
Mohs surgery, also called Mohs micrographic surgery, is a precise way to remove skin cancer. It is named for Dr. Frederic Mohs, who developed it. A Mohs surgeon is a dermatologist with extra training who both removes the tissue and reads it under the microscope, so one doctor follows your cancer from start to finish.
With a standard excisional surgery, the surgeon removes a set margin of healthy skin and a lab checks a sample of the edges afterward. With Mohs, the surgeon examines the entire edge of each layer before deciding whether to remove more. That makes it possible to remove less healthy skin while still clearing the cancer.
Mohs is used mainly for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, the two most common skin cancers. It is chosen when saving healthy skin matters or when the cancer is more likely to return after other treatment. Some early melanomas on the face, and some rarer skin cancers, are also treated with Mohs. See melanoma surgery.
You may be a candidate if your skin cancer is:
People with a weakened immune system, such as after an organ transplant, are often treated with Mohs too. A small, low-risk cancer on the back or leg is often treated just as well with a simpler procedure. Your dermatologist and Mohs surgeon decide with you.
Your Mohs team will send instructions before the day.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You stay awake. The surgeon numbs the area and removes the visible cancer with a thin layer of tissue, which takes a few minutes. A bandage goes on and you wait, often in a waiting room, while the layer is frozen, sliced, stained and examined, which commonly takes an hour or more. If cancer remains, the surgeon numbs the area again and removes another layer only where it was found. Most cancers clear in one to three layers.
Once the edges are clear, the surgeon talks with you about the repair. A small wound may be closed with stitches. A larger one may be closed with a flap, which moves nearby skin over the wound, or a graft, which uses skin from another place. Some wounds heal best on their own. Occasionally a plastic surgeon does the repair on another day. See skin cancer reconstruction.
Expect mild pain, swelling and bruising for a few days. Bruising around the eyes is common after surgery on the forehead or nose. Keep the bandage dry for the first day or two, then clean the wound daily and keep it covered with petroleum jelly. Avoid bending, heavy lifting and hard exercise for about one to two weeks. Stitches usually come out in one to two weeks.
Call 911 for bleeding that will not stop after 20 minutes of firm pressure, chest pain or trouble breathing, or swelling of the face or throat. Call your care team the same day for spreading redness, warmth, pus, a fever over 100.4 degrees, or pain that keeps getting worse after the first few days.
Mohs is done with local numbing and has a low rate of problems. Possible risks include:
Your surgeon will talk through the risks for your location.
Mohs has very high cure rates for basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, up to 99 percent for a cancer treated for the first time and somewhat lower for a cancer that has come back. Because healthy tissue is spared, the scar is usually as small as it can be. After you heal, keep up regular skin exams and daily sun protection, because having one skin cancer raises the chance of another.
Plan for several hours. Removing each layer takes minutes, but checking it in the lab can take an hour or more, and some cancers need more than one layer.
The numbing shots sting briefly. After that, most people feel pressure. Soreness afterward is usually mild and eased with acetaminophen.
Often, yes. Many people are referred by their dermatologist after a biopsy confirms the cancer. Ask your insurer and the Mohs office before you schedule.
That depends on how far the cancer spread under the skin, which is not always visible beforehand. Mohs keeps the wound as small as the cancer allows, and most scars fade over a year.
Some early melanomas, especially on the face, are treated with Mohs. Most melanomas are removed with a wide local excision.
Mohs surgery is performed by Mohs surgeons, dermatologists with added training in the procedure, sometimes with a plastic surgeon for the repair.
Plastic surgeons sometimes close a larger Mohs wound on the face to help it heal well.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveMohs surgeons remove skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer before taking more.
Learn More About DermatologyBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgerySkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ReconstructionA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which treatments are most likely to work for you, such as a targeted medicine or immunotherapy, and which ones you may be able to skip, such as chemotherapy.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Two people with the same kind of cancer can have tumors that behave very differently. Much of that difference comes from changes in the cancer cells' genes. Molecular profiling looks for those changes, so your care team can match your treatment to your cancer as well as to where it started.
You may hear it called biomarker testing, tumor genomic testing, next-generation sequencing or precision medicine. For you, the test usually means no new procedure. In most cases the lab uses tissue already taken during your biopsy or surgery, and sometimes a blood sample.
This test looks at your tumor. It is different from genetic testing for cancer risk you may have inherited from your family, although the results sometimes point toward that kind of test as well.
This page explains the kinds of molecular profiling, why it is ordered, how to prepare, what happens to your sample, and what your results can and cannot tell you.
Cancer starts when changes in a cell's genes cause it to grow out of control. These changes are sometimes called mutations or alterations. Some of them drive the cancer's growth, and some of them are the target of a specific medicine.
Molecular profiling is a lab test that reads the genes, and sometimes the proteins, in a sample of your cancer. It looks for markers, called biomarkers, that tell your care team more about how the cancer behaves. Some tests look at a single marker. Others look at hundreds of genes at once.
The results are part of the information your care team uses to plan your treatment, along with the type and stage of your cancer, your overall health and your own wishes.
Doctors order molecular profiling to:
Molecular profiling is now part of standard care for many cancers, including lung, breast, colon and rectal, pancreatic, melanoma, ovarian and prostate cancers, and some blood cancers. It is most often ordered when a cancer has spread or come back, and for some early cancers to guide treatment after surgery. Whether it will help you depends on your type and stage of cancer, so ask your oncologist whether it fits your situation.
There is usually little you need to do. Follow the instructions you are given.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]For you, the test is often invisible. Your care team sends the sample to a specialized lab.
If tissue you already gave is used, nothing more happens to you. The pathologist chooses the part of the sample with the most cancer cells and sends it to the lab.
If a blood sample is needed, it is drawn from a vein in your arm, like any blood test, in a few minutes.
If a new biopsy is needed, your care team explains that procedure separately.
In the lab, DNA and sometimes RNA are taken from the cancer cells and read by machines that compare them with known changes. A team of specialists then writes a report on the changes found and what they may mean for treatment.
Results often take one to three weeks. Your oncologist goes over the report with you and explains what it means for your plan.
Molecular profiling itself has little physical risk, since it usually uses tissue you have already given.
Your report lists the changes the lab found and whether any of them match a treatment. Your oncologist will explain what it means for you.
Not exactly. Molecular profiling tests your tumor's genes, which changed during your life. Genetic testing for inherited risk tests the genes you were born with, usually from blood or saliva. The two can be linked, and your care team will tell you if you need both.
Usually not. The lab can most often use tissue from a biopsy or surgery you already had. If there is not enough tissue, a blood test or a new biopsy may be needed.
For some cancers and stages, the results would not change your treatment, so the test is not needed. If you are wondering whether it could help you, it is a good question to ask your oncologist.
For some people, yes. In some early-stage breast cancers, a low score on a gene expression test shows that chemotherapy would add little benefit, so it can be safely left out of the plan.
Sometimes. Cancer cells can change over time, especially after treatment. If your cancer grows or comes back, your oncologist may order a new test, often from a blood sample.
Your oncologist orders molecular profiling, a pathologist prepares the sample, and a specialized lab runs the test. Your oncologist then explains the results and what they mean for your treatment.
Oncologists use tumor gene results to choose targeted medicines or immunotherapy, or to leave out chemotherapy.
Learn More About CancerPathologists choose the part of the biopsy richest in cancer cells and send it for gene and protein testing.
Learn More About PathologyAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It helps find a growth, shows its size and where it is, and checks how treatment is working. You lie still in a scanner for 30 to 60 minutes.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
An MRI is a common test in cancer care and for many other conditions, from a knee injury to a headache. If your doctor ordered one, it does not by itself mean they think you have cancer. It means they want a clearer look at soft tissue than an X-ray can give.
MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. The scanner makes pictures with a magnetic field and radio waves, so you are not exposed to radiation. It shows soft tissues such as the brain, spinal cord, breast, liver, prostate and muscles in fine detail.
For many people the hardest parts are the noise and lying still in a narrow space. Knowing what to expect, and telling the team if you feel closed in, makes the scan much easier.
This page explains the kinds of MRI, why one is ordered, how to get ready, what happens during the scan, the risks, and how you hear about your results.
An MRI scanner is a large tube with a strong magnet inside it. When you lie in the scanner, the magnet and pulses of radio waves cause tiny signals to come from the water in your tissues. A computer turns those signals into detailed pictures, in thin slices that can be viewed from any angle.
Different tissues give off different signals, which is why MRI is so good at showing the difference between healthy tissue and a growth. It can show a tumor's size, where it is, and whether it has grown into nearby blood vessels, nerves or the bowel wall.
Many MRI scans use a contrast agent called gadolinium, given through a vein. Contrast makes some tissues, including many tumors and areas of inflammation, show up more brightly.
Doctors order an MRI to:
An MRI cannot say for certain what a growth is. When a scan shows something that may be cancer, a sample of tissue is usually the next step.
People with symptoms or findings that need a closer look, and people treated or followed for many cancers, including brain, spine, breast, prostate, rectal, liver and pancreatic cancers. Some people at high risk of breast cancer, such as those with a BRCA gene change, have a breast MRI every year along with a mammogram. Your doctor will explain why MRI is the right test for your question, or whether a CT scan or PET-CT scan would answer it better.
The strong magnet is always on, so safety checks matter more than for most tests. Follow the instructions you are given, which may differ from these general steps.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]A technologist goes over your safety questions and helps you onto a padded table. If you need contrast, a small IV line is placed in your arm or hand.
A frame called a coil may be placed over the area being scanned. For a breast MRI you lie on your stomach. The table then slides into the scanner.
The scanner makes banging, tapping and buzzing sounds while it takes pictures. You will have earplugs or headphones. You need to stay very still, and you may be asked to hold your breath for short periods. You can talk with the technologist through a speaker, and you hold a call button the whole time.
If you have contrast, it is given partway through the scan. You may feel a cool feeling in your arm.
Most scans take 30 to 60 minutes. Some take longer. Afterward you can usually go back to your normal day. If you took a medicine to relax, someone needs to drive you home.
MRI is a very safe test, and it uses no radiation.
Call your care team the same day for pain, redness or swelling where the IV was placed, or an itchy rash after contrast. Call 911 if you have trouble breathing or swelling of your face or throat.
A radiologist reads your scan and sends a report to the doctor who ordered it, often within a few days. That doctor will go over the results with you.
Often, yes. Many newer devices are labeled safe for MRI under set conditions, and the team may adjust the device around the scan. Tell your care team about every implant when the scan is booked.
No. The scan itself is painless. The IV for contrast may sting briefly, and lying still for a long time can be uncomfortable, so ask for a pillow or blanket.
Tell your care team before your scan. Options include a medicine to help you relax, a scanner with a wider opening, music, and having someone you trust in the room.
A CT scan uses X-rays and is fast, often a few minutes. An MRI uses a magnet and radio waves, takes longer, and shows soft tissues such as the brain, spinal cord, liver and prostate in more detail. Your doctor chooses the test that best answers the question.
For most scans, yes. Some scans of the abdomen ask you not to eat for a few hours beforehand. Keep taking your usual medicines unless your care team tells you otherwise.
MRI scans are done by radiologists and MRI technologists in hospital and outpatient imaging departments. The doctor who orders yours is often a cancer specialist, a neurosurgeon, a surgeon or your primary care doctor. Find a location near you below.
Cancer specialists order MRI to stage a tumor, plan surgery or radiation, and see how well treatment is working.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons and neurologists use brain and spine MRI to find tumors and map them before surgery.
Learn More About NeuroscienceRadiologists and MRI technologists perform the scan and read the pictures for the doctor who ordered it.
Learn More About RadiologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes...
Learn More About MUGA ScanYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes pictures of your heart as it beats. It is often done before and during cancer treatments that can affect the heart, to keep your heart safe.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you are about to start chemotherapy or another cancer treatment, your care team may order a MUGA scan before your first dose. It does not mean something is wrong with your heart. Some cancer medicines can weaken the heart muscle over time, and this scan gives your team a starting measurement to compare against as treatment goes on.
MUGA stands for multigated acquisition. It is a nuclear medicine test, which means it uses a very small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera. The main number it gives is your ejection fraction, the share of blood your heart pumps out with each beat.
The scan is painless apart from an IV or a needle in your arm. You lie still on a table while the camera takes pictures, and most people go back to their normal day right after.
This page explains why a MUGA scan is ordered, how to get ready, what happens during the test, the risks, and what your results mean for your treatment.
A MUGA scan is a nuclear medicine test of the heart. You may also see it called radionuclide ventriculography, radionuclide angiography, or a blood pool scan.
A small amount of a radioactive tracer is attached to your red blood cells. As your blood moves through your heart, a gamma camera picks up the tracer and makes moving pictures of the heart's main pumping chambers. Small sticky pads on your chest record your heartbeat, so the camera can take pictures at the same point in each beat and combine them.
From these pictures, a computer works out your ejection fraction. That is the percentage of blood in the lower left chamber of your heart that is pumped out each time it squeezes. The test also shows how evenly the heart walls move.
A MUGA scan gives a very repeatable number, which is why it is useful for comparing one scan with the next during treatment.
The most common reason is to check the heart before and during cancer treatment. Doctors may order a MUGA scan to:
An echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart, is used for the same purpose and is more common today. A MUGA scan is often chosen when echocardiogram pictures are not clear enough, or when a very consistent number is needed over many months.
