Surgical Oncology

The Surgical Oncology Division at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey combines the expertise of fellowship-trained surgeons with advanced technologies to treat benign and malignant tumors with complex surgical procedures. Minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic surgery-techniques performed by our physicians result in improved clinical outcomes and a faster recovery for patients. Rutgers Cancer Institute is one of the few centers in the region whose surgeons have vast expertise in managing patients’ disease through the unique treatment option called HIPEC or hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to treat cancers that have spread to the abdominal cavity – a condition known as peritoneal metastases. Also, as an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, our patients are provided with access to the latest clinical trials including precision medicine and immunotherapies, some not available elsewhere.

Our surgical oncologists have disease specific expertise in routine, rare and complex cancers including: bladder cancer; brain and spine tumors; breast cancer; endocrine and neuroendocrine tumors, gastrointestinal cancers; head and neck cancers; hepatobiliary cancers; gynecologic cancers; kidney cancers; liver and bile duct cancers; melanoma and sarcomas; mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer; prostate cancer; testicular cancer; and thoracic cancers.

Faculty within the Division of Surgical Oncology conduct both clinical research and basic research. Scientists are investigating the efficacy of combination immunotherapies including oncolytic viruses, checkpoint inhibitors, and immune modulators, as well as defining the effects of viral and bacterial infections on anti-cancer immune responses. Clinical research involves the development of clinical trials including some of the pioneer studies in immunotherapy that have led to FDA approved treatments.

Working closely with healthcare team members from throughout Rutgers Cancer Institute and the Department of Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, our faculty members foster innovation in clinical surgical oncology care. Rutgers Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School offer a two year ACGME accredited Fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology for board eligible general surgeons who wish to attain subspecialty certification for the practice of general surgical oncology as well as a Breast Surgery Fellowship.

Surgical Oncology Leadership

H. Richard Alexander, MD, FACS
Chief Surgical Officer and
Chief, Surgical Oncology, Rutgers Cancer Institute, and
Regional Director of Surgery for Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBH Facility

Blackwood