Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
Surgical Oncology Procedures and Treatments
Breast Care Center
The Breast Care Center at Fletcher Allen is the cornerstone and flagship program of the division of Surgical Oncology. The Breast Care Center exemplifies the integration of clinical care with research and education in a broad multidisciplinary patient care program. The program includes multidisciplinary conferences clinics and decision-making support service, and laboratory and clinical research.
Innovations in the program include surgeon participation in breast ultrasound, minimally invasive diagnostic procedures such as fine needle aspiration, core and vacuum-assisted core biopsy, and sentinel lymph node localization and biopsy. The division of Surgical Oncology provides the leadership for the national sentinel lymph node biopsy trial in breast cancer (NSABP; B-32 trial).
Melanoma Multidisciplinary Clinic
The Surgical Oncology Melanoma program encompasses local, regional and distant surgery, including sentinel lymph node localization and biopsy. The program includes multidisciplinary conferences, clinics and decision-making support services, and laboratory and clinical research. The Melanoma Clinic is targeted to the follow-up of patients after definitive local and regional surgery for malignant melanoma.
The multidisciplinary clinic expedites care by combining conventional surgical oncology follow-up of melanoma patients with dermatological surveillance for new skin lesions. Surgical Oncology research activities in melanoma include sentinel lymph node localization and biopsy.
Endocrine Tumors
Evaluation (including ultrasound imaging) and management of patients with endocrine tumors (thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal) is currently provided. The division of Surgical Oncology is developing a multidisciplinary clinic and program in collaboration with the division of Endocrinology.
Liver Tumors
A new multidisciplinary program has been developed for evaluation and management of patients with liver tumors. In addition to conventional liver resection and systemic chemotherapy, minimally invasive and open radio-frequency techniques (which heat tumor nodules to a very high and lethal temperature) are utilized and pumps for directing chemotherapy directly into the liver are surgically placed.
To facilitate evaluation, management decisions and therapy, a multidisciplinary conference involving interventional radiology, surgical oncology and medical oncology has been developed. This multidisciplinary team participates in a national cooperative-group trial of these techniques. Surgical Oncology has taken major clinical, academic and administrative responsibility for the initiation of this program to lead efforts in this area.
Complex and Unusual Tumors
The division of Surgical Oncology provides Fletcher Allen and the University of Vermont College of Medicine with a dedicated team for surgical evaluation and management of patients with complex and unusual tumors. An inpatient and outpatient consultation service is offered for Fletcher Allen patients and for patients from other regional facilities.
General Surgery
Surgical Oncology has established an outpatient clinic to complement the emergency participation of University of Vermont Medical Group Surgical Oncology surgeons in the Fletcher Allen general surgery on-call responsibilities. Patients are seen for post-hospitalization or post-procedure care. Upon resolution of their problem, they are returned to their primary care provider or referring physician. Patients with ongoing issues may be triaged and referred to appropriate providers for ongoing care and management.
Find a Fletcher Allen physician or call 802-847-2261.
