[One hundred years of the Association of Surgeons in the Netherlands. VIII. Surgical oncology].

The Dutch surgical oncologists founded the Dutch Society for Surgical Oncology in 1981 with the aim of providing the best possible level of expertise in the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of cancer, which at that time was a new development in cancer care. Since then, many developments have contributed to improving the outcome of care for the patient suffering from malignant disease. Surgeons have often played an initiating and pivotal role in these developments. Furthermore, in recent years there has been a strong development in quality awareness. This has led to a greater degree of cooperation in which intensive contacts exist. At the same time developments have taken place in surgical oncology: the care provided has developed from a broadly based care of the patient with a malignancy to care system concentrating on organ systems. As a result of this, the multidisciplinary therapeutic approach to the patient with cancer has been further developed. This might however lead to a fragmentation of oncological care and a loss of identity for the surgical oncologist, who possibly more than any other sub-specialist plays a pivotal role in caring for the patient with a solid malignancy.