Over one million Americans will suffer from cancer every year, and approximately half of them will die from the disease. Despite major efforts to prevent cancer, effective early diagnosis and treatment of non-metastatic disease remains the hallmark of modern effective cancer management. Surgery persists as a major diagnostic and therapeutic modality for the management of cancer, and advances in the technology of surgical technique (such as fiber-optic and radio-nucleotide visualization of normal and diseased tissue and the miniaturization and robotic control of instruments) have contributed to the improved care of the cancer patient. Nonetheless, it is an understanding of the biologic basis of the disease, and the effective diagnostic and therapeutic management of cancer within a multidisciplinary context that will bring the greatest advances over the next decade. In the current era of discovery, the opportunities for the education and training of surgeons in the biologic basis of cancer is unprecedented. The advances in cancer genetics, cell biology and immunology provide important opportunities for basic, translational and clinical studies in cancer research. As the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group has r e l ocated to Duke, an important opportunity to enhance training in translational research for surgeons exists. This opportunity to educate and train future generations of surgical scientists and leaders provided a c o m pelling imperative for this application for a training grant in translational studies in surgical oncology.
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