Donald L. Morton, MD … A living legend in surgical oncology

Over the past half century, Dr. Donald L. Morton has changed our melanoma surgical practice and our oncology management on a global basis (Fig. 1). His pioneering clinical research efforts in the development and clinical application of sentinel node biopsy have transformed the surgical management of many solid tumors, particularly melanoma and breast cancer [1][2]. In these latter two cancers, SLN biopsy has replaced complete lymphadenectomy for staging the regional nodes, thereby reducing healthcare costs in the United States by about $3.5 billion each year. He has also conducted numerous clinical research projects that have shaped our perspective and clinical management of our cancer patients, particularly in the field of melanoma. His pioneering work with intratumoral bacille Calmette–Guerin for melanoma represented the first successful clinical application of immunotherapy against a metastatic human cancer. His work with BCG in melanoma metastatic to the bladder also laid a foundation for the use of intravesical BCG in superficial bladder cancer, which became the first US Food and Drug Administrationapproved cancer immunotherapy [3]. He was also one of the pioneers for limb salvage surgery and pulmonary metastasectomy for soft tissue sarcomas [4]. While all of these made advances using the instruments of clinical trials, Dr. Morton is also a translational researcher who has made fundamental discoveries in tumor immunology and immunotherapy that have stimulated an entire field of inquiry. As you examine his scientific journey that spans a half century from the perspective of a surgical investigator, he has few peers. He has defined his approach as follows: ‘‘Our goal as cancer researchers is to make things better. We identify problems with the status quo, then try to discover better ways to do things.’’ His research has credibility and reproducibility because he rigorously tests his hypotheses using the structure of prospective clinical trials, sophisticated database analyses, and multidisciplinary collaborations. He is an outstanding surgeon as well as an accomplished oncologist (Fig. 2). His accomplishments are prodigious and are described in more detail elsewhere [5]. I’ll only mention a few in summary: