Surgical Oncology Services at Emory

The most comprehensive cancer care available in Georgia

The Division of Surgical Oncology evaluates and treats breast cancer, colon cancer, head and neck carcinoma, liver cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, rectal cancer, sarcoma and skin cancer at Emory University Hospital, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, Emory Crawford Long Hospital and the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

As the surgical staff of the The Winship Cancer Institute, Emory's interdisciplinary and comprehensive center for cancer treatment, prevention and research, division surgeons collaborate with specialists from medical oncology, radiation oncology, diagnostic imaging, oncology nursing and other Emory programs in the course of patient care. Winship applies the latest findings in cancer research to current patient care, and its website maintains a listing of current clinical trials being conducted under its auspices.

Sponsored by Winship, the Breast Health Center offers centralized services for breast cancer care, lessening the anxiety and depersonalization that breast cancer patients often experience when seeing many diverse caregivers. Surgical oncologists at the center focus on breast conservation, offering such services as:

• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, which can make breast sparing possible for most women with breast carcinoma.
  
  
• Oncoplastic breast-conserving surgery, a procedure that combines breast cancer surgery and reconstructive surgery during the same operation, enabling patients to save their breasts and avoid mastectomy. Working together, a surgical oncologist and a plastic surgeon remove the cancerous tumor, immediately reconstruct the defect and reshape the breast using the patient's own tissue.
  
  
• Skin-sparing mastectomy, another collaborative surgical oncology/plastic surgery procedure pioneered at Emory that retains the skin envelope of the breast to allow for immediate reconstruction. Emory has the largest series of the technique. Notably, Dr. Maurice Jurkiewicz, chief of plastic surgery at Emory from 1971-1992, and his associates developed many of the methods for reconstructive surgery of the breast that are now used internationally.

• Known for conducting novel clinical trials in gastrointestinal cancers, Dr. Charles Staley, chief of the division, is the institutional principal investigator for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, the major source for Winship Cancer Institute's clinical research program; is active in such societies as the American Association for Cancer Research and the Society of Surgical Oncology; was an ad hoc member of Grant Review Subcommittee H of the National Cancer Institute in 2007; and an associate examiner for the American Board of Surgery in 2007 and 2002.
  
  
• Dr. Grant Carlson is board certified in both general surgery and plastic surgery. This atypical expertise in two separate specialties allows him to both treat cancer and reconstruct the damage it can cause, a skill set he uses most frequently with breast cancer and head and neck cancer patients. He also specializes in treating melanoma and skin cancers.
  
  
• Dr. Keith Delman's clinical and research interests encompass melanoma, sarcoma and gastrointestinal cancers. In July 2007, Winship's Melanoma Working Group/Multi-Disciplinary Tumor Board, co-chaired by Dr. Delman, was designated one of the first Melanoma Centers of Excellence named by the Melanoma Hope Network. 
  
  
• Dr. Sheryl Gabram specializes in treating breast cancer, directs the division's breast cancer fellowship and researches disparities of care for breast cancer patients. She serves as the medical director for the AVON outreach and navigation program as well as the Co-Principal Investigator on the AVON Foundation grant responsible for clinical access to care for breast cancer patients in the Grady Health System.
  
  
• Dr. David Kooby, who specializes in treating melanoma, sarcoma and tumors of the GI tract, authored and conducted a national study of the efficacy of laparoscopic pancreatectomy from 2002-2006 that concluded performing the minimally invasive operation offered patients shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.
  
  
• Dr. Monica Rizzo serves on the surgical staffs of Winship's Melanoma Center of Excellence, Breast Cancer Healthcare Team, and Sarcoma and Musculoskeletal Team, and is a member of Winship's Breast Cancer Program (BCP). The BCP is investigating the use of chemotherapy and pre-operative targeted agents to allow correlation of molecular profiles with response to therapy.
  
  
• Dr. Toncred Styblo has been at the forefront of breast cancer treatment, reconstruction and research since coming to Emory in 1988. Most notably, she has been performing and refining oncoplastic breast-conserving therapy for over 16 years.
  
  
• Dr. William Wood is recognized nationally and internationally for his outstanding contributions to cancer therapy, particularly in the area of breast cancer, and for his influence on the design and meta-analysis of conceptually driven national clinical trials.

For additional information on the Division of Surgical Oncology, please explore the side menu to the left of this page.

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