Laser surgery

Laser surgery uses an intense and narrow beam of light (called a laser) to precisely cut into tissue. Itʼs usually done to treat precancerous cells or small tumours. It’s also called laser therapy, photoablation or photocoagulation.

Laser surgery is most often combined with other cancer treatments like radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Laser surgery may be used to:

• destroy or cut out abnormal tissue
• destroy or remove small tumours on or near the surface of the skin or tissue
• relieve symptoms caused by tumours, such as pain, bleeding or shortness of breath
• shrink a tumour causing a blockage

Laser surgery is most often used to treat precancerous conditions of the skin, cervix, vagina, vulva or penis. It’s also used to treat carcinoma in situ of these areas.

Laser surgery is also often used to treat cancer in the eye, including retinoblastoma.

Laser surgery is usually done as an outpatient procedure in a cancer treatment centre or hospital operating room. This means that you don’t need to stay overnight.

Depending on the type of laser surgery you are having, you may be given a local anesthetic or sedative before the procedure. This will reduce pain or discomfort during the surgery.

The surgeon will either aim the laser directly onto your skin to treat abnormal tissue or use an endoscope to treat cancer cells within an organ. An endoscope is a tube-like instrument with a light and lens that can look inside of an organ. When the tumour or abnormal area is found, the endoscope is used to aim the laser beam to treat the tissue.

The laser beam heats and vaporizes abnormal cells, destroying or shrinking a tumour and relieving symptoms, such as a blockage or bleeding. The laser may be used to cut out a small piece of abnormal tissue. A pathologist will then look at it under a microscope and check for cancer cells.

Since the laser can be directed to specific parts of the body and uses very small cuts (called incisions), it causes less damage to healthy tissue than surgery using a scalpel (knife). Laser surgery causes less bleeding because the laser seals the blood vessels as it cuts.

Different types of lasers can be used in laser surgery. They differ in how deep the laser cuts into tissues.

Lasers are named for the gas, liquid, or solid used to make the light. The following 3 types of lasers are most used in cancer treatment.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers remove thin layers of tissue from the surface of the skin without going into deeper layers. They are most often used to remove tumours on the surface of the skin or tissue. They are also used to treat some precancerous conditions.

Argon lasers can only go through a thin layer of tissue. This type of laser is sometimes used to treat eye cancer and skin cancer. It may also be used to remove a polyp during a colonoscopy. Argon lasers are used for photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses drugs that become active when they are exposed to light (called photosensitizers) to destroy cancer cells.

Neodymium: Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers can go deeper into tissue than other types of lasers. This type of laser can be carried through fibre optic cables in an endoscope to treat parts of the body that are hard to reach, such as the eye, esophagus or colon. Nd:YAG lasers are used to treat some types of cancer, including throat, skin, uterus, liver and prostate cancers. Because they can make blood clot quickly, they are also used to stop bleeding.

You may have side effects after laser surgery, but everyoneʼs experience is different. The side effects depend on which area of the body was treated and the type of treatment that was done.

Tell your healthcare team if you have side effects that you think are from laser surgery. The sooner you tell them of any problems, the sooner they can suggest ways to help you deal with them.

Preparing children for a test or procedure by explaining what will happen during the test, such as what the child will see, feel and hear, can be very helpful. Preparing children before a test or procedure can help lower their anxiety, make them more cooperative and develop their coping skills.

How you prepare your child for laser surgery depends on your child’s age and experience. Find out more about helping your child cope with tests and treatments.