Division Chief, Surgical Oncology
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Marvin S. Greenberg, MD, Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Surgery
Associate Program Director, Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship
Co-Director, Marvin & Concetta Greenberg Pancreatic Cancer Institute
Collaborating Member, Molecular Therapeutics
NCCN, Hepatobiliary Cancers Panel Member
Appendix Cancer, Liver, Gall Bladder & Bile Duct Cancer, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Sarcoma, GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor), Mesothelioma, Pancreatic Cyst, Stomach (Gastric) Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Melanoma, Pancreatic Cancer, Skin Cancer
Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), gastric cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, general and minimally invasive surgery
I decided to join the Fox Chase Cancer Center team in conquering cancer because I saw first-hand the dramatic difference we can make here. I decided to continue my training in Philadelphia after completing my general surgery residency in New York City, under the tutelage of my father, also a surgeon who spent many years treating cancer. I completed a two-year fellowship in complex surgical oncology at Fox Chase, working closely with various multidisciplinary teams in caring for patients with colorectal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancers, in addition to melanoma and sarcomas. Being trained by leaders in the field, I had the unique opportunity to hone my skills and expertise, and apply them to my own clinical practice.
I have extensive training in traditional open surgery, as well as laparoscopic and robotic techniques, allowing me to offer individualized care to patients. I have particular interests in the management of sarcomas and colorectal, melanoma and pancreatic cancers. The implementation of minimally-invasive surgical techniques to the management of colorectal cancer is routinely offered at Fox Chase, and similar techniques are used to address pancreatic diseases. I also have a keen interest in the use of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), following cytoreductive surgery for cancer of the peritoneum, including appendix cancer, peritoneal mesothelioma and pseudomyxoma peritonei. In addition to this, there is a necessity to understand the benefit of, and perform further research, incorporating HIPEC in patients with colorectal and gastric cancers, which our team will explore further.
The benefit of an NCI-designated cancer center is that we are able to offer many innovative strategies in treating all types of cancers. Whether through a national clinical trial or particular surgical technique, we optimize patient care to the individual. I believe the physician-patient relationship is one of the foundations to building a plan to treat cancer, and I offer guidance through each stage of treatment. Medicine has always been a family-oriented field for me; with my father being a surgeon, and mother an anesthesiologist, I take great pride in offering compassion and honesty in formulating individualized treatment plans for every patient and his or her family.
Follow on Twitter: @FCCCSurgOnc
I’m an 83-year-old U.S. Navy veteran. I smoked for twenty-odd years until I was 35 years old, which left me with some lingering COPD. Ten years ago I had a heart attack and had a stent put in. So when I received my cancer diagnosis, it crossed my mind that it might be time to go into hospice. But my wife Debbie was already battling breast cancer, and if she could fight, I felt like I could too.
I’m 75 years old, which is pretty amazing when it comes to surviving pancreatic cancer, especially since I was diagnosed when I was 53.
Initially, when I went in with abdominal pain and trouble eating, my doctor treated me for an ulcer because I didn’t fit the profile for someone with cancer — there was no history of cancer in my family, and I was in good physical shape.
I’m a naturally optimistic person, and I really believe having a positive attitude matters. But that belief was put to the test in 2022 when, at 57 years old, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
In January 2022, I listened to my body, and it may have saved my life. I initially went to the doctor because I had hemorrhoids that had been acting up for about a week. Not only was an over-the-counter medication not working, but I had also noticed a change in the color of my stool. Together, these were red flags that something wasn’t right.
My research interest for colorectal malignancies focuses on the use of national cancer databases to assess the accuracy of clinical staging, to see if this has improved over time, and to observe reporting standards between academic institutions versus other centers. As treatment of colorectal cancers involve multimodality planning, accurate clinical staging proves to be the foundation on how best to deliver care.
I also have a strong research interest in the vascular resectability staging of pancreatic cancer. Currently under review is our preoperative venous and arterial staging for borderline resectable pancreatic cancers and whether we are able to predict from preoperative imaging the likelihood of clear margin achievement and prognosis. As treatment of borderline resectable pancreatic cancer continues to evolve, accurate preoperative vascular resectability staging is imperative to assess and guide multimodality therapy.
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