Manabu Fujita, MD

Cancer has been a deeply personal part of my life and career. My father and brother were both surgical oncologists, and I lost my mother to cancer at a young age. These experiences have shaped the way I care for patients—not only as a surgeon, but also as someone who understands how profoundly a cancer diagnosis can affect patients and their families.

My goal is to provide comprehensive, individualized cancer care using the most advanced surgical techniques available. I specialize in complex surgical oncology, including minimally invasive and robotic surgery for gastrointestinal, pancreatic, liver, colorectal, and other cancers. Throughout my career, I have performed and supervised a high volume of complex oncologic procedures while also training residents and future surgeons.

I strongly believe that no patient should have to carry the physical, emotional, and psychological burden of cancer alone. Cancer treatment requires teamwork, and that team extends far beyond the physicians directly involved in treatment. It includes surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, pathologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, but it also includes the patient's family, friends, and local community support organizations. Each of these individuals can play an important role in helping patients navigate the challenges of diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and survivorship.

For me, cancer care is therefore not limited to performing an operation or treating a tumor. It is about surrounding the patient with a network of support, sharing the challenges that arise during treatment, and helping patients and their families move through those challenges together. I believe that close communication among the medical team, the patient, the patient's loved ones, and available community resources can make a meaningful difference in the overall cancer experience.

As a surgeon and a surgical oncologist, I aim for cure through complete cancer removal whenever possible. At the same time, I recognize that cancer is a systemic and biologically complex disease, and even after successful surgery there may be a risk of microscopic or distant disease. For that reason, I believe strongly in multidisciplinary care and close collaboration with medical oncology, radiation oncology, and clinical research teams to develop the most appropriate treatment strategy for each individual patient.

Research and innovation are also important parts of my practice. My background includes cancer genetics, targeted drug-delivery research, translational oncology, and more recently, the evaluation of artificial intelligence in cancer care and clinical decision-making. I am particularly interested in how emerging technologies and clinical research can improve treatment options for patients with complex or advanced cancers.

Above all, I consider it a privilege to care for patients and their families during one of the most difficult periods of their lives. My goal is to provide not only advanced and thoughtful surgical cancer care, but also compassionate guidance and a sense of partnership so that patients know they are not facing cancer alone.