UAMS Surgeon V. Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., Named to American Board of Surgery

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK — V. Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., director of the breast cancer program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has been named a director of the American Board of Surgery for a six-year term beginning July 1.


 


Founded in 1937, the American Board of Surgery (ABS) is an independent, nonprofit organization that offers certification to surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge.


 


Surgeons certified by the ABS must complete a minimum of five years of surgical residency training following medical school and successfully complete a written and oral examination administered by the ABS.


 


Klimberg is chief of the Division of Breast Surgical Oncology at UAMS and a professor in the Departments of Surgery and Pathology. She also is director of the Breast Cancer Program at the UAMS’ Arkansas Cancer Research Center as well as director of Breast Fellowship in Diseases of the Breast at UAMS.


 


She is the principal investigator of a multiphase clinical trial for the new procedure radiofrequency ablation (eRFA), designed to reduce or eliminate the need for follow-up surgery, reduce recurrence of breast cancer at the original site, and even reduce the need for radiation treatment.  


 


Nationwide, about 40 percent of breast cancer patients require a second surgery to remove additional malignant tissue. Recent results of the study from UAMS found that 91 percent of breast cancer patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery followed by eRFA did not require a second surgery to remove additional malignant tissue. UAMS is the first hospital to use the procedure to treat breast cancer.


 


She also has pioneered a new technique called axillary reverse mapping (ARM) that is proven to eliminate the lymphedema, or arm swelling, seen with lymph node surgery used to treat breast cancer.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,430 students and 715 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,400 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. For more information, visit www.uams.edu.