A. Hamblin Letton Lecture

This lecture is named for Dr. A. Hamblin Letton to recognize his contributions to the Congress and the field of surgery. His special surgical interest was oncology and, more specifically, breast cancer, which led to the creation of the Breast Center at Georgia Baptist Medical Center, now Atlanta Medical Center. His interest extended to the national forum by service on the Advisory Committee on Cancer Control for the National Cancer Institute and as President of the National American Cancer Society. Dr. Letton’s service to the Congress began as a young surgeon, and he succeeded Dr. B. T. Beasley, the original Secretary of the Congress, in 1960. He retired as the Secretary-Director of the Congress in 1986. Dr. Letton passed away on January 13, 2010, at the age of 93.

2023 Jennifer F. Tseng MD, MPH | Choosing What Is Better: One Woman’s Journey to Becoming a Cancer Surgeon

2022 Michael Sarap MD | Quality and Value in Rural Cancer Care: We CAN Do More With Less!

2021  Sherry M. Wren MD | Technical Advances in the Treatment of Pancreatic Body Tumors

2020  Herbert Chen MD | Parathyroid Disease: Often Forgotten and Undertreated

2019  Susan Galandiuk MD | The Changing Face of Colon Cancer

2018  Monica M. Bertagnolli MD | Clinical Cancer Research

2017  Juan M. Sarmiento MD | Gallblader Neoplasia and Issues Alike

2016  Rebecca M. Minter MD | Contemporary Management of Borderline and Locally Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

2015  Wayne A.I. Frederick MD, MBA | Unconscious Bias in Academic Surgery

2014 Glenn D. Steele Jr., MD, PhD | Re-Engineering Care – Geisinger’s Innovations with the Focus on Extracting Cost and Improving Quality for the Patients We Serve

2013  Paul D. Greig MD | Pathways to Fellowships in HPB: Negotiating the Maze

2012  Nancy Perrier MD | Asymptomatic Primary Hyperparathyroidism: A Medical Misnomer

2011  Fabrizio Michelassi MD | Functional Outcome and Quality of Life after Restorative Resection for Low Rectal Cancer

2010 Douglas B. Evans MD | Progress in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Localized Pancreatic Cancer

2009  Edward M. Copeland III, MD | The Evolution of Surgery for Breast Cancer

2008  Murray F. Brennan MD | Lessons Learned

2007  Josef E. Fischer MD | Gastrointestinal Cutaneous Fistula

2006  R. Daniel Beauchamp MD | Evidence-Based Treatment for Breast Cancer

2005  Monica Morrow MD | Breast Cancer Therapy: Is New Always Better?

2004  Hiram C. Polk Jr., MD | Continuing Need to Attract Students to Surgical Specialty Careers:  A Step Forward but at What Expense?

2003  Donald D. Trunkey MD | Medicine as a Business: An Ethical Dilemma, and, Assassinations: The Tale of Four Presidents

2002  Kirby I. Bland MD | Treatment of Early Breast Cancer

2001  David B. Skinner MD | Models of Healthcare for Modern America

2000  James C. Thompson MD | Endocrine Tumors of the Pancreas

1999  Monica Morrow MD | Current Controversies in Breast Cancer Management

1998  Douglas Reintgen MD | Lymphatic Mapping and Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in the Patient with Breast Cancer

1997  Gerald P. Murphy MD, DSc | Changing Face of Prostate Cancer: How We Diagnose It and Treat It

1996  John A. Mannick MD | Immunlogic Abnormalities following Injury

1995  H. Harlan Stone MD | Management of Acute Pancreatitis According to Underlying Cause

1994  LaSalle D. Leffall Jr, MD | Access to Surgical Care for the Indigent

1993  Joseph E. Murray MD | The Role of Surgeon Scientist in Medical Progress

1992  Paul A. Ebert MD | General Surgery – What Is the Future Direction?

1991  Oliver H. Beahrs MD | Why General Surgery Must Be Saved

1990  Frank J. Rauscher PhD | Progress and Opportunities in Cancer Research

1989  John L. Sawyers MD | Gastric Cancer: From Billroth to 1989

1988  Edward R. Woodward MD | Pathophysiology and Surgical Treatment of Reflux Peptic Esophagitis and Its Complications