Biography

John Mansour, M.D., is a Professor of Surgery and Vice Chair of Quality in the Department of Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He also serves as leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Disease-Oriented Team at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. He treats patients with malignancies of the stomach, pancreas, liver, bile duct, and other abdominal organs, as well as the diverse population of sarcoma patients.

A Cleveland native, Dr. Mansour earned his medical degree at Case Western Reserve University, and he completed a residency in surgery at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. He then received advanced training in surgical oncology and upper GI and hepatopancreatobiliary malignancy through a fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Board-certified in surgery by the American College of Surgeons, he joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2007. 

Dr. Mansour has been a guest lecturer at international, national, regional, and local medical conferences. His research has been published in numerous medical journals, including the Annals of Surgical Oncology and Journal of the American College of Surgeons. He is an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Surgical Oncology, Annals of Surgery, HPB Journal, Archives of Surgery, and Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Mansour was selected by his national peers to serve on the American Board of Surgery with the Complex General Surgical Oncology Board, where he focuses on the standards and expectations for formal certification of surgeons specializing in surgical oncology.

He is a member of the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Association for Academic Surgery.

Dr. Mansour has been included in D Magazine's Best Doctors list for over 10 years running.

Personal Note

Dr. Mansour likes spending time with his family and working out at the gym. He also enjoys reading biographies and cheering on his beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Meet Dr. Mansour

Surgical Oncologist

John Mansour, M.D., Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, combines the skills of a surgeon, a scientist, and a patient care advocate to offer his patients the total package in cancer care.

He treats patients with malignancies of the stomach, pancreas, liver, bile duct, and other abdominal organs. He says that treating these cancers requires bringing your “A” game every single day.

“To be a good surgical oncologist, you can’t be just one thing,” Dr. Mansour says. “You have to be a skilled surgeon and a scientist who understands what the next steps in cancer care are five, 10, 20 years down the line. You have to be an oncologist who understands cancer, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and other therapies. And you need personal skills to bring together all of those pieces with a patient and his or her family, which is not always easy to do.”

Empowering Patients

Dr. Mansour likes taking care of people who have complex diseases, and he believes that UT Southwestern is a great community and regional resource for difficult problems such as stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and sarcomas.

“Other surgeons might see these challenging kinds of issues once a year or even once in their career. Our group sees these problems every week,” he says.

Dr. Mansour’s patients leave his office with two things: hope and a plan. He welcomes questions and also encourages his patients to learn as much about their condition as possible.

"I want my patients to be mini experts in their disease so they understand not just what I’m recommending but why I’m recommending it to them,” he says. “They’re making very big decisions, and I believe in keeping them informed."

Crafting the Future of Cancer Care

As leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Disease-Oriented Team at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Mansour oversees the clinical, research, and educational activities of all UT Southwestern gastrointestinal (GI) cancer programs. He’s also part of a national team that measures how well doctors and hospitals are caring for patients with hepatobiliary cancers.

Passionate about quality care, Dr. Mansour anticipates that the cutting-edge research being done today at UT Southwestern will allow doctors to treat cancers differently in the future. His own research focuses on genetic analysis of tumors and blood in order to better predict a particular tumor’s behavior, how aggressive it will be, and how well patients will tolerate a major operation.

He believes that such an individualized approach will revolutionize cancer care and make cancer much easier to treat. “I anticipate that we will develop individualized treatment for each patient that will help them live longer lives and have a better quality of life,” he says.

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Education & Training
  • Fellowship - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute (2005-2007), Surgical Oncology
  • Residency - University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (1999-2005), Surgery
  • Medical School - Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (1995-1999)
Professional Associations & Affiliations
  • Society of Surgical Oncology
  • Association for Academic Surgery
  • American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • American College of Surgeons
Honors & Awards
  • D Magazine Best Doctor 2013-2022
  • Patricia and William L. Watson Jr., M.D. Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine 2017-2018, The institution’s highest honor for clinical excellence
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Association 2018, National Medical Honor Society recognizing educational achievement, teaching, humanism, and professionalism
  • Gold Humanism Honor Society 2018, National organization recognizes faculty who are exemplars of compassionate patient care and who serve as role models, mentors, and leaders in medicine
  • Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Resident Teaching, Awarded 2009 and 2017 by Department of Surgery for recognition of excellence in surgery resident education
  • Special Recognition for Outstanding Achievement in Student Teaching, Awarded 2009 and 2017 by Department of Surgery for excellence in medical student education
  • Laycock Snyder Faculty Scholar Award 2014, Awarded annually by Department of Surgery to one senior faculty for excellence in teaching and scholarly activity
  • Core Clerkship Teaching Award, Awarded 2008 and 2014 by UT Southwestern Medical School for excellence in medical student teaching
Research
  • Multimodality treatment of gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and hepatic malignancy
  • Safety and quality in individualized cancer care

Clinical Focus

  • Liver Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Pancreatic Cancer Prevention
  • Stomach/EG Junction Cancer
  • Surgery for Gastrointestinal Cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer
  • Gallbladder/Bile Duct (Cholangiocarcinoma) Cancer
  • Soft Tissue Sarcoma
  • Pancreatic Disease
  • Gastrointestinal Cancers
  • Gallbladder & Bile Duct Disease
  • Esophageal Cancer
  • Biliary Tract Disorders

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Q&A by Dr. Mansour