Joseph Skitzki, MD, FACS
Dr. Joseph Skitzki is a surgical oncologist who specializes in regional therapies for cancer at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Among his many responsibilities, he consults about and conducts cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy as treatment for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Dr. Skitzki is a specialist in melanoma and sarcoma.[1]
Education and Career
Dr. Skitzki earned his medical degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He then moved on to complete an internship and residency in General Surgery at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, including a two-year research fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[1]
Today, Dr. Skitzi is the Director of Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. He was previously an Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology and an Associate Member of the Immunology Department at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Dr. Skitzki specializes in the treatment of skin cancers and advanced solid tumors, including mesothelioma. He is a leader in the use of neoadjuvant immunotherapy to shrink tumors before surgery.
Dr. Skitzki is a Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is also a member of several professional medical organizations, including:[1]
- Society of Surgical Oncology
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- American Association for Cancer Research
- American Society of Peritoneal Surface Malignancies
- Association for Academic Surgery
- Society of Thermal Medicine
Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, or CS-HIPEC, is an advanced combination surgical and chemotherapy procedure that can significantly extend survival and improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.
It involves the surgical removal of all visible tumor nodules in the abdominal cavity, followed by bathing the surgical site with a heated solution of chemotherapy. Dr. Kritzki has experience with this procedure, which is offered to peritoneal mesothelioma patients at the Cleveland Clinic.[2]
Not every patient with peritoneal mesothelioma is eligible for this procedure. Dr. Skitzki spends a great deal of time with patients assessing their physical health to ensure that they can tolerate the surgery and the associated recovery.
Research
Dr. Skitzki has run an independent laboratory focused on immunotherapeutic treatments and animal modeling of regional therapies with the goal of clinical translation.
