Dr. Whelan is a surgeon who has focused his career on cancer treatment. He remarks on the changes he has witnessed in cancer treatment during his career. An example of a metastatic breast cancer case illustrates how the new concept of a cancer "team" operates. Each member of the team brings specific knowledge and skills to the case, and all members work together to integrate their expertise to bring about the best possible outcome for the patient. Constant, long-term follow-up on all cancer patients is imperative, and Dr. Whelan proposes a "team approach" to this issue. One doctor will act as the central physician, answering the patient's questions, addressing his fears, explaining treatment, and monitoring progress, while the other team members advise the central doctor.
As a surgeon, Whelan holds his own beliefs on the role of surgery in cancer treatment. He favors less radical operations than those performed a few decades ago by pioneers in cancer treatment. Dr. Whelan is a supporter of electrosurgery for tumors, a method that is less traumatic to healthy tissue, and achieves a more aesthetic outcome while eliminating the cancerous lesion as well as conventional surgery.
Dr. Whelan obviously cares deeply about his cancer patients and seeks the most compassionate methods of treating their disease.