Wayne L. Hofstetter, M.D., is currently Professor in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and serves as Director of the Esophageal Surgery Program.

A graduate of the University of Southern California Medical School, Dr. Hofstetter focused on thoracic surgical disease, completing fellowships in esophageal and foregut surgeries at the University of Southern California, and then thoracic oncology at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Broadly trained as a cardiothoracic surgeon and thoracic oncologist at the Texas Heart Institute, he now devotes a great deal of his work to esophageal cancer and lung cancer. At M. D. Anderson, he formed a strong network of clinicians with specific interests in esophageal diseases. A multidisciplinary group emerged under his able leadership, and together, physicians from other specialties like Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, and Gastroenterology collaborate closely to treat esophageal cancer patients.

Dr. Hofstetter is a leading proponent of surgical and multidisciplinary approaches to esophageal cancer and minimally invasive approaches to lung cancer, bringing to the institution his unique clinical skills in MIS approaches to thoracic surgery.

Board certified both by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Dr. Hofstetter is nationally and internationally involved in a host of clinical and scientific endeavors with membership in several organizations, the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the General Thoracic Surgical Club, the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

His research, which forms a vital part of his academic role, has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications, notably in such journals as the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and Cancer.

Present Title & Affiliation