The Surgical Oncology Division is responsible for the care and management of patients with complicated gastrointestinal malignancies, soft tissue sarcomas, and melanoma. The division’s faculty surgeons specialize in gastrointestinal tract surgery for benign and malignant disease, and also in general surgical oncology. The service performs complex hepato-pancreato-biliary, foregut, and soft tissue tumor surgery.
Residents assigned to rotations on this oncology service participate in the pre-operative evaluation and diagnosis of patients with various types of tumors. Residents participate in the staging, planning, and implementation of multimodality therapy, as well as the performance of definitive cancer operations including extensive exenterative resections. Post-operative management, rehabilitation, selection of patients for adjuvant therapy, and follow-up are additional important aspects of cancer management in which residents are expected to participate.
In the overall care of patients with cancer, our surgical oncology team works closely with the attending staff of several other departments and divisions, including medical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, radiology, gastrointestinal medicine, and gynecologic oncology. There are numerous teaching conferences concerned with oncology, among which are the surgical oncology rounds and the multidisciplinary tumor board conferences.
Faculty of this oncology group are national leaders in regional therapies and in minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, including robotic surgery for complex GI tumors. As such, residents are able to develop knowledge and experience with these leading-edge therapeutic modalities. Further, residents gain an especially broad experience in the management of patients with cancer given that patients treated by the surgical oncology team have the opportunity to participate in national cooperative clinical trials.
