Chemoradiotherapy and colorectal cancer

Abstract

Dr Julio Garcia-Aguilar is the Chief of Colorectal Surgery and the Stuart HQ Quan Chair in Colorectal Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (NY, USA). A native of Spain, Dr Garcia-Aguilar received his MD at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and subsequently completed fellowships at Harvard Medical School (MA, USA) and the University of Minnesota (MN, USA). From 2002–2008, he was Chief of Colon and Rectal Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (CA, USA). From 2008 to 2012, he was the Chair of the Department of Surgery at City of Hope in Los Angeles (CA, USA). An acknowledged leader in the field of surgical oncology, he lectures nationally and internationally, and has won numerous professional awards. Dr Garcia-Aguilar is an expert in minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic techniques for performing colon and rectal surgery. He has led National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical and translational studies aimed at improving the quality of life of patients with rectal cancer by developing less morbid therapies, performing smaller operations and identifying individuals who might benefit from nonoperative management of their disease, potentially avoiding surgery altogether through sufficient elimination of tumors using radiation therapy and chemotherapy. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals and is past President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation.