Since 1925 the Vanderbilt Department of Surgery has evolved to fulfill its original mission to focus on education, research and answer the needs of its patients. In 1997, the Division of Surgical Oncology & Endocrine Surgery was founded, under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Beauchamp as its first chairman.
Our physicians focus on cutting-edge surgical techniques to remove benign and cancerous tumors including intraoperative ultrasonography, targeted therapies, hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, intraoperative radiation, sentinel lymph node biopsy, as well as minimally invasive techniques such as robotic surgery.
The Division's research physicians and investigators have become a primary force for acquiring and banking cancerous tissue samples, a vital first step in the delivery of personalized medicine.
Translational research projects are backed by federal and department-sponsored funding allowing the use of these samples which determine what molecules or markers drive tumor growth. Novel therapies that block activation of these markers can be developed allowing targeted drugs personally tuned to each patient's needs.
The Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) is a NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is the only Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee caring for adults as well as children.