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Clinical Cancer Care: Treatment Teams

Clinical Cancer Care: Diseases | Diagnostics | Advanced Tests | Treatments

Surgical Oncology

The Division of Surgical Oncology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport provides surgical care for patients with cancer of the breast, skin, gastrointestinal tract (includes the esophagus, stomach, hepatobilliary, pancreas, small bowel, colon and rectum), soft tissue sarcoma, and recurrent and/or metastatic disease. The Surgical Oncology mission is to deliver compassionate care for cancer patients, with emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach, and advancing surgical cancer care with the development of new technology through research and education. Every cancer case treated by Surgical Oncology is reviewed at our weekly Tumor Board, where specialists from surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, radiology, pathology, nuclear medicine, nursing, genetic counseling, and social work discuss treatment plans to optimize the management for each patient.

During the past five years, the Division of Surgical Oncology has produced more than one hundred publications and presentations about cancer care. A critical component of our program is to advance the field of cancer therapy. To that end, an active program for research and technology development is part of the mission of the Division. Another component of the Division is devoted to care of the cancer patient with recurrent and advanced disease. A specific program that deals with this is our cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) program.  FWCC/LSUHSC is one of 14 nationally recognized sites for this advanced therapy.

 

Chief of Division: Quyen Chu, MD, FACS

Dr. Chu is an Associate Professor in Surgery and the Director of the HIPEC Program for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis at the FWCC. He is a graduate of Brown University School of Medicine, received his General Surgery training at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, and is fellowship-trained in Surgical Oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.  Dr. Chu’s clinical interests include cancer of the breast, esophagus, pancreas, liver, biliary tract, thyroid, colon and rectum, stomach, sarcoma, and melanoma.  He has a special interest in the care of patients with recurrent and complex cancers, and heads the Cytoreductive Surgery with HIPEC program. As a surgical oncologist, he is also actively involved with clinical and basic science research.  His an active member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Surgical Oncology, Association for Academic Surgery, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society for Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

 

Benjamin D. Li, MD, FACS

Dr. Li is the John C. McDonald Chair in Surgery, Professor and Chairman in the Department of Surgery, and Surgeon-in-Chief at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. He is a graduate of Yale Medical School, received his General Surgery training at Northwestern University in Chicago, and is fellowship-trained in Surgical Oncology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. His clinical interests include breast cancer, cancer of the G.I. tract, sarcoma, melanoma, and recurrent solid tumors. He serves on the G.I., Breast, Sarcoma, and Surgery Committees of the Southwest Oncology Trial (SWOG) Group. He is currently Vice  President of the Louisiana Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He is also Co-Chair of the Cancer Treatment Committee of the Louisiana Cancer Control Partnership. Dr. Li is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Southern Surgical Association, and the American Surgical Association. Additionally, he is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, American Society for Clinical Oncology, American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, American Society of Breast Surgeons, Society for Surgical Oncology, and has served on the Executive Council and various committees of the Association for Academic Surgery, the Society for University Surgeons, and the Society of Surgical Oncology.

 

Monica Laurents, RN

Ms. Laurents is the nurse coordinator for Surgical Oncology. She coordinates the referral of patients for the Division and is intimately involved with the care of Feist-Weiller Cancer Center patients.