Florencia G. Que, M.D.

Location

SUMMARY

The research interests of Florencia G. Que, M.D., include diseases of the liver, pancreas and bile ducts. These diseases include metastatic colorectal cancer, neuroendocrine tumors metastatic to the liver, benign liver disease and cholangiocarcinoma. In addition, Dr. Que is interested in further developing laparoscopic surgery at Mayo Clinic, including laparoscopic gastric bypass, laparoscopic liver and pancreas surgery, and other gastrointestinal laparoscopic procedures.

Focus areas

• Dr. Que is interested in improving lymph node resections for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, a type of liver cancer. The emphasis is on sentinel node biopsy to assist in treating and staging this malignancy.
• Dr. Que is studying treatments of the pancreatic stump after pancreatic body resection and reduction of pancreatic leaks. The goal is to develop treatments to reduce leak, which will decrease both morbidity and costs to the patient undergoing distal pancreatectomy.
• Her research involves gene-based treatments for pseudomyxoma peritonei. Dr. Que leads a multidisciplinary focus group evaluating genetic expression of pseudomyxoma peritonei and developing chemotherapy to improve patient outcomes.
• Liver failure following hepatic resection is a rare, yet potentially devastating complication, and Dr. Que is assessing the risk factors. Reliably identifying the patients at greatest risk is key to preventing this complication.

Significance to patient care

Dr. Que's work promotes quality of care and reduction of procedure-related complications for patients who have general surgical diseases, with a focus on oncology and hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery.