[May still in 2010 a surgeon decide alone to operate a digestive cancer?]

The authors raise the question whether a surgeon in 2010 may still decide by himself to operate a digestive cancer. Progresses in oncology and surgery have been considerable over the past 50 years. The appearance of laws over the past decade and the emergence of the concept of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) have refocused the role of the surgeon in the care of digestive cancers. The emergence of quality systems such as peer review, 150 certification to analyze surgical procedures and results place the surgeons in the very front. The evolution of the surgical and oncological disciplines will change the role of the surgeon again in the future. The surgeon may always decide to operate a cancer in a coordinate way with the other care givers.