Dr. Jula Veerapong

About Jula Veerapong

Accolades

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  Peritoneal Mesothelioma

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  Excellence in Research

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  Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy

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  Board Certified in Medical Oncology

Veerapong performs cytoreductive surgery with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), a combination that has worked well for patients with mesothelioma cancer.

In 2017, he joined the staff at Moores Cancer Center, which has been using the HIPEC procedure for more than a decade.

Veerapong previous served for six years at the St. Louis University School of Medicine, where he started and developed a HIPEC program as director of the Surface Malignancies Program.

He was first trained in the procedure during his fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

HIPEC typically follows a complete cytoreduction of tumor cells in the abdominal cavity. It involves circulating a heated chemotherapy solution through the abdomen for 90 minutes and is designed to kill any microscopic tumor cells that evaded the surgeon.

Unlike systemic chemotherapy, HIPEC delivers the drug directly to the affected area and decreases the toxicity on other parts of the body.

The procedure has changed the way a diagnosis of peritoneal mesothelioma is perceived, often more than doubling the expected survival time of patients. It also has been used successfully with colorectal and appendix cancers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Veerapong leads an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program for patients who have undergone HIPEC. The program is designed to enhance and streamline care and recovery by establishing protocols for patients and staff during the pre-admission, pre-operative, inter-operative and post-operative stages.

Contributing to the Cancer Treatment Field

Veerapong specializes in a variety of gastrointestinal malignancies. He treats those with appendiceal cancer, colorectal cancer, gynecologic malignancies and pseudomyxoma peritonei.

His research has included minimally-invasive techniques and the utilization of HIPEC for ovarian cancer. As an associate professor, he also works with the residency and fellowship programs at UC San Diego.

Veerapong earned his degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Medicine. He completed his residency in general surgery at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

He speaks regularly at national and international medical conventions, and his work has been published in Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Research and the Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.

He is a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology and the Association for Academic Surgery. In St. Louis, he was honored with the Vallee Willman Award for Excellence in Surgical Education for his work with residents.