Research

The Division of Surgical Oncology's care has an active basic science and clinical research program. Our multidisciplinary approach benefits from the involvement of colleagues from several departments across the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Most of our studies use molecularly targeted or other novel therapeutics not offered anywhere else in the nation.

Current research topics include:

New clinical trials for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma; peritoneal malignancies; and an oncolytic viral study for patients with high-risk solid tumors
Pancreatic cancer research, including the RON receptor in pancreatic cancer biology and therapy; Musashi-mediated control of pancreatic cancer growth and progression; and irreversible electroporation as an in-situ vaccine for pancreatic cancer
GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumors) research: targeting imatinib-resistant, KIT-negative cells in human GISTs
Fluorescence-guided surgery and fluorescence detection of breast cancer
Stem cell tracking after reconstructive surgery
Sentinel lymph node mapping via fluorescence detection

Publications