Interdisciplinary cancer surgery is a recent development of surgery that is based on the evolution of a steadily developing specialization and increasing surgical capabilities within all surgical disciplines. A century ago, general surgeons were challenged with various tumor resections in the whole human body in their clinical routine. Not only has the practice of surgery changed and undergone significant evolution over the past 4 decades (such as the introduction of new procedures and technological advancements), but newer specialties and subspecialties within surgery and surgical oncology have been developed based on narrower anatomic regions and the application of increasingly advanced and specific technologies.

Current treatment options, however, no longer only strive to achieve patient survival after oncologic surgery but are rather challenged with optimal functional preservation or restoration/reconstruction of tissue to maintain the highest possible quality of life, while at the same time performing radical enough tumor surgery. These growing surgical specialties and subspecialties tend to be consolidated in academic centers and larger urban regions where most teaching and training occurs. Especially in tumor surgery, the limits of possible resections and reconstructions have been pushed forward by the rise of new surgical specialties and subspecialties over the course of the 20th and 21st century, based largely on their focus on specific organ systems or anatomic regions or specific surgical techniques. By integrating various surgical disciplines into tumor surgery, more radical tumor resections can be safely performed hitherto unresectable tumors can be operated upon. With interdisciplinary reconstructions not only the outcome of the individual patient`s treatment can be optimized but also the quality of life can be better restored despite oncologically sufficient cancer surgery.

Therefore, this Research Topic will investigate the following:

- Modern possibilities and the state of the art of interdisciplinary surgical tumor resections
- Interdisciplinary reconstructions in modern oncology
- How advanced new surgical approaches combining various surgical disciplines influences survival, surgical resectability, and postoperative outcomes
- How surgical treatment options work to optimally reduce patient morbidity

We welcome the submission of Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, Methods, and Clinical Trial articles.

Keywords: Cancer surgery, interdisciplinary surgical approaches, surgical tumor reconstruction, reduced morbidity, quality of life

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.