I know a couple of surgeons refused to operate on pancreatic cancer without PET results when the cancer was shrunk to 1-2 centimeters. Even if there are metastatic sites and the metastasized cells grow, the original cancer would still be removed, we’d have fewer cancer cells overall. What is the reason that doctors don’t do it?
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The premise of your question is false. I know this because I personally had a tumor removed, the biopsy of that tumor revealed cancer cells within the lymph vessels. This place me in stage to be, which is the beginning phase of metastatic spread. This was determined AFTER removal of the mass by surgery, and was the reason chemotherapy was deemed necessary. As far as why these particular doctors made that decision regarding this particular tumor, that is a different question they may have something to do with the location of the tumor. Metastatic spread however, in and of itself, is not a reason to prevent removal of a tumor by surgery
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