Dr. James Ewing pioneered the concept of the modern surgical oncologist.  Ewing was one of the founders of the  Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases, now the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Although he was a surgical pathologist by training, Ewing promoted the idea that cancer surgeons must, in addition to technical expertise, have a thorough understanding of the biology of the disease and detailed knowledge of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.  

            The OHSU division of surgical oncology is organized on the Ewing model.  The division faculty members have overlapping and complementary areas of clinical focus. The division offers services that include the surgical treatment of tumors of the breast, gastrointestinal tract, including complex hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, melanoma, sarcoma, and endocrine neoplasia.  As surgical oncologists we coordinate multimodality therapy for patients with our colleagues in medical oncology, radiation oncology, and other supportive services.

            Education is central endeavor in our division.  Our expectation is that rotating residents and medical students will become very familiar with the staging and evaluation of a variety of neoplasms. Residents will learn the process involved in integrating adjuvant therapies with appropriate surgical treatment. We place great emphasis on understanding the goals of cancer therapy as the framework for clinical decision-making.  Residents and students will also learn by observation, approaches to communicating with patients in a thoughtful and compassionate manner.  The data used for clinical decision-making will be stressed and reviewed in a weekly surgical oncology didactic conference.

            Following the Ewing model, research is an ongoing endeavor within the division of surgical oncology.  Our research activities range from basic science to clinical and outcomes studies. Work in the laboratory of Drs. SuEllen and Rodney Pommier focuses on the endocrine biology of breast neoplasia.  Recent studies have led to the development of strategies designed to exploit the androgen receptor as a therapeutic target in estrogen receptor negative breast cancer.  Together with colleagues at the Earl Chiles research center, Dr. John Vetto is continuing his translational studies of the OX-40 molecule as potential treatment for melanoma.  Dr. Arpana Naik is involved in a variety of clinical studies of multimodality treatment of breast cancer. Dr. Kevin Billingsley is involved large outcomes studies in colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer.