Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center

Wake Forest Baptist Health Excels in Treating Mesothelioma

The peritoneal surface malignancy program at the Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center has been heralded for its treatment of patients diagnosed with mesothelioma and other abdominal cancers.

Surgical oncologists Dr. Edward Levine and Dr. Konstantinos Votanopoulos specialize in the novel combination of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic Intraperitoneal chemotherapy, or HIPEC, that has become so effective in treating patients.

The program also offers minimally invasive pancreatic and liver resections, often using novel robotic techniques that improve postoperative recovery and decrease chances of infection. More than 1,000 major operative procedures are performed annually at Wake Forest Baptist Health.

Groundbreaking Research at Wake Forest Baptist Health

Wake Forest Baptist Health Comprehensive Cancer Center is also known for innovative research efforts that are changing cancer care.

Votanopoulos, a professor in surgical sciences, is part of a new study aimed at peritoneal mesothelioma and focused on sustaining the immune system’s adaptability to a changing tumor environment.

He is a leader in the Wake Forest Organoid Research Center, which focuses on personalized medicine, adaptive immunity, rare tumors and drug development. Its goal is to redesign future cancer care.

The research center is a joint effort involving the comprehensive cancer center and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The affiliated Wake Forest School of Medicine has been recognized as having one of the country’s top research programs.

Wake Forest Baptist Health’s NCI Designation

Although there are more than 50 centers in the United States today that carry the National Cancer Institute’s Comprehensive Cancer Center designation, Wake Forest Baptist Health is one of the few that have sustained it throughout the last 30 years.

Studies have shown that long-term survival rates are 25% improved at those centers with the NCI designation.

Wake Forest Baptist Health has continued to emphasize a commitment to cancer research, which includes clinical trials and the highest levels of medical staff expertise.

There are more than 400 physicians and researchers working together to provide multidisciplinary care that often involves specialists in medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiation oncology.

Like several of the other top centers in the country, Wake Forest Baptist Health puts a real emphasis on its Cancer Patient Support Program, which helps families with various nonmedical issues.

Mesothelioma Clinical Trials at Wake Forest Baptist Health