People starting or receiving cancer treatments that can affect the heart, especially those with other heart risks such as older age, high blood pressure, diabetes, earlier heart disease, or earlier chest radiation. Your oncologist decides whether you need one and how often, often every few months during treatment. If heart changes are found, a cardiologist may join your care. You can read more on our page about cardiotoxicity, heart damage from cancer treatment.
Most people need little preparation. Follow the instructions you are given, which may differ from these general steps.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown and lie on a table. A technologist places sticky pads on your chest to track your heartbeat.
Next, your red blood cells are labeled with the tracer, in one of two ways. In some places, a small amount of blood is drawn, mixed with the tracer, and given back through a vein. In others, you get two injections about 20 minutes apart. You may feel a brief cool feeling as the tracer goes in.
The gamma camera is then placed close to your chest. It does not surround you, and it makes no noise. You lie still while it takes pictures from a few angles, usually for 30 to 60 minutes in all. For an exercise scan, you pedal a stationary bike while lying down and more pictures are taken as the effort increases.
When the pictures are done, the pads come off and you can go back to your usual activities and diet. Drink extra water for the rest of the day, which helps the tracer leave your body.
A MUGA scan is a safe test.
Call your care team the same day for redness, swelling or pain where the needle went in that gets worse. An exercise scan is done with staff watching your heart, and they stop the test if you feel unwell.
A doctor trained in nuclear medicine or cardiology reads the scan and sends a report to the doctor who ordered it. That doctor will go over the results with you.
Usually not. Most MUGA scans in cancer care are ordered to get a starting point before treatment begins, so any change later can be found early.
It depends on your treatment and your heart health. Some people have one scan before treatment. Others have repeat scans every few months while on a medicine that can affect the heart.
No. The tracer is a tiny amount of radioactive material attached to your own blood cells. It is not the iodine dye used for CT scans, and allergic reactions to it are very rare.
Both measure how well your heart pumps. An echocardiogram uses sound waves and no radiation. A MUGA scan uses a small amount of tracer and gives a very consistent number from one scan to the next. Your care team chooses the test that fits you.
Yes. The amount of tracer is small and fades quickly. If you are breastfeeding or caring for a baby, ask your care team whether you should take any steps for the rest of the day.
MUGA scans are done in nuclear medicine and cardiology departments by nuclear medicine technologists, and read by nuclear medicine doctors, radiologists or cardiologists. The scan is often ordered by your oncologist. Find a location near you below.
Oncologists order a MUGA scan before and during chemotherapy and targeted therapy that can weaken the heart.
Learn More About CancerCardiologists read the heart's pumping strength and step in with care if cancer treatment lowers it.
Learn More About Heart & VascularNuclear medicine teams label the blood with tracer and take the gamma camera pictures of the beating heart.
Learn More About RadiologyCardiotoxicity is damage to the heart or blood vessels caused by some cancer treatments. Most people never develop it, and...
Learn More About CardiotoxicityChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistNavigational bronchoscopy guides a thin, flexible scope through your airways to a spot deep in the lung, using a map built from your CT scan, so a doctor can take a small tissue sample. It needs no incision, and most people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
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Decided 2026-10-21
If a CT scan found a spot on your lung, you may be waiting to learn what it is, and that waiting is hard. Most lung nodules turn out not to be cancer. When your doctor needs a closer look, a navigational bronchoscopy is one way to get a sample from a nodule that is small or deep in the lung, without an incision.
A standard bronchoscopy can reach the larger airways near the center of your chest. Many nodules are in the outer parts of the lung, where the airways branch into passages too small and winding to find by sight alone. Navigational bronchoscopy solves that with a 3D map of your airways made from your CT scan. A computer then guides the scope along the planned route, much as a GPS guides a car, to the nodule.
A pathologist examines the sample under a microscope, and that answer guides what comes next, whether that is watching the nodule, treating an infection or planning cancer treatment.
A bronchoscopy is a test in which a doctor passes a thin, flexible tube called a bronchoscope through your mouth and down your windpipe into the airways of your lungs. A navigational bronchoscopy adds guidance so the doctor can reach a target far out in the lung.
Before or on the day of the test, you have a CT scan of your chest. Software turns that scan into a 3D map of your airways and plans a path to the nodule. During the test, sensors and the map show where the scope's tools are in real time, so the doctor can steer through the small branches and take samples from the right spot. You may hear it called electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, or ENB.
The test is usually done by a pulmonologist, a lung specialist, or a thoracic surgeon.
Either kind can be combined with endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), which uses a tiny ultrasound probe on the scope to see lymph nodes and other structures between the lungs and guide a needle to sample them. Doing both in one session can diagnose a nodule and check the nearby lymph nodes at the same time.
A navigational bronchoscopy is ordered to find out what a lung spot is, when the answer will change your care. It can:
It is one of several ways to sample the lung. Others include a needle biopsy through the chest wall, guided by a CT scan, and surgery to remove the nodule directly.
You may need one if a CT scan, including a lung cancer screening scan, finds a nodule that is new, growing or has features that call for a closer look. It suits nodules in the outer lung that a standard bronchoscopy cannot reach and that lie along airways the scope can follow. Small nodules that look low risk are often watched with follow-up scans instead. Your doctor will weigh the nodule's size, shape and location, your health and your preferences.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You lie on your back and receive anesthesia so you are asleep or deeply sedated. A breathing tube or airway device may be placed. The doctor passes the bronchoscope through your mouth into your airways and follows the planned route on the screen to the nodule.
At the nodule, the doctor uses small needles, brushes or forceps to take several samples. X-ray imaging may confirm the position. If EBUS is planned, the doctor samples lymph nodes too. Sometimes a specialist checks a sample in the room to make sure enough tissue was collected. The test often takes about an hour, depending on how many areas are sampled.
Afterward you rest in a recovery area until you are awake. A chest X-ray may be taken to check your lung. You can eat and drink once your cough and swallow return to normal, usually within an hour or two, and most people go home the same day. A sore throat, hoarseness and a mild cough are common for a day or two, and you may cough up a little blood-streaked mucus.
Call 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain, coughing up more than a small amount of blood, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, a cough that is getting worse, or a sore throat that lasts more than a few days.
Navigational bronchoscopy is generally a low-risk test. The risks include:
Your doctor will explain how these apply to you.
A pathologist examines the samples, and results usually come back within several days. The doctor who ordered the test will go over them with you.
No. You are asleep or deeply sedated and should not feel the test. Your throat may be sore afterward.
A regular bronchoscopy reaches the larger airways near the center of the chest. Navigational bronchoscopy uses a map from your CT scan to reach nodules far out in the lung.
No. The scope goes in through your mouth, so there are no cuts and no stitches.
Often, yes. Endobronchial ultrasound can sample lymph nodes in the middle of the chest during the same session, which helps stage a lung cancer.
Sometimes the sample does not answer the question. Your team may suggest a follow-up scan, a needle biopsy through the chest wall, or surgery to remove the nodule.
Navigational bronchoscopy is performed by pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons, working with radiologists and pathologists.
The thoracic team samples small lung nodules to diagnose lung cancer and stage it in the same session.
Learn More About CancerPulmonologists guide the scope through the airways to reach nodules deep in the lung.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareThe chest CT scan builds the airway map, and imaging confirms where the tools are during the test.
Learn More About RadiologyLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesThoracic cancers are cancers that start in the chest: the lungs, the esophagus, the space between the lungs, the chest wall...
Learn More About Thoracic CancersA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyLung cancer screening is a yearly low-dose CT scan of the chest for adults at higher risk because of their smoking history....
Learn More About Lung Cancer ScreeningMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingMediastinal surgery reaches the space in the middle of your chest, between the lungs, to take a tissue sample or remove a...
Learn More About Mediastinal SurgeryYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and when to start is a choice you make with your doctor, usually in your 50s, or earlier if you are Black or prostate cancer runs in your family.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Prostate cancer screening is different from most cancer screening in one important way: it is a choice. A PSA blood test can find prostate cancer early, when it is easiest to treat. It can also find small, slow-growing cancers that would never have caused harm, and treating those brings side effects without a benefit.
That is why every major guideline asks men to weigh the trade-offs with a doctor before testing. Some men, especially those at higher risk, decide that finding a cancer early is worth the chance of extra tests. Others decide to wait or to stop.
Screening has become more accurate and less worrying over the years. Today, a high PSA is often followed by a prostate MRI before any biopsy, and many small cancers that are found are watched closely instead of treated right away. This page explains who should talk about screening and when, what the tests involve, how to prepare and what your results mean.
A prostate cancer screening is a test for men with no symptoms. It looks for signs that cancer may be present in the prostate, the small gland below the bladder that helps make semen.
Screening does not diagnose cancer. A result that is higher than expected means you may need more tests, and only a biopsy can confirm cancer. If you already have symptoms, such as trouble urinating or blood in your urine, tell your doctor; you need an exam to find the cause, which is usually not cancer.
The goal is to find a fast-growing prostate cancer before it spreads, when treatment is most likely to cure it. Screening lowers the chance of dying from prostate cancer for some men and lowers the chance of the cancer spreading. The benefit is small for any one man, and it has to be weighed against the chance of a false alarm and of treating a cancer that would never have caused harm.
Guidelines agree that screening is a personal decision made with your doctor.
If you choose screening, how often you repeat it depends on your PSA level. Men with a low PSA may only need it every two years or longer.
A PSA test needs no fasting, but a few things can raise your PSA for a short time:
Tell your doctor if you take finasteride or dutasteride for an enlarged prostate or hair loss. These medicines lower PSA by about half, and your result has to be read with that in mind.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]For a PSA test, a small amount of blood is drawn from a vein in your arm. It takes a few minutes, and you can go back to your day right away.
If you also have a digital rectal exam, you stand and bend forward or lie on your side with your knees drawn up. The doctor gently inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum. You may feel pressure or a brief urge to urinate. It is over in less than a minute.
The tests themselves are very safe. A small bruise where blood was drawn is the most common effect.
False alarms. Many men with a raised PSA do not have cancer. Follow-up tests and a biopsy can bring worry, and a biopsy has a small chance of bleeding or infection.
Missed cancers. A normal PSA does not rule out cancer.
Overdiagnosis. Screening finds some cancers that would never cause symptoms. Treating them can lead to leaking urine or erection problems without a benefit. Watching a low-risk cancer closely, called active surveillance, lowers this risk.
PSA is measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). There is no single normal number. Levels rise with age and with prostate size, and many doctors use 4 ng/mL as a point to look more closely, with a lower level in younger men.
A low PSA usually means you go back on your usual schedule, or stop screening if your doctor agrees.
A raised PSA often means a repeat test first, since levels can rise for a time. If it stays high, your doctor may recommend a prostate MRI, other blood or urine tests, or a biopsy to check for cancer. How fast PSA rises over time also helps your doctor read the result.
An abnormal rectal exam usually leads to an MRI or a biopsy, whatever your PSA.
No. It is a blood test that shows whether more testing makes sense. Only a biopsy can show cancer.
Not always. Many doctors rely on PSA alone for screening and use the exam when PSA is raised or you have symptoms. Ask what your doctor recommends.
Most men stop around 70, or sooner if they have other serious health problems. Talk with your doctor about when stopping fits your health.
Most insurance plans cover prostate cancer screening. Check your plan's benefits before your appointment.
Not right away. A repeat PSA and a prostate MRI often come first, and they help many men avoid a biopsy they do not need.
The conversation about screening usually starts with your primary care doctor, and urologists see men whose results need a closer look. Find a doctor to start the conversation near you.
A screening that finds a fast-growing prostate cancer leads to oncology care while it can still be cured.
Learn More About CancerPathologists grade prostate biopsy samples taken after a raised PSA to show whether cancer is present.
Learn More About PathologyUrologists see men with a raised PSA or abnormal exam and decide whether an MRI or biopsy comes next.
Learn More About UrologyProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRIGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at the tumor and very little beyond it, which can lower the dose to healthy tissue nearby. It is used for some cancers in children and adults, often near sensitive organs.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your care team has mentioned proton therapy, you may be wondering how it differs from the radiation you have heard about and whether it is right for you. Proton therapy is radiation therapy. It works the same way, by damaging the DNA of cancer cells, and the sessions feel much the same. The difference is in how the beam behaves inside the body.
An X-ray beam passes all the way through you, leaving some radiation in the tissue on the far side of the tumor. A proton beam can be set to stop at the tumor. That makes proton therapy useful when a tumor lies close to an organ that is sensitive to radiation, such as the brain, spinal cord, eyes, heart or lungs, and for children, whose growing bodies are more sensitive to radiation.
Proton therapy is not the best choice for every cancer, and your radiation oncologist will weigh it against other options. This page explains how it works, what it is used for, how to get ready, what a course of treatment is like, its side effects and what to ask.
Protons are tiny, positively charged particles found in the center of every atom. In proton therapy, a machine called a cyclotron speeds protons up to very high energy. The beam is then shaped and adjusted so it matches the size, shape and depth of your tumor.
Like all radiation therapy, protons damage the DNA inside cancer cells so the cells stop dividing and die. What sets protons apart is where they deposit their energy. They release a little energy as they enter the body and most of it at a set depth, then stop. By choosing that depth, the team can place the highest dose in the tumor and keep the dose low in the tissue beyond it.
Less radiation to healthy tissue can mean fewer side effects, both during treatment and years later. For some patients, it can also allow the team to treat a tumor near a sensitive organ that would be hard to reach safely with X-rays.
Proton therapy is used most often for cancers that have not spread and for tumors near organs that are sensitive to radiation. It may be given alone or with chemotherapy, surgery, other radiation or targeted therapy. Uses include:
Your team decides whether proton therapy fits based on the type, size and location of your tumor, your other treatment and your overall health.
