The Division of Surgical Oncology provides leadership for the multidisciplinary management team for melanoma and cutaneous malignancies and the melanoma clinical research team.
Care is provided at the Vanderbilt Cancer Clinic offering integrated evaluation of melanoma patients by surgical and medical oncology, plastic surgery, and radiation oncology as needed. Across the country the volume of melanoma cases has increased dramatically, with over 400 surgical procedures performed for melanoma, and new analytical cases of melanoma treated at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. We also organize and host the multidisciplinary melanoma conference annually, which provides a forum for the discussion of complex cases of high-risk, recurrent, or metastatic melanoma.
Vanderbilt has expanded the use of ultrasound for the evaluation of regional lymph nodes and image-guided biopsy of soft tissue masses in the cancer clinic. This increases the accuracy and efficiency of the diagnostic evaluation of patients suspected to have metastatic disease and facilitate tumor biopsy for patients in clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents. It also allows us to integrate the use of ultrasound surveillance of the regional lymph node basin in patients at high risk of regional recurrence. Our team offers comprehensive surgical management of melanoma, including melanomas of the head and neck, trunk, extremities, and intra-abdominal space. In addition to surgical resection of primary melanomas, we offer sentinel node biopsies and completion lymphadenectomy when indicated, flap/skin graft reconstruction, isolated limb infusion, and minimally invasive techniques, including laparoscopy and robotic surgery.
Faculty Members: