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Wrote the Book on Women's Cancer Dr. Philip J. Di Saia
“I’ve always wanted to make a difference, and saving lives has certainly made me feel like I have,” said Di Saia, who holds the endowed Dorothy Marsh Chair in Reproductive Biology. In the lab, Di Saia's discoveries have dramatically improved patient care. In the 1990s, the Tufts University School of Medicine graduate found that estrogen replacement therapy could treat menopausal symptoms in women who have had ovarian or breast cancer without reactivating the disease. A decade earlier, he discovered that modified surgery on women with early invasive vulva cancer could excise the cancer without having to remove the clitoris and other sexually sensitive areas. “Dr. Di Saia saved my life,” said Vickie Thornell, a survivor of stage 4 cancer of the endometrium whose care Di Saia oversaw at UC Irvine Medical Center In recognition of Di Saia’s career achievements, UC Irvine awarded him the Medal, the university’s highest honor, in 2003. “Dr. Di Saia helped put UC Irvine on the map for women’s cancer and women’s care,” said Dr. Gautam Chaudhuri, executive chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Now, UC Irvine is among the best.” Throughout the university, researchers are saving lives. At the new Beckman Breast Clinic and Research Center, physicians use sophisticated lasers to detect hidden tumors and lesions and to assess responses to chemotherapy. Elsewhere, specialists have helped win FDA approval for cervical cancer drugs and treatments that improve the survival rates among high-risk breast cancer patients. Born in Providence, R.I., Di Saia attended nearby Brown University. He initially planned to become an engineer but later switched to pre-med, “which pleased my mother,” Di Saia said, with a laugh. After graduating from Brown, he earned his medical degree from Tufts. Di Saia later interned and did his residency at Yale University. In 1977, he came to UC Irvine to head the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The excitement surrounding the cutting-edge cancer research taking place at UC Irvine is one reason why Di Saia has stayed here for so long. “The cancer program has blossomed into something special,” he said, “but the future is even brighter.” — Marc Ballon, Health Sciences Advancement
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University of California, Irvine • Irvine, CA 92697 |
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The author of the seminal 1975 work “Clinical Gynecologic Oncology,” the first textbook for practicing gynecologists on how to diagnose and treat cervical, vaginal and other gynecologic cancers, Di Saia has spent the past 30 years helping UC Irvine become a leader in women's cancer.