The evaluation. At your first visit you meet a radiation oncologist and the proton therapy team. Together you talk through your treatment goals and the options. The plan may be proton therapy alone, proton therapy with other treatment, or a different treatment if that suits you better.
Insurance. Many insurance plans, including Medicare, cover proton therapy, though some require approval before treatment. Check your coverage early, and ask the team about financial assistance and self-pay options if your plan does not cover it.
CT simulation. If proton therapy is recommended, you have a planning scan, usually a CT and sometimes an MRI or PET scan, in the position you will lie in for treatment. The team may make a mask or mold to hold you still.
Planning and a dress rehearsal. Physicists and dosimetrists build a plan that targets the tumor while protecting nearby tissue. Before your first treatment, a dress rehearsal checks your position and the plan. Treatment may start the same day or the next.
Tell your team about your medicines, any implanted device such as a pacemaker, earlier radiation and any chance of pregnancy.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your sessions. Most courses are given five days a week for several weeks. A session usually takes about 30 minutes, and most of that time is spent positioning you. The beam is on for only a few minutes. Plan on about an hour at the center each day.
How it feels. Proton therapy does not hurt. You do not feel the beam. Some people find it uncomfortable to lie still in one position, so tell your team if you need help getting comfortable. Children who cannot stay still may receive medicine to help them sleep during each session.
During your course. You see your radiation oncologist regularly to check side effects. Many people go to work or school after their sessions.
After treatment. On your last day, many centers invite you to ring a bell to mark the end of treatment. About a month later, you meet your radiation oncologist to review your progress and any symptoms. Follow-up scans show how the tumor responded.
Call your care team the same day for skin in the treated area that blisters or weeps, or pain that keeps you from eating or drinking. Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain, trouble breathing, a seizure or new weakness or numbness in your legs.
Side effects depend on the area treated and on any other treatment you receive. Many people have fewer or milder side effects than with X-ray radiation for the same area, though this varies.
Your radiation oncologist will explain the side effects most likely for you and how the team helps you manage them.
For the right cancers, proton therapy can deliver an effective dose to the tumor while lowering the dose to the healthy tissue around it. That can mean fewer side effects during treatment and a lower chance of some late effects, which matters most for children and for tumors near the brain, spine, eyes or heart. It can also allow a full dose where a nearby organ would otherwise limit treatment. Your team will tell you what proton therapy can do for your cancer and how it compares with your other options.
For some cancers, it can lower the dose to healthy tissue. For many others, X-ray radiation works just as well. Your radiation oncologist recommends the option that fits your cancer.
No. You do not give off radiation after proton therapy, and it is safe to be near family, children and pets.
Yes, when their medical team recommends it. Children may benefit most, because their growing bodies are more sensitive to radiation.
The Orlando Health Cancer Institute keeps a list of hotels near its downtown Orlando campus with arranged rates for patients. Ask when you schedule your first appointment.
Sometimes. Proton therapy is one option when an area has been treated before, because it can limit the dose to nearby tissue. Your radiation oncologist will review your past treatment.
Proton therapy is planned and given by a team of radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and nurses, working with your other cancer doctors.
Radiation oncologists choose proton therapy for tumors near sensitive organs and for many childhood cancers.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons and neuro-oncologists plan proton therapy with radiation oncologists for brain and spine tumors.
Learn More About NeuroscienceUrologists refer men with prostate cancer for proton therapy to lower the dose to the bladder and rectum.
Learn More About UrologyBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsBreast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control and form a tumor. It is one of the most common cancers,...
Learn More About Breast CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerHead and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, nose, sinuses, salivary glands, thyroid or the skin of the head...
Learn More About Head and Neck CancersLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions...
Learn More About Stereotactic Body Radiation TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so they stop growing. Most forms treat only the area they are aimed at. It can be used to cure a cancer, alongside surgery or medicines, or to ease pain and other symptoms.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended radiation, you may have questions about what it will feel like, how long it takes and how it will affect your daily life. An external beam treatment session is painless, the beam is on for only minutes and it does not make you radioactive. Many people keep working or caring for their family through a course of treatment.
Radiation is one of the most common cancer treatments. About half of people treated for cancer receive it at some point. It is a local treatment, which means it works on the part of the body where it is aimed, and the care team plans each treatment to protect the healthy tissue around the target.
Radiation therapy is planned and overseen by a radiation oncologist, a doctor who specializes in it, working with a team of physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and nurses. This page explains how it works, the kinds you may hear about, what it is used for, how to get ready, what a course of treatment is like and the side effects to know about.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy rays or particles, such as X-rays or protons, to damage the DNA inside cancer cells. Cells with damaged DNA stop dividing and die, and the body clears them away over the following weeks and months. That is why the effect of radiation builds over time and keeps working after treatment ends.
Healthy cells in the treated area are affected too, but they are better able to repair themselves. Treatment is usually split into many small daily doses, called fractions, which gives healthy tissue time to recover between sessions while the cancer cells keep taking damage.
Because radiation acts only where it is aimed, it is often combined with treatments that reach the whole body, such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy.
By condition: radiation is part of the plan for many cancers, including prostate, lung, head and neck, brain and spine tumors, cervical, anal and lymphoma, and for cancer that has spread to the bone (bone metastasis). It is also used for a few conditions that are not cancer, such as some benign brain tumors.
The consultation. You meet your radiation oncologist, who reviews your scans, pathology and other treatment, and explains the goal, the number of sessions and the likely side effects for the area being treated.
Simulation. This mapping visit uses a CT scan, and sometimes MRI or PET, in the exact position you will lie in for treatment. The team may make a mold or a mesh mask to help you stay still, and may place a few tiny permanent skin marks to line up the beams.
Planning. Physicists and dosimetrists design your plan, and your doctor reviews it. This usually takes a week or two. The wait is normal and is spent getting the plan right.
Tell your team about: all your medicines and supplements, any pacemaker or defibrillator, earlier radiation to any part of your body, and any chance you could be pregnant. Ask about protecting your fertility before treatment if that matters to you.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your sessions. Most external beam courses are given once a day, Monday through Friday, for one to eight weeks. Some shorter courses take five sessions or fewer. Each visit takes about 15 to 30 minutes, most of it spent getting you into position. The beam itself is on for only a few minutes. You do not feel it, see it or hear anything beyond the machine moving. The therapists watch and talk with you from the next room the whole time.
Weekly check-ins. You see your radiation oncologist or nurse once a week to check side effects and adjust care.
You are not radioactive after external beam radiation, and it is safe to be close to children and pregnant people. After some internal treatments or radioactive medicines, you may need to limit close contact for a short time; your team will give you instructions.
Finishing treatment. Side effects often peak in the last week or two of treatment and the week or two after, then ease over the following weeks. Follow-up visits with scans or blood tests show how the cancer responded.
Call your care team the same day for skin that blisters, peels or weeps, pain that keeps you from eating or drinking, or diarrhea that does not ease with the steps your team gave you. Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain, trouble breathing, a seizure, or new weakness or numbness in your legs.
Side effects depend on the part of the body treated and the dose. Most are temporary and improve within weeks of finishing.
Your team helps you manage each side effect as it comes.
Radiation can cure some cancers on its own or with chemotherapy, and for some people it allows them to avoid or limit surgery. After surgery, it lowers the chance a cancer returns in the same place. When a cure is not the goal, it can shrink tumors that cause pain, bleeding or pressure and improve daily life. What it can do for you depends on your cancer, its stage and the rest of your plan, and your radiation oncologist will explain the goal for your treatment.
No. You do not feel the beam. Holding still can be uncomfortable, and the team helps you find a position you can keep.
Many people do, especially with an early or late appointment time. Tiredness may build toward the end, so plan for more rest then.
Wash the area with mild soap and lukewarm water, wear loose clothing and keep the area out of the sun. Use only the creams your team recommends.
Sometimes. It depends on the earlier dose and how much time has passed. Your radiation oncologist will review your past records.
Results are not immediate. Your team checks your response with scans or blood tests at follow-up visits, often starting a few weeks to a few months after treatment.
Radiation therapy is planned and given by radiation oncologists with physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists and nurses, working with your surgeons and medical oncologists.
Radiation oncologists use radiation to cure, to shrink tumors before or after surgery and to ease pain from cancer.
Learn More About CancerHead and neck surgeons send patients for radiation of the throat, mouth and voice box, alone or after surgery.
Learn More About ENT / OtolaryngologyBreast and gynecologic cancer teams pair radiation with lumpectomy or use internal radiation for cervical and uterine cancer.
Learn More About Women'sAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerAnal cancer starts in the anal canal, the short passage at the end of the bowel. It is uncommon and most often linked to...
Learn More About Anal CancerBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions...
Learn More About Stereotactic Body Radiation TherapyProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at...
Learn More About Proton TherapyRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and...
Learn More About RadioembolizationYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and releases tiny beads that hold radiation straight into the tumor. It needs only a small nick in the skin, and most people go home the same day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has suggested radioembolization, also called Y90 or selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), you may wonder how radiation can be given through a blood vessel and what that means for you. This page explains how it works, who it can help, the two visits it usually takes and what the weeks afterward are like.
Tumors in the liver draw most of their blood supply from the hepatic artery, while healthy liver tissue is fed mainly by a different vessel. Radioembolization uses that difference. Millions of beads, each far thinner than a human hair, travel with the blood into the tumor and lodge in its smallest vessels. There they give off radiation over the following days, aimed at the tumor while sparing much of the healthy liver around it.
Radioembolization can treat cancer that started in the liver and cancer that has spread there from other organs. For some people it controls the tumors for a long time, and for some it shrinks them enough to make surgery or a transplant possible later.
Radioembolization is a minimally invasive treatment that places radioactive beads, called microspheres, directly into the blood vessels that feed a liver tumor. The beads contain yttrium-90, a radioactive substance that gives off radiation over a short distance, so most of the dose stays in and near the tumor.
It combines two ideas. "Radio" refers to the radiation the beads deliver. "Embolization" means blocking blood vessels, and the beads also lodge in the tumor's small vessels. The radiation does most of the work.
The treatment is done by an interventional radiologist, a doctor who treats disease through blood vessels using imaging as a guide, working with radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine specialists and your liver team. The radiation fades over the two weeks after treatment and is gone in about a month. The beads stay in the liver for good without causing harm.
Radioembolization is used for tumors in the liver that cannot be removed with surgery, or alongside other treatments, including:
Its goals vary by person: to control the tumors and ease symptoms, to shrink tumors so surgery to remove part of the liver becomes possible, or to keep cancer in check while someone waits for a liver transplant.
You may be a candidate if the cancer is mainly in the liver, your liver still works reasonably well, and you are well enough to be up and about most of the day. Your team also checks your scans, your blood tests and how blood flows from your liver to your lungs and bowel. Radioembolization is one of several options, along with tumor embolization, tumor ablation, histotripsy, radiation therapy and medicines such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Treatment day looks much like the planning visit. You receive medicine to relax you, and the doctor numbs a small spot at the top of your leg or your wrist. A thin tube called a catheter is threaded through the artery to the vessels that feed the tumor, guided by X-ray. The beads are released through the catheter. The procedure typically takes about an hour, and you feel little or nothing as the beads go in.
You rest for a few hours while the nurses watch the puncture site. Most people go home the same day. Your team will give you simple radiation safety steps for the first days, such as limits on close contact with young children and anyone who is pregnant.
For a week or two, many people feel tired and some have mild nausea, belly discomfort or a low fever. Most return to light activity within a few days.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, vomiting blood or black, tarry stools, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for belly pain that is getting worse, a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, yellowing of your skin or eyes, or swelling or a growing bruise where the catheter went in.
Radioembolization is generally well tolerated. Your doctor will talk through the risks as they apply to you. They include:
Tumors respond gradually. Your team checks with a CT scan or MRI about one to three months after treatment and at intervals after that. Many tumors shrink or stop growing over the following months. Some people need treatment of the other side of the liver, or a repeat treatment later. For some, radioembolization shrinks tumors enough to allow surgery or a transplant.
Only slightly, and only for a short time. The radiation stays almost entirely inside your liver and fades over about two weeks. Your team will tell you about any simple precautions to follow.
You are given medicine to relax you and the catheter site is numbed, so most people feel little during the procedure. Some have belly discomfort or tiredness afterward.
The first visit maps the blood vessels and measures where the beads would travel, so the treatment visit can deliver the right dose safely.
Yes. Radioembolization is often combined with medicines, and it does not rule out surgery, ablation or a transplant later. Your team will plan the order with you.
Your first follow-up scan is usually one to three months after treatment, because tumors take time to respond.
Radioembolization is performed by interventional radiologists, working with radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine specialists, liver surgeons and medical oncologists.
Radiation and medical oncologists plan Y90 with liver surgeons for tumors that started in or spread to the liver.
Learn More About CancerHepatologists check that the liver is strong enough for treatment and watch its function in the months after.
Learn More About Digestive HealthInterventional radiologists map the liver's arteries and guide the catheter that places the radioactive beads.
Learn More About RadiologyColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is...
Learn More About Liver TransplantTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor...
Learn More About Tumor EmbolizationTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no...
Learn More About HistotripsyRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA rectal spacer is a soft gel placed between the prostate and the rectum before radiation for prostate cancer. It moves the rectum a little farther from the radiation to help protect it. Placement is a short outpatient procedure, and your body absorbs the gel on its own over several months.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you are about to have radiation for prostate cancer, your doctor may have mentioned a rectal spacer, and you may be wondering why something extra is placed before treatment even starts. The answer comes down to distance. The prostate and the rectum lie right against each other, so radiation aimed at the prostate can also reach the front wall of the rectum. That can lead to bowel side effects during treatment and, for some men, long afterward.
A rectal spacer creates a gap between the two. A gel is injected through a thin needle into the space between the prostate and the rectum, where it firms up within seconds and holds the rectal wall about half an inch away. That small distance lowers the radiation dose the rectum receives.
The gel stays in place through your radiation and is then broken down and absorbed by your body over several months, so it never has to be removed. This page explains how spacers work, who may benefit, how placement goes and what to expect afterward.
A rectal spacer is a temporary, absorbable gel placed between the prostate and the rectum to protect the rectum during radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
Radiation works by damaging the DNA of cancer cells. Modern radiation is shaped closely to the prostate, but because the rectum touches the back of the prostate, part of its wall can still receive a meaningful dose. A spacer pushes the rectal wall back by about half an inch (1.3 centimeters). Radiation dose falls off quickly with distance, so this gap lowers the dose to the rectum and the chance of bowel side effects.
The spacer material is biocompatible, meaning the body accepts it without harm. It is placed in a short outpatient procedure, often during the same visit as the tiny gold markers, called fiducial markers, that help the radiation team aim each treatment.
Your doctor will recommend the spacer that fits your anatomy and your radiation plan.
A spacer is placed to protect the rectum during radiation for prostate cancer. It can be used with every common form of prostate radiation:
By lowering the dose to the rectum, a spacer aims to reduce side effects such as rectal pain, bleeding, diarrhea and urgency to have a bowel movement.
Most men having radiation for prostate cancer that is contained in the prostate may be candidates. A spacer may not be advised if the cancer has grown through the back of the prostate toward the rectum, if you have an active infection in the area, or if you have had certain surgeries or radiation to the pelvis before. Your radiation oncologist will review your MRI and history and talk with you about whether a spacer makes sense for you.
Your team will give you written instructions that fit your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You receive either local anesthesia, a numbing injection, or general anesthesia, so you do not feel discomfort. You lie on your back with your legs raised. The doctor places an ultrasound probe in the rectum to see the prostate and rectum clearly, then guides a thin needle through the skin between the scrotum and the anus into the space between the prostate and the rectum. A small amount of fluid opens the space, and the spacer is injected as a liquid that firms into a gel within seconds. The procedure usually takes about 15 to 30 minutes.
You go home the same day, and many people return to normal activities right away. Your team works with you on the safest plan for returning to your usual routine. Radiation planning scans usually take place within days to a couple of weeks afterward, once the gel is firmly in place.
Mild soreness where the needle went in, a feeling of fullness or pressure in the rectum, or a small amount of blood in the urine or stool can happen for a day or two.
Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, rectal pain that is getting worse, being unable to pass urine, or swelling or redness between your legs.
Spacer placement is a low-risk procedure, and serious problems are uncommon. Your doctor will talk through the risks as they apply to you. They include:
The spacer stays in place through every radiation session, and you will not feel it. In a large randomized study of a hydrogel spacer, men who received one had fewer rectal side effects and better bowel quality of life in the years after radiation than men who did not. Some studies also suggest benefits for urinary and sexual function. Once your radiation is complete, the spacer is absorbed on its own and needs no follow-up procedure.
Most men do not feel the spacer once any short-term soreness from placement has passed. It is soft and lies outside the rectum, between its wall and the prostate.
No. Your body absorbs it on its own after radiation is finished.
No. The spacer protects the rectum and does not block radiation from reaching the prostate.
Yes. Spacers are used with external beam radiation, stereotactic body radiation therapy, proton therapy and brachytherapy.
Many men return to normal activities right after placement. Your team will tell you if you should avoid anything for a day or two.
Rectal spacers are placed by radiation oncologists or urologists, usually as part of planning for prostate radiation.
Radiation oncologists place a spacer before prostate radiation to lower the dose that reaches the rectum.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal specialists treat the rare rectal problems that follow a spacer or prostate radiation.
Learn More About Colon & RectalUrologists diagnose prostate cancer, help choose radiation and may place the spacer with the fiducial markers.
Learn More About UrologyProstate cancer starts in the prostate, a small gland below the bladder that helps make semen. It is the most common cancer...
Learn More About Prostate CancerRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions...
Learn More About Stereotactic Body Radiation TherapyProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at...
Learn More About Proton TherapyAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA sigmoidoscopy is a short test in which a doctor uses a thin, lighted tube to look inside your rectum and the lower part of your colon for polyps, cancer and other changes. It needs only a simple bowel prep, and most people have it without sedation.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
A sigmoidoscopy is one of several ways to check for colorectal cancer, and you may be reading about it because your doctor offered it as a screening choice or ordered it to look into a symptom such as bleeding from the rectum. Either way, it is a quick test that most people find easier than they expected. Most of the time, the result is normal or shows small growths that can be dealt with early.
The test looks at the last part of the large intestine, where many polyps and colorectal cancers form. Polyps are small growths on the inner lining. Most are harmless, and some can slowly turn into cancer over many years, which is why finding and removing them early helps prevent the disease.
A sigmoidoscopy differs from a colonoscopy in how much of the colon it covers. It looks at about the lower third, needs less preparation, and usually needs no sedation, so you can drive yourself home. If it finds something that needs a closer look, a colonoscopy follows to check the rest of the colon.
A sigmoidoscopy is a test that lets a doctor see the inside of your rectum and sigmoid colon. The sigmoid colon is the S-shaped last section of the colon, just above the rectum. Some sigmoidoscopies also reach the next section up, called the descending colon.
The doctor uses a sigmoidoscope, a thin, flexible tube about as wide as a finger with a light and a small camera at the tip. Pictures from the camera show on a screen, so the doctor can look closely at the lining. Small tools pass through the scope to take a tissue sample, called a biopsy, or to remove a small polyp.
You may see the test called a flexible sigmoidoscopy or a flex sig. The flexible scope has largely replaced the older rigid one.
Sigmoidoscopy is usually done by a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in the digestive system, or by a colon and rectal surgeon. Some primary care doctors and nurse practitioners are trained to do it as well.
A sigmoidoscopy is ordered for two main reasons.
To screen for colorectal cancer in people who have no symptoms. It finds polyps and early cancers in the lower colon, when they are easiest to treat. Removing polyps can stop a cancer before it starts. It is one of several screening tests your doctor may offer, alongside colonoscopy, stool tests and CT colonography. The colorectal cancer screening page compares them.
To look into symptoms or follow up a finding, such as:
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American Cancer Society advise that adults at average risk start colorectal cancer screening at age 45. A sigmoidoscopy is one choice for adults 45 to 75, done every five years, or every ten years when paired with a yearly stool test. Between 76 and 85, the decision to keep screening is made with your doctor.
People at higher risk usually start earlier and are more often advised to have a colonoscopy, which checks the whole colon. That includes people with a parent, sibling or child who had colorectal cancer or advanced polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, or an inherited condition such as Lynch syndrome. Tell your doctor about your family history so they can recommend the right test and timing.
The lower colon needs to be empty so the doctor can see the lining clearly.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You lie on your left side with your knees drawn up toward your chest. The doctor places the lubricated scope into your rectum and moves it up into the colon. A little air or carbon dioxide is passed through the scope to open the colon so the lining can be seen.
You may feel pressure, cramping or the urge to have a bowel movement. Breathing slowly and deeply helps. If the doctor sees a polyp, they may take a sample or remove a small one. You will not feel this.
The test takes about 10 to 20 minutes. Afterward you may feel bloated or pass gas for a few hours, and you can usually eat and go back to your normal day right away. If a sample was taken, you may see a small amount of blood with your next bowel movement.
A sigmoidoscopy is a safe test. Problems are uncommon and include:
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for severe belly pain, a belly that is hard and swollen, heavy bleeding from the rectum or bleeding that does not stop, or fainting.
Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, chills, belly pain that is getting worse, or more than a small amount of blood in your stool.
The doctor can often tell you what they saw before you leave. Biopsy results come back from the lab within several days.
Because the test sees only the lower colon, a normal result does not rule out a polyp or cancer further up. If you have symptoms that continue, tell your doctor.
Most people feel pressure and some cramping, which passes once the scope is out. It is uncomfortable for a few minutes rather than painful.
Usually not. Most sigmoidoscopies are done without sedation, which is why you can drive yourself home afterward.
Both are accepted screening tests. A colonoscopy looks at the whole colon and can remove polyps anywhere, while a sigmoidoscopy checks only the lower part and is done more often. Your doctor will help you choose.
Small polyps may be sampled or removed during the test. Most are not cancer, and finding one usually means a colonoscopy next to check the rest of the colon.
For screening at average risk, every five years, or every ten years if you also have a stool test each year. Your doctor may advise a different schedule based on your results and history.
Sigmoidoscopy is performed by gastroenterologists and colon and rectal surgeons, with pathologists who examine any samples.
When a sigmoidoscopy biopsy shows cancer, oncologists stage it and plan treatment with your other doctors.
Learn More About CancerColon and rectal surgeons use sigmoidoscopy to check rectal bleeding and to follow the rectum after surgery.
Learn More About Colon & RectalGastroenterologists perform sigmoidoscopy to screen the lower colon and sample or remove small polyps.
Learn More About Digestive HealthColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerColorectal polyps are small growths on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. They are common, and most are harmless,...
Learn More About Colorectal PolypsRectal cancer starts in the rectum, the last few inches of the large intestine. Screening can find it early or stop it...
Learn More About Rectal CancerA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistSkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as it should and looks as natural as possible. It ranges from a few stitches to moving skin from nearby or another part of the body.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Removing a skin cancer is the step that treats it. Sometimes that leaves a wound larger than you expected, often on the face, ears, nose, scalp or hands, where people notice it most. If you are facing that, it is natural to wonder how it will look and whether you will still be able to blink, smile, eat or use your hand the way you did.
Reconstruction answers those questions. A surgeon closes and rebuilds the area using the simplest method that will heal well: stitching the edges together, shifting skin from right next to the wound, placing a patch of skin from somewhere else, or, for large wounds, moving a section of tissue with its own blood supply. Many repairs are done the same day the cancer is removed, in the same office visit.
This page explains the kinds of repair, who needs one, how to prepare, what recovery looks like and what results to expect. Your surgeon will talk through which approach suits the size and place of your wound.
Skin cancer reconstruction is surgery that repairs the area where a skin cancer was taken out. Treatments such as Mohs surgery, excisional surgery and melanoma surgery remove the cancer along with a border of healthy skin, and the wound that remains needs to close. Reconstruction closes it in a way that protects function and appearance.
Repairs are done by dermatologic surgeons, Mohs surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and head and neck surgeons, depending on the size, depth and place of the wound. A small repair is usually done under local anesthesia, so you are awake and the area is numb. A larger one may be done in an operating room with sedation or general anesthesia.
Treating skin cancer saves lives, and the surgery can leave a scar or change how an area looks or works. Reconstruction repairs damaged tissue, rebuilds parts such as the nose, eyelid, lip or ear, and helps restore appearance and function. It is also used to repair skin damaged by radiation and to rebuild areas after surgery for other cancers that start in the skin and soft tissue, including melanoma and sarcoma.
You may be a candidate if removing your skin cancer leaves a wound that is large, deep or in a place where the way it heals affects how you see, breathe, eat, speak or move. People whose cancer was found later and needed more extensive surgery benefit the most. Skin cancers include basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]For most repairs, the area is cleaned and numbed with an injection. The surgeon shapes the wound, moves or places the tissue and closes it with stitches. You may feel pressure but should not feel pain. Larger flap surgery takes place in an operating room, and you may stay in the hospital for a night or more.
You go home with a pressure dressing. A skin graft may have a padded dressing stitched over it for about a week so it can attach. Keep the dressing dry and in place as instructed.
Expect swelling and bruising for one to two weeks, more around the eyes. Keep your head raised when you sleep after a repair on the face. Stitches usually come out in one to two weeks. Avoid heavy lifting and hard exercise until your surgeon says it is safe. A scar keeps fading and flattening for 12 to 18 months.
Call 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain or bleeding that will not stop with 20 minutes of firm pressure. Call your care team the same day for redness, warmth or pus around the wound, a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, a graft or flap that turns dark or black, or swelling that keeps getting worse.
Skin cancer reconstruction is generally safe. Possible risks include:
Your surgeon will review the risks that apply to your repair.
Most people heal well, and many scars become hard to see. Results depend on the size and place of the wound, your skin and how well you heal. A repair near the eyes, nose or mouth aims to keep those areas working normally as well as looking natural. If a scar is still noticeable once it has matured, options such as scar revision or laser treatment can soften it.
Keep up with your skin checks after treatment. Having one skin cancer raises the chance of another, and skin cancer screening helps find any new spot early.
Not always. Many small wounds close with a few stitches. You will know whether you need a flap or graft once the cancer is fully removed and the surgeon can see the final size of the wound.
Often, yes, right after the cancer is removed. Larger repairs may be scheduled a day or more later or done in an operating room.
Reconstruction after skin cancer surgery repairs the effects of treating a cancer, and insurance plans often cover it. Check with your plan before your procedure.
Every repair leaves a scar. Surgeons place it along natural lines and creases where they can, and most scars fade a lot over the first year.
Follow your written instructions. Most people keep the dressing on for a day or two, then wash the area with mild soap and water and apply ointment until the stitches come out.
