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Home > About childhood cancer > Treatment >If a child has been diagnosed with a solid tumour, it is likely they will need surgery. Treating a tumour surgically means removing it with an operation. Some tissue surrounding the tumour may also be removed.
Usually, before the operation a sample of the tumour will be taken to decide whether the tumour is malignant or benign. This is known as a biopsy.
If a tumour is removed completely by surgery and is diagnosed as benign this may be the only treatment necessary.
If a tumour is removed completely by surgery and is diagnosed as malignant then the child may have a course of chemotherapy to “mop up” any cancer cells that may be elsewhere in the body.
Depending upon the size of the tumour, surgery may be the first stage of treatment. However, if the tumour is large, or if removing it could damage any surrounding tissue, chemotherapy or radiotherapy may be given first to try and shrink the tumour to make surgery more successful.
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