We can localise cancer cells in the body. We can manufacture
materials thin and hard enough to penetrate the body without
harming it. So what stops us from creating an automated surgery
where the patient lies down for some time whilst a machine
locates cancerous cells and, using micro tubes, kills them one
by one? Actually we aren't that good at localizing cancer cells.
There need to be around 100,000 cancer cells at a single
location for the cancer to be visible on fMRI. If you want to
treat a cancer via chemotherapy it's good to be able to see the
cancer. It allows you to see whether the drug you are giving
works. When dealing with a metastasized cancer where you don't
think you know every location in which cancer is hiding it
therefore often makes sense to avoid to take out everything you
can see via surgery. I'm assuming you are not talking about a
single solid tumor, but rather one where the tumor is loose and
is distributed throughout the tissue, or has metastasized I
guess the answer is you could, but