Skin cancer reconstruction is performed by dermatologic and Mohs surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and head and neck surgeons.
Plastic surgeons rebuild larger wounds with skin grafts and tissue flaps after a skin cancer is removed.
Learn More About Aesthetic & ReconstructiveCancer teams plan the removal of a skin cancer and the repair together, so treatment and healing fit one plan.
Learn More About CancerDermatologic and Mohs surgeons close many smaller wounds the same day they remove the cancer.
Learn More About DermatologyBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgeryExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgeryA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA skin cancer screening is a head-to-toe look at your skin for spots that could be cancer. It takes a few minutes, needs no needles unless a spot needs testing, and pairs with checking your own skin each month to find changes early.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and it is also one of the easiest to find, because most of it grows where you can see it. Caught early, most skin cancers can be removed with a small procedure in a doctor's office.
Screening for skin cancer happens two ways. You check your own skin once a month, looking for spots that are new or changing. And a doctor or other clinician looks over your skin during a visit, more often if your risk is higher. Living in a sunny place such as Florida means more sun for everyone, which is one reason regular checks are worth building into your routine.
If the thought of a full-body exam makes you uneasy, you are not alone. This page explains who should be checked and how often, what happens during the exam, how to check your own skin and what happens if a spot looks suspicious. Talk with your doctor about the plan that fits your skin and your history.
A skin cancer screening is an exam of your skin, done when you have no symptoms, to look for basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and spots that could turn into cancer. A screening only finds spots that need a closer look. Only a skin biopsy, where a small sample is checked under a microscope, can show whether a spot is cancer.
If you already have a spot that is new, growing, bleeding or not healing, you do not need to wait for a screening. Make an appointment to have it checked.
The goal is to find skin cancer early, when it is small and easiest to treat. Basal and squamous cell carcinomas grow slowly, and the longer they go untreated, the larger the surgery and scar can be. Melanoma can spread, and finding it early makes the biggest difference in how well treatment works.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has found too little evidence to recommend for or against routine skin exams by a clinician for people with no symptoms. That means the decision is a personal one, made with your doctor based on your risk. Many dermatologists advise a yearly full-body check, and more often for people at higher risk.
Talk with your doctor about regular clinical skin exams if you have:
Skin cancer can affect any skin tone. In people with darker skin it is often found later, sometimes in places that get little sun, such as the palms, soles and nails.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You change into a gown in a private exam room and can keep your underwear on if you prefer. A chaperone may be present. The clinician moves the gown to uncover one area at a time, checking your skin from scalp to toes, including between your toes, behind your ears and the soles of your feet. A full exam usually takes about 10 minutes. Spots that need a closer look may be examined with a dermatoscope or photographed for comparison next time.
If a spot looks suspicious, the clinician may numb it and take a small sample for a biopsy, often during the same visit.
A skin exam itself is free of risk. A screening can find spots that turn out to be harmless, which can lead to a biopsy and a small scar. A biopsy can bleed a little or become infected, which is uncommon.
Most screenings find nothing that needs treatment. If the clinician finds nothing concerning, you will be told when to come back.
If a spot needs a closer look, you may have a biopsy or be asked to return so the spot can be compared over time. Biopsy results usually come back within one to two weeks. If a biopsy shows skin cancer, your care team will explain the type and stage and the treatment options, which for most early skin cancers is a small procedure such as excisional surgery or Mohs surgery.
It depends on your risk. People with a history of skin cancer or many risk factors are often checked every 6 to 12 months. Your doctor can tell you what fits you.
Once a month, in good light, look over your whole body. Use the ABCDEs for moles: a mole that is Asymmetric, has an uneven Border, more than one Color, a Diameter larger than a pencil eraser, or is Evolving in size, shape or color.
No. It is a visual check that takes about 10 minutes. A biopsy, if you need one, uses a numbing shot first.
Coverage for skin exams varies by plan and by your risk. Check with your plan before you schedule.
Either can check your skin. Your primary care doctor can look over your skin at a yearly visit and refer you to a dermatologist if you are at higher risk or a spot needs a closer look.
Skin cancer screening is done by dermatologists, primary care doctors and other clinicians who examine skin.
Cancer specialists follow people at higher risk of melanoma and treat any skin cancer a screening finds.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists perform full-body skin checks, examine spots with a dermatoscope and biopsy anything suspicious.
Learn More About DermatologyPathologists read the biopsy from a suspicious spot under a microscope and confirm whether it is cancer.
Learn More About PathologyBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaSquamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer. It starts in the flat cells of the skin's outer layer, most...
Learn More About Squamous Cell CarcinomaMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaExcisional surgery cuts out a skin cancer or growth along with a thin rim of healthy skin around it, then closes the wound...
Learn More About Excisional SurgeryMohs surgery removes skin cancer one thin layer at a time, checking each layer under a microscope while you wait, until no...
Learn More About Mohs SurgeryMelanoma surgery removes the melanoma along with a border of healthy skin, and sometimes checks the nearest lymph nodes. For...
Learn More About Melanoma SurgerySkin cancer reconstruction repairs the skin and tissue left after a skin cancer is removed, so the area heals well, works as...
Learn More About Skin Cancer ReconstructionAsk your doctor whether this screening is right for you, then find a location that offers it.
Find a Screening LocationStereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT, aims very precise, high doses of radiation at a tumor in one to five sessions instead of several weeks. It treats some early lung and prostate cancers, some tumors of the liver, pancreas and spine, and tumors that have spread, without an incision or a hospital stay.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has suggested SBRT, you may be surprised that a course of radiation can take a week or two rather than two months. SBRT is a form of radiation therapy that gives a much higher dose in each session, so far fewer sessions are needed. It is painless, needs no incision and is given as an outpatient.
That higher dose is safe to give because the treatment is so precise. Imaging guides each session, special devices keep you still and the beams come from many angles and meet at the tumor, so the tissue around it receives much less. The same approach used in the brain is called stereotactic radiosurgery.
SBRT is often an option for people with a small tumor who cannot have surgery or prefer not to, and for a few tumors that have spread to places such as the lungs, liver or spine. This page explains how SBRT works, what it treats, how to get ready, what the visits are like and the side effects to know about.
SBRT is a type of external beam radiation therapy. Like all radiation, it damages the DNA in cancer cells so they stop dividing and die. What sets it apart is the dose and the precision.
Standard radiation splits the total dose into many small daily treatments over several weeks. SBRT gives a few large doses, usually one to five, each one shaped tightly to the tumor. Many beams enter from different directions and overlap only at the target, so the tumor receives a high dose and the surrounding tissue receives far less. The delivery is accurate to within about 2 millimeters.
That accuracy depends on careful imaging and exact positioning. Before each session, the team takes images, often a cone-beam CT, to line the beam up with the tumor. For tumors that move as you breathe, such as in the lung or liver, the team tracks or limits that motion. Some machines, such as Ethos, can adjust the plan to the day's images at each session.
SBRT works best for tumors that are small and clearly defined. It is used for:
SBRT is often an alternative to surgery, especially when a tumor's location or a person's health makes an operation risky.
The consultation. A radiation oncologist reviews your scans and health and explains whether SBRT suits your tumor and what the goal is. You may also meet a surgeon or medical oncologist so you can weigh every option.
Marker placement, for some tumors. Tiny metal markers, called fiducials, may be placed in or near the tumor so the team can see it on X-ray images during treatment. For prostate cancer, this visit often also places a gel spacer between the prostate and the rectum to protect the rectum (rectal spacers).
Simulation and planning. You have a planning scan, often a CT and an MRI, in the exact position you will be treated in. The team may shape a body mold or use other devices to keep you still. Physicists and dosimetrists then design the plan, which usually takes one to two weeks.
Tell your team about your medicines, especially blood thinners before marker placement, any implanted device, earlier radiation and any chance you could be pregnant.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Your sessions. SBRT is usually one to five sessions, often given every other day. For prostate cancer, expect about seven visits in total after your consultation: one for markers and the spacer, one for planning and five for treatment. The five treatment sessions take about two weeks.
During a session. You lie still on the treatment table, held in position by your mold. The team takes images to line up the beams, then the machine moves around you. You do not feel the radiation. A session may last 30 minutes to an hour, longer than a standard radiation session, because of the extra imaging and the higher dose.
After a session. You go home the same day. Many people return to normal activities right away, though tiredness is common.
Follow-up. The tumor responds over weeks to months, so your first follow-up scan is usually a few months after treatment. Some tumors shrink, and others stop growing, which also counts as success.
Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher after your markers are placed, a new cough or pain that does not ease, or burning or blood when you pass urine. Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain, trouble breathing, coughing up blood, or new weakness or numbness in your legs.
Because SBRT treats a small area in few sessions, many people have only mild side effects. They depend on where the tumor is.
Your radiation oncologist will explain the risks for your tumor's location.
For small early cancers, especially in the lung and prostate, SBRT can control the tumor with results that compare well with other standard treatments, in a much shorter course. It can treat people who cannot have surgery, and it avoids an incision, anesthesia and a hospital stay. For cancer that has spread to a few places, it can control those spots and ease pain. Your team will tell you what SBRT can do for your situation.
No. Despite the related name radiosurgery, there is no cutting. SBRT is radiation therapy aimed with great precision.
Each session gives a much higher dose than standard radiation. The precision keeps that dose focused on the tumor.
Most people can, since SBRT needs no sedation. If you have a marker placement with sedation, plan for someone to drive you home that day.
Yes. It may be combined with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy or surgery, depending on your cancer.
Other options remain open, including surgery, other radiation or medicines. Your team will review what fits best.
SBRT is planned and given by radiation oncologists, physicists, dosimetrists and radiation therapists, working with your surgeons and medical oncologists.
Radiation oncologists give SBRT in one to five precise sessions for small tumors of the lung, liver, prostate and spine.
Learn More About CancerLung specialists find and biopsy lung nodules and refer people who cannot have surgery for SBRT.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareUrologists refer men with prostate cancer for a two-week course of SBRT, often with a rectal spacer placed first.
Learn More About UrologyBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerLung cancer starts when cells in the lung grow out of control and form a tumor. Found early, it can often be removed or...
Learn More About Lung CancerA lung nodule is a small round spot in the lung that shows up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Most are scars from an old...
Learn More About Lung NodulesPancreatic cancer starts in the cells of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps you digest food and control...
Learn More About Pancreatic CancerRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyA rectal spacer is a soft gel placed between the prostate and the rectum before radiation for prostate cancer. It moves the...
Learn More About Rectal SpacersImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyProton therapy is a type of radiation therapy that uses protons instead of X-rays. Protons release most of their energy at...
Learn More About Proton TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistSubmucosal tunneling endoscopic resection, or STER, removes a tumor from deep in the wall of the esophagus or stomach using a flexible scope passed through the mouth. There is no cut on the skin, and most people stay in the hospital for a day or two.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
You may have learned that you have a growth under the lining of your esophagus or stomach, perhaps found by chance during a scope test or a scan. Many of these growths are not cancer, and some can become a problem as they grow. Your doctor may have suggested removing it with a procedure called STER, short for submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection.
The wall of the esophagus and stomach is made of layers, like the layers of an onion. The inner lining is called the mucosa. Under it is a layer called the submucosa, and under that is muscle. Some tumors grow in these deeper layers, where a regular scope cannot reach them without cutting through the lining above.
STER solves that by making a short tunnel between the layers. The doctor works inside the tunnel, removes the tumor in one piece and then closes the entrance with small clips. The lining over the tumor stays whole, which helps it heal. Because everything is done through the mouth, STER often allows a shorter hospital stay and a quicker recovery than surgery.
STER is a way to remove a tumor from the deeper layers of the digestive tract, most often the esophagus or the upper stomach, using an endoscope. An endoscope is a thin, flexible tube with a light and camera at the tip. It goes in through your mouth, so there are no incisions on your chest or belly.
The procedure is done by an endoscopist, usually a gastroenterologist with advanced training in therapeutic endoscopy. It is closely related to peroral endoscopic myotomy, or POEM, which uses the same tunnel technique to treat a swallowing disorder called achalasia.
The growths STER removes are called submucosal or subepithelial tumors, because they lie beneath the inner lining. The most common kinds are:
Many people first learn about the tumor from an upper endoscopy and an endoscopic ultrasound, a scope with a small ultrasound probe that shows which layer the tumor comes from and how large it is.
STER is performed to remove a tumor in the deeper layers of the esophagus or stomach so it can be examined under a microscope and, where needed, treated. Reasons include:
STER suits small to medium-sized tumors in the esophagus or the top of the stomach that come from the deeper layers and have not spread. Your team will look at the tumor's size, shape, location and layer on endoscopic ultrasound and often a CT scan. A tumor that is large, in a hard-to-reach spot or likely to have spread may be better treated with surgery, such as esophageal surgery. Your doctor will explain which approach fits your tumor.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]STER is done under general anesthesia, so you are asleep. The endoscopist guides the scope through your mouth to the tumor. A special solution is injected under the lining to lift it away from the deeper layers. The doctor makes a small opening in the lining a short distance from the tumor and tunnels through the submucosa until the tumor is in view. Using a tiny knife on the scope, the doctor cuts the tumor free and brings it out through the mouth. The opening in the lining is then closed with clips.
Occasionally a tumor turns out to be too deep to remove safely with the scope. This can usually be found only during the procedure. If so, you and your doctor will talk about other ways to treat it.
You wake in a recovery area and are watched until the anesthesia wears off. Your throat may feel irritated, and you may have some pain in your chest or belly, which usually eases with medicine. You do not eat or drink for the rest of that day and night. The next morning you have an X-ray, and if it looks as expected you start clear liquids.
Most people go home after one or two days in the hospital. Your diet moves step by step from liquids to soft foods and back to normal, usually over one to two weeks. Your care team will give you a diet plan to follow at home.
STER is generally safe, and serious problems are uncommon. Risks include:
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain or trouble breathing, vomiting blood, black or tarry stools, or fainting.
Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, belly pain that is getting worse, or trouble swallowing that does not improve.
Your doctor will weigh these risks against the benefits of STER and of the other options for your tumor.
The endoscopist can usually tell you how the procedure went the same day. The tumor goes to a pathologist, who examines it under a microscope. Results usually take about five to seven days and go to the doctor who referred you, who will decide whether you need a follow-up visit.
No. The scope goes in through your mouth, and the small opening inside is closed with clips, so there are no cuts on your skin.
Not usually. Many of these growths are not cancer. Removing the tumor whole is often the clearest way to know what it is.
Most people stay one or two days, compared with several days or more after surgery that opens the chest or belly.
You start clear liquids the morning after the procedure, then slowly add soft foods. Most people are back to a normal diet within one to two weeks.
Sometimes a tumor is deeper than the scans showed. Your doctor will stop, explain what they found and talk with you about surgery or other options.
STER is performed by gastroenterologists with advanced endoscopy training, working with anesthesiologists, pathologists and, when a tumor is cancer, oncologists and surgeons.
Oncologists see patients whose removed tumor proves to be a GIST or cancer that needs follow-up or medicine.
Learn More About CancerAdvanced endoscopists remove tumors from deep in the esophagus or stomach wall through a tunnel made with the scope.
Learn More About Digestive HealthPathologists examine the whole removed tumor to tell a harmless leiomyoma from a GIST or a cancer.
Learn More About PathologyStomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, starts in the lining of the stomach. Its early signs, like indigestion or...
Learn More About Stomach CancerEsophageal cancer starts in the lining of the esophagus, the tube that takes food from your throat to your stomach. Its most...
Learn More About Esophageal CancerAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyColorectal cancer screening checks for cancer and the polyps that can turn into it before you have any symptoms. Adults at...
Learn More About Colorectal Cancer ScreeningColorectal surgery is an operation on the colon, rectum or anus. It removes cancer, polyps or diseased bowel and joins the...
Learn More About Colorectal SurgeryYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only when your cancer has that target, so a test of your tumor comes first. Many targeted medicines are pills taken at home, and others are given by infusion.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
Your oncologist may have mentioned targeted therapy after looking at the results of a test on your tumor, or you may have read that a "precision" medicine could be an option for your cancer. Either way, it is natural to wonder what makes this medicine different from chemotherapy and whether it fits your situation.
Targeted therapy starts from a simple idea. Many cancers grow because of a change in a particular gene or protein inside the cancer cells. A targeted medicine is designed to find that change and block it, which can slow the cancer, stop it from growing or shrink it. Because the medicine aims at something the cancer cells have, it tends to affect healthy cells less than traditional chemotherapy does, although it still has side effects of its own.
Not every cancer has a target that a medicine can reach, so testing your tumor is the first step. This page explains how targeted therapy works, the main kinds, which cancers it treats, how to get ready, what to expect, the side effects and what it can do.
Every cell follows instructions written in its genes. In cancer cells, some of those instructions have changed, and the changes can tell the cell to keep dividing, to ignore signals to stop, or to build new blood vessels that feed a tumor. These changes are called mutations or alterations, and the proteins they produce are the targets.
A targeted medicine works on one of those targets. Depending on the medicine, it may:
To find a target, your care team tests a sample of your tumor, and sometimes your blood, with molecular profiling. One common method, next-generation sequencing, reads many genes at once.
Targeted therapy is used when testing shows a target that a medicine can reach. It may be given alone, with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or hormone therapy, or after surgery to lower the chance of the cancer coming back. For many advanced cancers, the goal is to control the cancer and help you feel well for as long as possible.
Cancers it is used for include:
Before you begin, your care team checks several things:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Starting. Your oncologist or an oncology pharmacist explains the dose, the schedule and the side effects to watch for. Pills often come from a specialty pharmacy, and you take them at home on a set schedule. Infusions are given at an infusion center, often every one to three weeks, and some medicines are now given as a shot under the skin, which takes less time than an infusion.
The schedule. Many people take targeted therapy for as long as it keeps the cancer under control and the side effects are manageable. After surgery, a course may last a set time, such as a year.
How long until it works. Some people notice symptoms ease within weeks. Your team usually checks with scans every two to three months and with blood tests in between.
Follow-up. Regular visits let your team adjust the dose, treat side effects early and watch for signs that the cancer is finding a way around the medicine.
Side effects depend on the medicine and its target. Common ones include:
Most side effects can be eased with medicine, skin care or a change in dose. Tell your team about them early, since many are easier to treat when they are mild.
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, or a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher while you are also receiving chemotherapy or when your team has told you your blood counts are low. Call your care team the same day for diarrhea that does not ease with the medicine you were given, a rash that spreads or blisters, a new cough, or any other fever.
When a cancer has a target, targeted therapy can shrink tumors, slow or stop their growth and ease symptoms, often while you keep up much of your daily life. For some cancers, such as chronic myeloid leukemia and HER2-positive breast cancer, targeted medicines have changed what a diagnosis means. After surgery, some lower the chance of the cancer coming back.
Cancer cells can change over time and stop responding. When that happens, your team may test again and move to another medicine. Results vary from person to person, and your team will tell you what to expect for your cancer.
They are different classes of medicine. Chemotherapy attacks cells that divide quickly, healthy or not. Targeted therapy acts on a specific change in the cancer cells. Some plans use both.
Then a targeted medicine is unlikely to help, and your team will recommend other treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation. New targets are found often, so testing may be repeated later.
Many targeted medicines are pills you take at home. Others are infusions or shots given at a clinic. Either way, you stay in close touch with your team.
Check with your care team or pharmacist first. Some supplements and foods, such as grapefruit, change how much medicine reaches your blood.
Usually not, because most tumor changes happen only in the cancer. If a test suggests an inherited change, such as BRCA, your team may suggest genetic counseling for you and your relatives.
Medical oncologists prescribe and oversee targeted therapy, working with pathologists who test the tumor, oncology pharmacists and infusion nurses.
Medical oncologists choose a targeted medicine for the gene or protein change found in a tumor and track how it works.
Learn More About CancerDermatologists treat the rashes and skin changes some targeted medicines cause, so treatment can continue.
Learn More About DermatologyPathologists test tumor tissue for the gene and protein changes that decide whether a targeted medicine can help.
Learn More About PathologyAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersBasal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer. It grows slowly in sun-exposed skin, such as the face, ears and scalp,...
Learn More About Basal Cell CarcinomaBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisBrain and spine tumors are growths in or around the brain, the spinal cord or the bones of the spine. Some are cancer and...
Learn More About Brain and Spine TumorsA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyA MUGA scan measures how well your heart pumps blood. A small amount of tracer is added to your blood, and a camera takes...
Learn More About MUGA ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA trachelectomy removes the cervix while keeping the uterus, so a person treated for small, early cervical cancer may still be able to have a baby. Gynecologic oncologists perform it, often through small incisions.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has mentioned a trachelectomy, you have probably just learned that you have early cervical cancer, and you may be thinking about whether you can still have children. That is the question this operation exists to answer. For the right person, it treats the cancer and keeps the chance of a future pregnancy.
The standard surgery for early cervical cancer is a hysterectomy, which removes the uterus and cervix and ends the ability to become pregnant. A trachelectomy removes the cervix, the tissue around it and the top of the vagina, and leaves the body of the uterus in place. The surgeon then reconnects the uterus to the vagina and places a stitch to help hold a future pregnancy.
It is an option only for some cancers: small ones, found early, that have not spread. Your gynecologic oncologist will look closely at your tumor, your scans and your lymph nodes to decide whether it is safe for you.
This page explains the kinds of trachelectomy, who is a candidate, how to prepare, what recovery is like and what pregnancy afterward involves.
A trachelectomy is surgery to remove the cervix, the narrow lower end of the uterus that opens into the vagina. It is a fertility-sparing treatment for cervical cancer: it removes the cancer while keeping the uterus, so a pregnancy remains possible.
In most cases the surgeon also removes lymph nodes from the pelvis and checks them for cancer, often at the start of the same operation. This is called a pelvic lymph node dissection. Some surgeons first inject a dye to find the sentinel nodes, the first nodes the cancer would reach. If cancer is found in the nodes, a trachelectomy is usually no longer the safest choice, and your surgeon will have talked with you beforehand about what happens then. Learn more about lymph node removal.
A trachelectomy is done under general anesthesia, so you are asleep and feel nothing.
A trachelectomy can be performed in several ways:
The approach depends on the size and position of the tumor and on your health. Your surgeon will explain why a particular approach is recommended for you.
A trachelectomy treats early cervical cancer in people who want to keep the ability to become pregnant. A related operation, a parametrectomy, removes the tissue beside where the cervix was when cervical cancer is found only after a simple hysterectomy.
You may be a candidate if:
For the smallest cancers, a cone biopsy, which removes a cone-shaped piece of the cervix, may be all that is needed. Larger tumors are usually treated with hysterectomy or with chemotherapy and radiation. Your care team uses an exam, an MRI and the pathology report to decide.
Your surgical team will give you written instructions for your situation.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You are asleep throughout. The surgeon usually checks the lymph nodes first. If they are clear, the surgeon removes the cervix and surrounding tissue, places a permanent stitch called a cerclage around the lower uterus, and joins the uterus to the top of the vagina. A small tube called a catheter drains your bladder.
Most people stay in the hospital for one to a few days. You may go home with the catheter for several days while your bladder recovers. Some cramping and light vaginal bleeding or discharge are expected.
Recovery from a robotic trachelectomy generally takes about two weeks, and about four to six weeks after open surgery. Avoid heavy lifting, sex and tampons until your surgeon clears you, often around six weeks. Your surgeon will tell you how long to wait before trying to become pregnant, often six months to a year.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, heavy vaginal bleeding, pain or swelling in one leg, being unable to pass urine after the catheter is out, or redness, warmth or drainage at an incision.
Risks include bleeding, infection, blood clots and injury to the bladder, ureters or bowel. Removing lymph nodes can lead to swelling in the legs or genital area, called lymphedema. Some people have changes in how the bladder empties for a time.
The new opening of the uterus can narrow, which can cause painful or irregular periods and may need a short procedure to widen it. The vagina may be slightly shorter, and some people notice changes during sex.
Sometimes the final lab report shows the cancer was larger or had spread further than expected. In that case, more treatment such as radiation, chemotherapy or a hysterectomy may be recommended.
For carefully chosen people with small tumors, the chance of the cancer coming back after a radical trachelectomy is similar to that after a radical hysterectomy. You will have regular follow-up exams, often every three to six months for the first two years, with Pap tests and sometimes imaging.
Many people who try to become pregnant afterward are able to. Pregnancy after a trachelectomy is considered high risk, with a higher chance of miscarriage in the second trimester and of early birth. It is followed closely by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, and the baby is delivered by cesarean birth. Some people need help from a fertility specialist to conceive.
Yes. The uterus stays in place, so periods continue. They may be lighter or different at first.
Many people can. Pregnancy is possible because the uterus stays, and your care team will plan close monitoring and a cesarean birth.
For small, early tumors in carefully chosen patients, outcomes are similar. Your surgeon will explain whether your cancer fits.
Your surgeon will usually stop the trachelectomy, and you will likely be treated with chemotherapy and radiation. This plan is discussed with you before surgery.
Most people need only follow-up exams. If the lab report finds features that raise the risk of return, more treatment may be recommended.
Trachelectomy is performed by gynecologic oncologists, surgeons with training in obstetrics and gynecology and advanced training in gynecologic cancers.
Gynecologic oncologists remove the cervix and nearby lymph nodes to treat small, early cervical cancer.
Learn More About CancerPathologists check the lymph nodes and the removed cervix for clear edges and any spread of the cancer.
Learn More About PathologyMaternal-fetal medicine specialists follow a pregnancy after trachelectomy and plan a cesarean birth.
Learn More About Women'sCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersLymph node removal takes out one or more of the small glands that filter fluid near a cancer, so a pathologist can see...
Learn More About Lymph Node RemovalAn MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, with no radiation. It...
Learn More About MRICervical cancer screening uses a Pap test, an HPV test or both to find changes in the cervix years before they could become...
Learn More About Cervical Cancer ScreeningYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It needs no large incision, many people go home the same day, and it can treat small tumors in the liver, kidney, lung, bone and other organs when surgery is not the best choice.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended tumor ablation, you may have a small tumor in your liver, kidney, lung or bone, or a growth in your thyroid that is causing trouble. You may have been told that surgery would be hard on your body, or that the tumor is in a place where it is safer to destroy it than to cut it out. Ablation gives your team a way to treat it through a needle, often with a short recovery.
Ablation is a local treatment. It works on the tumor it is aimed at and on a small rim of tissue around it, and it leaves the rest of the organ working. Your doctor uses CT, ultrasound or MRI pictures to guide a thin probe into the tumor, then sends energy through the probe to destroy the tumor cells. The body clears the dead tissue over the following months.
This page explains the kinds of ablation, who is a candidate, how to prepare, what recovery is like and the risks to go over with your doctor.
Tumor ablation is a procedure that destroys a tumor in place instead of removing it. A doctor places one or more thin needles, called probes, through the skin and into the tumor, using imaging to guide each one. The probe then heats or freezes the tumor until the cells die.
Ablation is most often done by an interventional radiologist, a doctor who treats disease through needles and thin tubes guided by imaging. Surgeons sometimes ablate a tumor during an operation, and neurosurgeons use a laser form of ablation in the brain. Ablation works best on small tumors, usually about 3 centimeters across or smaller, and on a limited number of them.
Ablation is used when a tumor is small enough to destroy completely, or when shrinking or destroying it would relieve symptoms. It is often chosen for people who cannot have surgery or who would rather avoid it. Common uses include:
You may be a candidate if your tumor is small, can be reached safely with a needle and is far enough from large blood vessels and organs that could be harmed. Your team reviews your scans, your overall health and your other treatment choices. Ablation is sometimes combined with surgery, tumor embolization or radiation therapy, and the plan is made with you.
Your team will give you instructions for your procedure.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]Depending on the organ, you have local numbing medicine, sedation or general anesthesia. Using CT, ultrasound or MRI, the doctor guides the probe through a small nick in the skin and into the tumor, then turns on the energy for several minutes at a time, sometimes in more than one spot. Thyroid and spine ablations often take under an hour; liver and kidney ablations can take one to three hours.
You rest in a recovery area while nurses watch your vital signs. Many people go home the same day, and some stay one night, especially after a liver or lung ablation. A small bandage covers the needle site.
Most people return to light activity within a few days. Some feel tired and achy for several days while the body clears the treated tissue. A follow-up scan, often about a month later, shows whether the whole tumor was destroyed.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, pain that keeps getting worse, redness, swelling or drainage at the needle site, or nausea or vomiting that keeps you from drinking.
Serious problems after ablation are uncommon. Your doctor will go over how these apply to you:
For small tumors, ablation can destroy the whole tumor, and for some small liver and kidney cancers it offers results close to surgery. For bone tumors, many people have less pain within days. Because a new tumor can grow elsewhere in the organ, you will have regular scans afterward, and ablation can usually be repeated if needed.
No large incision is made. The doctor works through one or more needle punctures, guided by imaging, which is why most people recover in days.
You are numbed, sedated or asleep during it. Afterward, soreness at the site is common for a few days and is treated with pain medicine.
A follow-up CT or MRI shows whether the treated area still has living tumor. You will have scans at set times after that.
Yes. If part of the tumor remains or a new tumor appears, ablation can often be done again.
Some people need nothing more. Others have ablation alongside surgery, chemotherapy, embolization or radiation, depending on the type and stage of the tumor.
Tumor ablation is performed by interventional radiologists, surgeons and neurosurgeons, who work with medical and radiation oncologists to plan it. Care is offered at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida.
Oncologists choose ablation for small liver, kidney, lung or bone tumors when it can destroy them without open surgery.
Learn More About CancerNeurosurgeons use MRI-guided laser ablation for deep brain tumors, and spine specialists ablate painful spine tumors.
Learn More About NeuroscienceInterventional radiologists guide the needle probe into the tumor with CT, ultrasound or MRI and check results on scans.
Learn More About RadiologyAdrenal cancer starts in one of the two small glands above the kidneys that make hormones for blood pressure, blood sugar...
Learn More About Adrenal CancerBone metastasis means cancer that started somewhere else, such as the breast, prostate or lung, has spread to a bone. It can...
Learn More About Bone MetastasisCancer pain is pain caused by a tumor or by cancer treatment. It can be an ache, a sharp or burning pain, or tingling and...
Learn More About Cancer PainColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsHistotripsy uses focused pulses of sound, sent from outside your body, to break apart a tumor in the liver. There are no...
Learn More About HistotripsyA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor...
Learn More About Tumor EmbolizationRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistTumor embolization blocks the blood vessels that feed a tumor, so it shrinks or stops growing. A doctor reaches the tumor through a thin tube placed in an artery at the groin or wrist. It is most often used for liver tumors, and it can also make some tumors safer to remove with surgery.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor has recommended tumor embolization, you may have a tumor in your liver that surgery cannot safely remove, or a tumor elsewhere that has a rich blood supply. You may also be waiting for another treatment, such as a liver transplant or an operation, and your team wants to control the tumor in the meantime. Embolization lets your doctor treat the tumor from inside the blood vessels, with no large incision.
Every tumor needs blood to grow. Embolization cuts off that supply by placing tiny particles, coils or other material in the artery that feeds the tumor. In the liver this works especially well, because liver tumors draw most of their blood from one artery, while the healthy liver draws most of its blood from a different vessel. So the tumor loses its supply and the rest of the liver keeps working.
This page explains the kinds of embolization, who is a candidate, how to prepare, what recovery is like and the risks to go over with your doctor.
Tumor embolization is a procedure that blocks the arteries feeding a tumor. A doctor makes a tiny opening in an artery in your groin or wrist and threads a thin, flexible tube called a catheter through the blood vessels to the tumor, watching its path on X-ray pictures. Once the catheter reaches the artery that feeds the tumor, the doctor releases material that blocks it. Some forms also deliver cancer medicine or radiation straight into the tumor.
Embolization is usually done by an interventional radiologist, a doctor who treats disease through needles and catheters guided by imaging. It is a local treatment, aimed at the tumor and the organ it is in.
Embolization is used to shrink a tumor, slow its growth, relieve symptoms or prepare for surgery. Common uses include:
You may be a candidate if your tumor gets its blood from arteries the catheter can reach and if your liver and kidneys work well enough. People whose liver is badly damaged, or whose main liver vein is blocked, may not be able to have it safely. Your team reviews your scans, blood tests and overall health. Embolization is sometimes combined with tumor ablation, hepatectomy or medicines that work throughout the body, and the plan is made with you.
Your team will give you instructions for your procedure.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]You have sedation to relax you, and numbing medicine where the catheter goes in. The doctor guides the catheter to the tumor's artery, injects X-ray dye to map the vessels, then releases the particles, medicine or beads. You may feel warmth or pressure, and little else. The procedure usually takes one to two hours.
If the catheter went in at the groin, you lie flat for a few hours so the artery seals; a wrist approach lets you get up sooner. Nurses watch your vital signs and the puncture site. Many people go home the same day after bland embolization, and many stay one night after chemoembolization so the team can control pain and nausea.
Many people have belly pain, nausea and tiredness for a few days to a week as the tumor dies, and your team gives you medicine for each. Most return to light activity within a week. A follow-up scan, often four to six weeks later, shows how the tumor responded.
Call 911 for chest pain or trouble breathing, bleeding from the puncture site that will not stop with firm pressure, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, belly pain that keeps getting worse, swelling or a growing lump at the puncture site, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or vomiting that keeps you from drinking.
Your doctor will go over how these apply to you:
For liver cancer that cannot be removed, embolization can shrink tumors, slow their growth and help people live longer and feel better. For some people, it shrinks a tumor enough to make surgery or a transplant possible. Before an operation, it can lower blood loss. Embolization can usually be repeated if a tumor grows again, and you will have regular scans and blood tests afterward.
No incision is made beyond a tiny opening in an artery for the catheter. Most people recover in days.
Hair loss is uncommon, because most of the medicine stays in the liver instead of traveling through the body.
Your healthy liver gets most of its blood from a different vessel, so it keeps working. Your team checks your liver function before and after.
Some people need one. Others have two or more, weeks or months apart, depending on how many tumors there are and how they respond.
For most people it controls the cancer instead of curing it. For some, it keeps a tumor small until a transplant or surgery that can cure it.
Tumor embolization is performed by interventional radiologists, working with liver surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons to plan it. Care is offered at Orlando Health locations across Central Florida.
Liver cancer teams use embolization to shrink tumors surgery cannot remove or to hold them until a transplant.
Learn More About CancerLiver specialists check liver function before and after embolization and help manage the liver disease behind the tumor.
Learn More About Digestive HealthInterventional radiologists thread the catheter to the tumor's artery on X-ray and release the blocking material.
Learn More About RadiologyLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerNeuroendocrine tumors grow from cells that act like both nerve cells and hormone-making cells. They can form almost...
Learn More About Neuroendocrine TumorsColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerA brain tumor is a growth of abnormal cells in or around the brain. Some are cancer and some are not, and many grow slowly....
Learn More About Brain TumorsRadioembolization treats tumors in the liver from the inside. A doctor guides a thin tube through an artery to the liver and...
Learn More About RadioembolizationA liver transplant replaces a liver that no longer works, or one with early cancer, with a healthy liver from a donor. It is...
Learn More About Liver TransplantTumor ablation destroys a tumor where it is, using heat, cold or another form of energy delivered through a thin needle. It...
Learn More About Tumor AblationA hepatectomy is surgery to remove part of the liver, most often to take out a tumor. A healthy liver regrows to near its...
Learn More About HepatectomyAn appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix, a small pouch attached to the large intestine. It is most often done for...
Learn More About AppendectomyCancer surgery removes a tumor and some healthy tissue around it, or takes a sample to diagnose or stage cancer. It is often...
Learn More About Cancer SurgeryYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistTumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy is a one-time treatment for advanced melanoma. Immune cells are taken from your own tumor, grown into billions in a lab and returned to your body through an IV to attack the cancer. It involves surgery, a hospital stay and close care from a specialized team.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your melanoma has spread or come back after other treatments, your oncologist may have brought up TIL therapy. The name is long, and the process has several steps, so it helps to see the whole path before you decide.
Your immune system already sends fighter cells, called T cells, into a tumor. The cells that make it inside are called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, or TILs. On their own there are too few of them to win, and the cancer can wear them down. TIL therapy takes some of those cells out, grows billions more of them in a lab, and gives them back to you so there are far more cells working against the cancer.
Unlike most cancer medicines, which are given again and again, TIL therapy is given once. It does ask a lot of your body for a few weeks, including surgery, chemotherapy and a hospital stay, so your team checks carefully that it is a good fit and safe for you. This page explains how it works, who it is for, how to get ready, each step, the side effects and what it can do.
TIL therapy is a type of immunotherapy called cell therapy, because the treatment is made from your own living cells. It is also called adoptive cell transfer.
The idea is to give your immune system reinforcements. T cells found inside a tumor have already recognized the cancer as a threat. In a specialized lab, those cells are multiplied into billions over about three weeks. Before they go back in, a short course of chemotherapy clears out other immune cells, making room for the new ones to take hold and grow. After the infusion, a medicine called interleukin-2 (IL-2) helps the new cells stay active.
The first TIL therapy, lifileucel (Amtagvi), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2024. It was the first cell therapy approved for a solid tumor. Other cell therapies, such as CAR T-cell therapy, are used for blood cancers and are made in a different way.
TIL therapy is approved for adults with melanoma that has spread or cannot be removed with surgery and that has grown after earlier treatment. That earlier treatment includes an immunotherapy medicine called a PD-1 inhibitor and, for melanoma with a BRAF change, targeted therapy.
TIL therapy may be an option if:
Researchers are studying TIL therapy for other solid tumors, such as cervical, lung and head and neck cancers.
Your oncologist first evaluates whether TIL therapy fits you. Expect:
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]TIL therapy happens in steps over several weeks:
After you go home, you have frequent visits and blood tests at first, then scans to see how the cancer is responding, often starting about six weeks after the infusion.
TIL therapy is intensive, and most side effects come from the chemotherapy and IL-2 rather than the cells themselves. Your team watches for them closely in the hospital.
After you go home, call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain or trouble breathing, a fever with low blood counts, bleeding that will not stop, or fainting. Call your care team the same day for new diarrhea, a new rash, swelling in your legs or passing much less urine than usual.
TIL therapy offers another option when melanoma has grown despite other treatment. In the study that led to approval, tumors shrank in about 3 of every 10 people, and for many of them the response lasted more than a year. A small number had their cancer disappear on scans.
It is given once, so after recovery there are no ongoing infusions of the treatment itself. Results vary, and your team will talk with you about what it may do for your cancer.
The treatment is made from cells inside your tumor, so a piece of tumor has to be removed to collect them.
Most people stay for the chemotherapy, the infusion and the IL-2, and until blood counts recover. That is often two to four weeks in all.
Both use your own immune cells. CAR T cells come from your blood and are changed in a lab to find a marker on blood cancer cells. TILs come from your tumor and are multiplied as they are, with no changes made to them.
This happens occasionally. Your team will talk with you about other options, and sometimes another sample can be taken.
TIL therapy is given once. Your team checks with scans over the following months and talks with you about any next steps based on how the cancer responds.
TIL therapy is given by a specialized team of medical oncologists, surgeons, cell therapy nurses and lab specialists at a center authorized to give it.
Melanoma specialists decide who fits TIL therapy and guide the chemotherapy, cell infusion and IL-2 in the hospital.
Learn More About CancerSurgeons remove a piece of melanoma tumor so the immune cells inside it can be grown into the treatment.
Learn More About General SurgeryCritical care teams watch blood pressure, breathing and fluids closely while some patients receive IL-2 after TIL infusion.
Learn More About Pulmonary / Critical CareMelanoma is a skin cancer that starts in the cells that give skin its color. It is less common than other skin cancers and...
Learn More About MelanomaSkin cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the skin, most often caused by damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays. It is...
Learn More About Skin CancerImmunotherapy helps your own immune system find and destroy cancer cells. It is given mostly by IV every few weeks and...
Learn More About ImmunotherapyTargeted therapy is cancer medicine that zeroes in on a specific gene or protein that helps a cancer grow. It works only...
Learn More About Targeted TherapyCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationChemotherapy uses medicines to destroy cancer cells or keep them from growing. It is given by IV or as pills, in cycles with...
Learn More About ChemotherapyHormone therapy for cancer lowers the hormones some cancers need to grow, or blocks them from reaching cancer cells. It...
Learn More About Hormone TherapyLymphedema therapy reduces and controls swelling in an arm, leg or other area when lymph fluid builds up, most often after...
Learn More About Lymphedema TherapyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA tumor marker test measures substances in your blood, urine or tissue that some cancers make in larger amounts. It is most often used to track how well cancer treatment is working and to watch for cancer coming back. A high result on its own does not mean you have cancer.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If your doctor ordered a tumor marker test, you may be worried that a single number will decide what happens next. It will not. A tumor marker result is one piece of information, read together with your symptoms, your exam, imaging tests and, when needed, a biopsy.
Tumor markers are substances, most often proteins, that cancer cells make or that the body makes in response to cancer. Some healthy tissues make them too, and many conditions that are not cancer can raise them. That is why these tests are rarely used alone to find cancer.
Where tumor markers help most is over time. Once a cancer that makes a marker has been found, checking the level again and again can show whether treatment is working and give an early sign if cancer comes back.
This page explains the common tumor markers, why the test is ordered, how to prepare, what happens during the test, and how to understand your results.
A tumor marker test measures how much of a particular substance is in a sample from your body. Most tests use blood. A few use urine, and some look at tissue from a biopsy.
Each marker is linked with one or a few kinds of cancer. When a cancer that makes a marker is growing, the level of that marker often rises. When treatment is working, the level often falls.
Tumor markers are not perfect. Some people with cancer have normal levels, and some people without cancer have raised levels from other conditions, such as an infection, inflammation, liver disease or pregnancy. So your care team looks at a marker alongside your other test results and watches how the level changes over time.
Tumor markers in tissue that guide the choice of medicine, such as HER2 in breast cancer, are covered on our page about molecular profiling.
Common blood tumor markers, and the cancers they are most often used for, include:
Some blood cancers, such as myeloma, have their own blood and urine protein tests.
Doctors order tumor marker tests to:
Most people who have a tumor marker test have already been diagnosed with a cancer that makes a marker, and the test is part of their treatment and follow-up. Others have one while a growth is being checked. Tumor marker tests are not recommended to screen people who have no symptoms for most cancers, including CA-125 for ovarian cancer and CEA for colon cancer, because they give too many false alarms and miss too many cancers.
Most tumor marker tests need no special preparation. Follow the instructions you are given.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]For a blood test, a nurse or lab technician cleans the skin on your arm, places a band above the spot and draws a small amount of blood from a vein with a needle. You may feel a quick sting. It takes a few minutes. If you have a port for cancer treatment, the blood may be drawn from your port.
For a urine test, you are given a cup and instructions. Some tests ask you to collect all your urine over 24 hours at home.
The sample goes to a lab. Results are often ready within a few days.
You can go back to your normal day right after the test.
A tumor marker test is a simple, safe test.
Call your care team the same day for swelling, redness or pain where your blood was drawn that gets worse.
Your doctor will go over your results with you. Each lab gives a reference range, and a result above it is called elevated.
If you see a result in your patient portal before you talk with your doctor, try not to read too much into one number. Write down your questions for your next visit.
Not on its own. A tumor marker can point to a possible cancer, but a diagnosis almost always needs imaging and a biopsy. Many people with a raised marker do not have cancer.
Small changes are common and can come from normal variation, the lab used, or another condition. Your care team looks at the pattern over several tests before deciding whether anything needs to change.
It depends on your cancer and your treatment. During treatment, it may be checked before each cycle or every few months. After treatment, it is often checked at follow-up visits for several years.
For most cancers, no screening test uses a tumor marker, because the results are not reliable enough in people without symptoms. PSA screening for prostate cancer is a choice to discuss with your doctor. Ask about the screening tests recommended for your age and risk.
Not every cancer makes a marker, and some make it only in small amounts. For those cancers, your care team relies on scans, exams and other tests to follow your progress.
Tumor marker tests are ordered by oncologists, surgeons, urologists, gynecologists and primary care doctors, and the blood is drawn at a lab or during a clinic or infusion visit. Find a location near you below.
Oncologists track markers such as CEA and CA 19-9 over time to judge treatment and watch for a return.
Learn More About CancerUrologists use PSA, and AFP and beta-hCG blood tests, when they check for prostate or testicular cancer.
Learn More About UrologyGynecologists may check CA-125 before surgery to help judge whether an ovarian growth could be cancer.
Learn More About Women'sAppendiceal cancers are rare cancers that start in the appendix, the small pouch attached to the large intestine. Many are...
Learn More About Appendiceal CancersColon cancer starts in the lining of the large intestine, most often in a small growth called a polyp. Screening can find...
Learn More About Colon CancerGallbladder cancer starts in the gallbladder, the small organ under the liver that stores bile. It is rare, and it is often...
Learn More About Gallbladder CancerGynecologic cancers start in a woman's reproductive organs: the cervix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vagina or vulva....
Learn More About Gynecologic CancersLiver cancer is cancer in the liver, either starting there or spreading there from another organ. It most often grows in a...
Learn More About Liver CancerOvarian cancer starts in the ovaries, the fallopian tubes or the lining of the belly. Its early signs, like bloating or...
Learn More About Ovarian CancerMolecular profiling tests a sample of your cancer for changes in its genes and proteins. The results can show which...
Learn More About Molecular ProfilingA biopsy takes a small sample of tissue or cells so a doctor can study it under a microscope. It is the test that shows for...
Learn More About BiopsyProstate cancer screening checks for prostate cancer before you have symptoms, most often with a PSA blood test. Whether and...
Learn More About Prostate Cancer ScreeningA bone scan uses a small amount of a radioactive tracer and a special camera to show areas of bone that are changing or...
Learn More About Bone ScanA CT scan uses X-rays and a computer to make detailed pictures of the inside of your body, slice by slice. It is quick and...
Learn More About CT ScanGenetic counseling helps you find out whether cancer in your family may be inherited, whether a genetic test makes sense for...
Learn More About Genetic CounselingYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an OncologistA urostomy is surgery that makes a new way for urine to leave your body when the bladder has been removed or can no longer work. Urine drains through a small opening on the belly, called a stoma, into a flat pouch you empty several times a day.
A page shows zero, one or two buttons, each reasoned from the moment its reader is in. Leads go where a real decision exists (planning a birth, a diagnosis in pregnancy, a failed screen, a follow-up specialist, a pediatrician for a healthy newborn). A page read by a parent whose baby is in a NICU now offers the page's own help and the support every NICU family gets, never a sales button. No button anywhere asks anyone to choose a NICU.
Decided 2026-10-20
Labels, closing bands and the line page's opening are factual, with no warmth words and no severity words. A page a healthy newborn's parent reads (jaundice, a glucose check, a hearing screen) never leads with the NICU or closes on a NICU band; nursery care has its own closing.
Decided 2026-10-20
Related services render as the Services tab of the designer's tabs module, as he drew them: six cards on a line page, each one service line on the ruled list, never two specialties under one name, each with one sentence on how that line joins a newborn's care.
Decided 2026-10-20
Every page uses Lufga, loaded from orlandohealth.com, at 400, 500 and 700 only. Headings 700, the hero paragraph 500, body and buttons 400.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-20
Pills are about 2.4 times their label tall, regular weight, with no border on solid pills; the two hero pills are equal width across the paragraph, each led by an ink icon chosen from its label. The facility hero's pills carry no icon.
Decided 2026-10-20
A library page's breadcrumbs follow its address (Home, Health Library, Conditions, the page), because one condition page serves every line that treats it. The way back to the line comes from two other places: the first card in the page's Services tab is the line itself, always; and a visitor who arrived from a line, unit, team or program page also sees a Back link at the right of the crumb bar, naming that page.
Sources
Decided 2026-10-21
If you have been told you need a urostomy, it is natural to wonder how your daily life will change. Most often it comes with surgery to remove the bladder for bladder cancer, and the two can feel like a great deal to take in at once. People with a urostomy go back to work, travel, exercise, swim and stay close to the people they love. A nurse who specializes in ostomy care teaches you everything you need before you leave the hospital.
The surgery creates an opening on the belly called a stoma. It is pink or red, moist, and does not hurt when touched, because it has no nerve endings that sense pain. Urine flows out of the stoma all the time, so you wear a pouch over it that sticks to the skin and is emptied into the toilet.
A urostomy is one of several ways to drain urine after the bladder is removed. Others include a new bladder made from the intestine, called a neobladder. Your surgeon will explain which choices fit your body, your health and your cancer.
Normally, urine travels from the kidneys through two thin tubes called ureters to the bladder, which stores it until you urinate. A urostomy, also called a urinary diversion, reroutes the ureters so urine leaves through a stoma on the belly instead.
The surgery is done by a urologist, a surgeon who specializes in the urinary tract, under general anesthesia. It is usually done in the same operation that removes the bladder, called a cystectomy.
The stoma is usually on the right side of the belly, a little below the waistline. Before surgery, an ostomy nurse marks the best spot, one you can see and reach easily and that stays clear of skin folds and your belt line.
Two other choices do not need an outside pouch: a continent pouch, emptied through a small stoma with a thin tube called a catheter, and a neobladder, which lets you urinate through the urethra.
A urostomy is performed when urine can no longer pass through the bladder safely. The most common reason is bladder cancer that has grown into the bladder's muscle wall or keeps returning despite treatment, when the whole bladder is removed.
Other reasons include:
Your team will look at your cancer, your kidney function, your overall health and your ability to care for a stoma. An ileal conduit is often the choice for people who want the simplest surgery and recovery, and for people whose kidney function or health makes a neobladder less suitable. Where the cancer allows, your urologic cancer team will also discuss treatments that keep the bladder.
[Brief description of the resource]
[Resource Download/Access][Optional Secondary CTA]The operation is often done along with removing the bladder and can take several hours. It may be done through one larger incision or with robotic surgery through several small ones. Thin plastic tubes called stents are placed in the ureters to protect the new connections while they heal.
Most people stay in the hospital for several days. You start walking the day after surgery, and you begin eating as your bowels wake up. A pouch is on from the start. The stent tubes come out through the stoma and are removed a week or two after surgery.
Before you go home, the ostomy nurse teaches you and a family member how to empty the pouch, change it every few days, care for the skin around the stoma and connect a larger bag for overnight drainage.
Full recovery takes about six to eight weeks. Avoid heavy lifting during that time to protect the belly wall.
All major surgery has risks, including bleeding, infection, blood clots and reactions to anesthesia. Risks specific to a urostomy include:
Call 911 or go to the emergency room for chest pain or trouble breathing, fainting, or bleeding from the stoma that will not stop.
Call your care team the same day for little or no urine from the stoma for several hours, a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, a stoma that turns dark red, purple or black, swelling or pain in one leg, or urine that is cloudy and foul-smelling with back pain.
A urostomy lets the kidneys drain freely, which protects them, and it allows the bladder and the cancer in it to be removed. Most people adjust well. After recovery, you can usually wear your usual clothes, shower, swim, travel and return to work and exercise. The pouch lies flat under clothing and is not noticeable to others.
Many people find it helps to talk with others who live with an ostomy. Support groups, an ostomy nurse and your cancer team can help with questions about body image and intimacy, which are common and worth raising.
Usually not. A modern pouch is flat, does not smell when sealed and is hidden under ordinary clothing.
Yes, once you have healed. Pouches are waterproof. Ask your team before heavy lifting or contact sports.
Most people empty it when it is about a third full, often every few hours during the day, and connect it to a larger bag at night.
Many people do. Removing the bladder can affect sexual function, so ask your surgeon what to expect and what can help.
After the bladder is removed, a urostomy is usually permanent. Your surgeon can explain whether any other kind of diversion might suit you later.
Urostomy is performed by urologists, often urologic oncologists or reconstructive urologists, with ostomy nurses who teach stoma care.
Bladder cancer that grows into the muscle wall is the most common reason a urostomy follows bladder removal.
Learn More About CancerUrologists remove the bladder and build the urostomy, most often an ileal conduit made from a short piece of bowel.
Learn More About UrologySome advanced cervical and other pelvic cancers need surgery that removes the bladder and creates a urostomy.
Learn More About Women'sBladder cancer starts in the lining of the bladder, the organ that stores urine. Its most common sign is blood in the urine....
Learn More About Bladder CancerUrologic cancers start in the urinary tract, which includes the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, or in the male...
Learn More About Urologic CancersCervical cancer starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that opens into the vagina. Nearly all cases are caused...
Learn More About Cervical CancerRadiation therapy uses carefully aimed beams of energy, or a radiation source placed in the body, to damage cancer cells so...
Learn More About Radiation TherapyCancer rehabilitation helps you keep or regain strength, movement and independence before, during and after cancer...
Learn More About Cancer RehabilitationAn abdominoperineal resection is surgery that removes the lower rectum and the anus to treat a cancer very low in the rectum...
Learn More About Abdominoperineal ResectionAn anoscopy is a quick office exam that uses a small, lighted tube to look inside the anus and lower rectum. It takes a few...
Learn More About AnoscopyA barium enema is an X-ray exam of the colon and rectum. A chalky liquid called barium is placed through the rectum to coat...
Learn More About Barium EnemaA colonoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a camera to look at the whole inside of the colon and rectum. You are usually...
Learn More About ColonoscopyYour cancer care team explains each option and plans your treatment with you.
Find an Oncologist