From the laboratory bench to the operating room: the role of the surgeon in cancer prevention.

Background: The last 200 years have seen remarkable achievements in the art and clinical practice of surgery. These advances include the introduction of antisepsis, anesthesia, vascular anastomosis, antimicrobials, organ transplantation, and the widespread application of minimally invasive operative procedures. Very recently, a surgical procedure has been shown to cure diabetes, representing the most effective treatment of a metabolic disorder by surgeons.

Methods: The author reviewed the major surgical milestones in the modern surgical era and prepared this monograph for presentation as the Claude H. Organ, Jr. Memorial Lecture at the 68 Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Surgical Congress.

Results/conclusions: This address summarizes the story of medullary thyroid carcinoma and multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, an archetype for a surgical procedure to prevent cancer development.