Dr. Paul Hendrick Sugarbaker has been at the Washington Cancer Institute since 1989 as Director for the Program in Peritoneal Surface Malignancy. His interests are in gastrointestinal cancer, gynecologic malignancy and mesothelioma. Dr Sugarbaker is a strong critic of surgical tradition; he believes that major changes in the technology of cancer resection are necessary. His theme, ‘It’s what the surgeon doesn’t see that kills the patient’, summarizes the concepts behind many of his publications in the peer-reviewed medical literature. In the opinion of Dr Sugarbaker, perioperative intravenous and intraperitoneal chemotherapy are an essential planned part of many cancer interventions.