Dan G. Blazer III, MD, FACS, MEM
Dr. Blazer is a surgeon and surgical oncologist at DukeHealth and the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina. His clinical practice is focused on the surgical management of sarcoma, pancreatic cancer, and peritoneal surface malignancies, including malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. He has a special interest in the use of cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, a complex procedure in which as much of his mesothelioma patients’ tumors as can be are surgically removed, and then the surgical site is bathed in a heated chemotherapy solution to kill any microscopic cancer cells left behind before the surgical site is closed.
Dr. Blazer is the principal investigator on several industry-funded clinical trials and is the primary site investigator for several cooperative group trials. He leads an active clinical research group at Duke, where residents, fellows, and faculty have the opportunity to participate in institutional/multi-institutional research projects, national database research, translational research, and clinical trial design. Dr. Blazer is cited in several publications focused on the surgical management of soft tissue sarcoma.[1]
Education and Career
Dr. Blazer graduated from the Duke University School of Medicine and received his training in General Surgery at the University of Michigan. While at the University of Michigan, he completed a two-year research fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He went on to complete a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.[1]
Since that time, Dr. Blazer has been on the faculty at Duke University. In addition to his surgical responsibilities, he is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. He is board-certified in General Surgery.
Research
Dr. Blazer’s research is focused on translational and outcomes research for gastrointestinal and soft tissue malignancies. His special interest is in treatments for disseminated peritoneal malignancies like malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, and the use of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat it. He is currently the principal investigator on a Phase I Trial of Talimogene Laherparepvec for the Treatment of Peritoneal Surface Malignancies (TEMPO).[1]
