Wake Forest Baptist Health
1 Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27157
Wake Forest Baptist Health has one of the few national HIPEC programs in the country. The staff includes multiple mesothelioma specialists, with a focus on peritoneal mesothelioma.
Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Pleural Mesothelioma
Wake Forest Baptist Health
1 Medical Center Bldv.
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dr. Edward Levine
Dr. Konstantinos Votanopoulos
Dr. Paul Savage
More About Mesothelioma Treatment at Wake Forest Baptist Health
Wake Forest Baptist Health, located in Winston-Salem, N.C., is a premier mesothelioma cancer center. The focus involves peritoneal mesothelioma, notably the use of HIPEC after debulking surgery.
The center is affiliated with Wake Forest University School of Medicine. It’s one of the few mesothelioma cancer centers associated with a prestigious academic institution. Studies show that academic cancer centers have a higher volume of cancer cases and better survival outcomes.
Wake Forest Baptist Health received recognition from the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. This acknowledges the cancer center’s excellence in patient care, research and education.
Dr. Edward Levine is the head of peritoneal mesothelioma treatment at the center. He’s a highly regarded surgeon for this cancer.
- Dr. Edward Levine, chief of surgical oncology and and senior advisor to the director of the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Dr. Konstantinos Votanopoulos, surgical oncologist
- Dr. Paul Savage, medical oncologist
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine
- Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Peritoneal mesothelioma and pleural mesothelioma
- Cytoreductive or debulking surgery
- Heated intraoperative chemotherapy
Get Connected to Wake Forest Baptist Health
Surgeons at the hospital have performed more than 1,000 HIPEC procedures for peritoneal mesothelioma. This puts Wake Forest Baptist Health near the top for case volume, an important factor for choosing a cancer center for treatment.
Why Choose Wake Forest?
- National program seeing patients from across country
- Experienced surgeons with HIPEC treatment
- Named a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute
Decades of Experience With HIPEC
Wake Forest Baptist Health’s innovative HIPEC program began in 1991. Around seven years later, Dr. Levine joined the staff as a surgical oncologist.
The cancer center also provides adjuvant treatment after HIPEC surgery. These options include systemic chemotherapy and immunotherapy. They’re determined on a case-by-cases basis.
“It depends on the clinical situation,” Dr. Levine said. “It depends on how complete of a cytoreduction we achieved.”
Wake Forest Baptist Health provides a multidisciplinary team of experts. The cancer center has multiple medical oncologists specializing in pleural mesothelioma. Dr. Jill Ohar is a pulmonologist who specializes in pleural mesothelioma. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in COPD from the American Thoracic Society.
- Not listed in the U.S. News & World Report hospitals Honor Roll
- Listed as “high performing” in lung cancer surgery and colon cancer surgery
Leader in Clinical Trials
Wake Forest Baptist Health is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) research base. As one of only six CCOP research bases in the country, Wake Forest Baptist can perform clinical trials in community cancer centers nationwide.
The cancer center is involved in many clinical trials for mesothelioma. The center is part of 10 studies involving mesothelioma listed on the clinicaltrials.gov database.
One focused on quality of life and survivorship after HIPEC for peritoneal mesothelioma. Another used an experimental drug, dasatinib, to stop mesothelioma cell growth by blocking specific enzymes. Dr. Levine said he’s starting organoid research to learn more about how mesothelioma tumors spread.
Sources & Author
- Edward A. Levine, MD. Wake Forest Baptist Health. Retrieved from: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Providers/L/Edward-A-Levine. Accessed: 08/24/2021.
- Konstantinos Votanopoulos, MD, PhD. Wake Forest Baptist Health. Retrieved from: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Providers/V/Konstantinos-Votanopoulos. Accessed: 08/27/2021.
- Comprehensive Cancer Center. Wake Forest Baptist Health. Retrieved from: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Locations/Facilities/Comprehensive-Cancer-Center. Accessed: 08/27/2021.
- Jill Ohar, MD. Wake Forest Baptist Health. Retrieved from: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Providers/O/Jill-Ohar. Accessed: 08/27/2021.
- Paul D. Savage, MD. Wake Forest Baptist Health. Retrieved from: https://www.wakehealth.edu/Providers/S/Paul-D-Savage. Accessed: 09/13/2021.
- Women in CP. American Thoracic Society. Retrieved from: https://www.thoracic.org/members/assemblies/assemblies/cp/working-groups/women-in-cp/jill-ohar.php. Accessed: 08/27/2021.
- Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from: https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/nc/wake-forest-baptist-medical-center-6361700#rankings. Accessed: 09/13/2021.
