The UAB Division of Surgical Oncology, in close collaboration with the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, treats every patient as an individual, combining personal relationships with the latest in innovative cancer treatments. Patients receive the care the division's surgeons would want for their own families: compassionate care backed by the latest surgical techniques, cutting-edge research and a multidisciplinary approach focused on what matters most to each patient and family.
The division is part of the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Alabama, serving a four-state region. Its board-certified surgeons are nationally and internationally recognized in their fields, but they are first and foremost surgeons dedicated to the patients in their care. Patients have access to groundbreaking clinical trials, novel systemic therapies and the latest in genetic counseling and targeted therapy.
That access is possible because research is part of everything the division does. O'Neal offers more than 200 cancer clinical trials, including Alabama's only dedicated Phase I program, and the division's surgeon-scientists lead laboratory, translational and health services research aimed at understanding how cancers behave and ensuring every patient receives the best available care.
Each year the division provides surgical care to more than 7,500 patients, with each treatment tailored to the individual, including robotic, minimally invasive, open and hybrid approaches. Advanced treatments include:
- Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC): UAB is the only center in Alabama performing cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC for appendiceal, colorectal, gastric and primary peritoneal cancers.
- Hepatic Artery Infusion (HAI): Liver-directed therapy for unresectable, isolated liver metastases.
- Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion (PHP): Isolated liver perfusion for metastatic uveal melanoma.
- Hepatic Ablation Therapy: Minimally invasive, percutaneous and transarterial approaches in conjunction with UAB's world-renowned interventional radiologists.
Division surgeons treat both benign and malignant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, as well as sarcoma and soft tissue tumors. Cancer treatment focuses on:
- Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Malignancies: Cancers of the liver, pancreas, bile duct and gallbladder, in partnership with the UAB Pancreatobiliary Disease Center.
- Gastric and Enteral Cancers: Cancers of the stomach, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors, as well as small bowel cancers and neuroendocrine tumors, including operations for hereditary syndromes.
- Skin Cancers: Management of all skin cancers, including melanoma, squamous cell cancer and Merkel cell carcinoma.
- Sarcoma: Specialists dedicated to all types of sarcoma and other soft tissue tumors, with a deep understanding of limb preservation techniques.
The division is also training the surgeons who will care for patients in the years ahead. Faculty teach and mentor medical students, general surgery residents and research fellows in the operating room, the clinic and the laboratory, and many trainees go on to surgical oncology fellowships at leading cancer centers nationwide. Learn more about education in the division.
Patients and referring providers can reach the team at (205) 934-3028 or by fax at (205) 975-5971. For urgent consults or transfers, providers can call UAB MIST at 1-800-UAB-MIST (800-822-6478), available 24 hours.