The mission of the Division of Surgical Oncology is to provide
state-of-the-art surgical care to the patient with cancer. We
now have 16 surgical oncologists with diverse expertise in all
types of cancers who provide the most up-to-date specialized
care for patients suffering with cancer. This includes specialized
focuses in breast cancer, melanoma, sarcoma, upper gastrointestinal
malignancies, pancreatic cancers, colorectal cancers, hepatobiliary
cancers, and endocrine tumors.
This high level of focused expertise allows for the use of
specialized techniques that are appropriate for cancer patients.
This includes sentinel node mapping for breast cancer and melanoma,
isolated limb chemoperfusion for tumors isolated to the arm
or leg, peritoneal chemoperfusion for tumors which have advanced
into the peritoneal cavity (peritoneal carcinomatosis), sphincter
sparing surgery for low rectal cancers (avoid colostomy), concentrated
regional chemotherapy infusion for liver metastases, radiofrequency
ablation, laparoscopic colon resection, advanced laparoscopic
staging, biopsies, and tumor resections, and the placement of
brachytherapy implants for focused radiation therapy treatments.
In addition to providing focused individualized state-of-the-art
care for the cancer patient, our mission is to educate other
surgeons in the complex management of cancer patients.
In addition to medical student and residency training, we have
an active surgical oncology fellowship program that is accredited
by the Society of Surgical Oncology. This program attracts surgeons
from all over the world who come to work with our surgeons to
learn these specialized techniques and to learn to think about
cancer patients in a unique way.
Our mission is to develop new treatments for cancer. We currently
have four full time and seven part-time basic research faculty within
the Division of Surgical Oncology working to develop novel therapies
for cancer. This includes the development of biologic therapies
(immunotherapy, gene therapy) for cancer. Many exciting advances
in this field have come from within the division. We also have
a research interest in the regional delivery of hyperthermia
and chemotherapy to cancers via specialized surgical techniques.
The division is ideally structured to translate our basic research
findings into the clinics. Our active clinical practices yield
numerous instances where standard therapies are inadequate.
In these cases patients are encouraged to consider clinical trials of
novel therapies.
Finally, the Division of Surgical Oncology interacts on a daily
basis with the other disciplines within oncology including the
medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and pathologists
to discuss the most appropriate treatment for patients at each
stage of their disease. This combination of effort with focused
expertise on each cancer provides the best chance for success
in the fight against cancer.
