Surgical Oncology Fellowship

When Kristen Carr was diagnosed in 1990, her physician, Dr. Murray Brennan was one of only a handful of surgeons in the United States with experience in treating her type of cancer.  She was fortunate to live near Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where Dr. Brennan was Chief of Surgery.  If not for Dr. Brennan’s expert care, Kristen may have lost her battle with sarcoma much sooner. At the very least, it was a tremendous comfort to know that her doctor had specialized experience in order to give her a fighting chance.

KACF Surgical Fellowship was established in 1994 in order to give other patients around the country the same fighting chance.  Each year a KACF Surgical Fellow receives advanced training in treating patients with sarcoma at MSKCC under the supervision of Dr. Brennan.  Because many graduating fellows then move to other institutions across the country, and because almost all of them work in teaching hospitals, where they train other doctors, the field of sarcoma experts continues to widen and grow in number.

Today’s sarcoma patients have a greater chance of being treated near their homes. That means, among other things, being closer to the various kinds of non-medical support each patient needs and often best receives from family and friends.  And the addition of new experts helps advance clinical knowledge in treating sarcoma across the board.

That’s what The Kristen Ann Carr Fellowship is really all about – a chance to get every sarcoma patient to an expert with experience in treating these rare and capricious tumors, and to do it with the greatest comfort to the patient.