Gianfrancesco Gallino

Dr. Gianfrancesco Gallino is a general oncological surgeon at Casa di Cura La Madonnina.

After earning his degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan in 1994, he specialized in General Surgery at the same university in 1999.

Beginning in 1991, he spent several years at the Division of Oncological Surgery B at the IRCCS National Cancer Institute, where in 2000, he became a First-Level Medical Director within the Colorectal Surgery Complex Unit.

Since September 2012, he has been working at the Melanoma and Sarcoma Complex Unit at the National Cancer Institute, the leading department in Italy for hospital admissions and surgeries related to this specific pathology. Today, he is one of the surgical leads and a member of the multidisciplinary team.

In the field of oncological dermatological surgery, he specializes in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma, skin carcinomas, and Merkel cell carcinoma, having performed over 1,400 major surgeries as the lead surgeon in the last five years. These procedures include excisions with sentinel lymph node biopsies, inguinal-iliac, axillary, and lateral cervical lymph node dissections, surgeries for stage IV disease (such as visceral resections, ECT, and limb perfusions). He holds the largest personal case series in Italy for surgeries related to rectal and anal melanomas.

Additionally, with over 500 procedures as the lead surgeon, he has experience in the laparotomic treatment of colorectal, ileal, and gastric tumors.

One of his key research areas is sphincter-sparing conservative surgery for rectal tumors. He recently published a study in the Annals of Surgical Oncology on melanoma metastasis to the ileum and colon, presenting the second-largest case series globally. He is also involved in research on early diagnosis of disease recurrence through biomolecular markers (free DNA and miRNA) and is interested in immunological issues and vaccination programs for gastrointestinal neoplasms and cutaneous melanomas.

For four editions, he has been part of the scientific committee of the International Symposium of Rectal Surgery and has been a lecturer for the Master in Colorectal Surgery. He has also taught three editions (2013, 2015, 2017) of the advanced ESSO course on clinical management of cutaneous melanoma.

A speaker at numerous conferences on melanoma and other skin neoplasms, he is the author and co-author of over 120 scientific publications (some of which have received awards), 92 of which have been published in national and international journals with Index Medicus.

In 1991, he received the Young Professionals Award from the Italian Society of Surgery and in 2005, he was awarded the annual prize for best scientific research among those under 40 by the INT in Milan. He has also won four scholarships for original scientific work on topics such as Colorectal Oncological Surgery, melanoma treatment, anal melanoma surgery, and fertility preservation after major surgery.