Wesley Papenfuss, MD FACS FSSO
Dr. Wesley Papenfuss is a surgical oncologist at the Advocate Health St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Working closely with other cancer specialists, he creates cancer treatment plans tailored to the needs of patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, gastric cancers, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer, as well as other malignancies.[1]
Dr. Papenfuss has significant expertise in the use of a complex surgical procedure that combines cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, or HIPEC. He co-founded the HIPEC program at St. Luke’s Medical Center in 2018. St. Luke’s performs over 40 HIPEC procedures per year.[2]
Education and Career
Dr. Papenfuss earned his medical degree at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences. He completed his internship and residency in General Surgery at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and completed a fellowship in Complex General Surgery Oncology at Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester in New York.[3]
Dr. Papenfuss practices at Advocate Health St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee. He specializes in the surgical treatment of cancers of the stomach, esophagus, pancreas, and liver. He also treats sarcomas and rare tumors, including peritoneal mesothelioma.
Research
Dr. Papenfuss has a special interest in minimally invasive robotic cancer surgery. He has ongoing research projects evaluating oncologic outcomes in robotic cancer surgery.
His most recent publications include:[4]
- Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with improved outcomes in patients with stage 1A and 1B pancreatic cancer undergoing surgery: An NCDB study. Jun 2022.
- A pilot study to reliably measure the tissue concentration of mitomycin C after hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. Feb 2022.
- Gastrointestinal Cancers: Racial and Ethnicity Differences. Preprint. May 2021
- Comparing survival outcomes for neoadjuvant therapy versus adjuvant therapy in the management of stage 1 pancreatic adenocarcinoma: A National Cancer Database study. Feb 2020.
