Dr. Rodrigo Robles is a Head & Neck Surgeon at the Regional Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (IREN-SUR), a major cancer center located in Arequipa, Peru. He earned his medical degree at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Dr. Robles was recently awarded the Gerald Gutierrez Memorial Scholarship in Head & Neck Surgery by the THANC Foundation, allowing him to join our multidisciplinary team of physicians for a month of observation, including a great deal of thyroid cancer care.
A substantial portion of Dr. Robles’ practice is dedicated to treating thyroid cancer
Although Dr. Robles sees patients with a wide variety of illnesses, a substantial portion of his practice is dedicated to treating thyroid cancer. Unfortunately, many of his patients suffer from more advanced stage diseases compared to typical American thyroid cancer patients. Dr. Robles estimates that half of his thyroid patients have locally advanced cancer or regional metastasis when they arrive at his office for the first time. He attributes this to systemic issues including lower access to medical care and less public awareness among his country’s population. His surgical skills help to alleviate this problem one patient at a time.
Dr. Robles’ longtime dream to become a head and neck surgeon was motivated in part by the fact that “thyroid cancer is a curable disease.” In caring for his patients, he finds it vastly rewarding to go beyond just relieving one’s pain and enjoys the chance to definitively cure cancer through surgery.
The THANC Foundation is pleased to host Dr. Robles for the Gutierrez Scholarship! More info below.
The Gutierrez Scholarship was established by the award-winning Broadway director Gerald Gutierrez, who after being diagnosed with cancer focused his energy on raising funds in support of the THANC Foundation so that doctors from Spanish-speaking countries could be mentored by his doctor and care team. Gerry wanted to ensure that the latest surgical techniques would be made available to surgeons around the world. This scholarship will keep Gerry’s dream alive and expand the reach of the THANC Foundation.
30 Stories in 30 Days
September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month. For the next 4 weeks, we will post stories written by thyroid cancer survivors, caregivers and friends for our 30 Stories in 30 Days campaign. We hope their perspectives and insight will help others along their journey.
