Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Susan Swetter has directed the Pigmented Lesion and Melanoma Programs at Stanford University Medical Center and Cancer Institute and VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) since 1995. She has also served as Physician Leader of the Cancer Care Program in Cutaneous Oncology at Stanford Medicine Cancer Center since 2012. Dr. Swetter’s research focuses on precision public health as it relates to primary and secondary prevention strategies in melanoma. She founding and is leading the Wipe Out Melanoma - California (WOM-CA) statewide initiative targeting high-risk populations for early detection through community engagement and novel technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Dr. Swetter has published over 200 scholarly articles, reviews, and textbook chapters. She has served for nearly 2 decades on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Melanoma Panel and American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Melanoma Work Group to establish clinical practice guidelines for melanoma in the US. She chaired the most recent (2019) AAD melanoma guidelines update and was appointed Chair of the NCCN Melanoma Panel in 2020.
Dr. Swetter serves as the dermatologist liaison to the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG-ACRIN) Melanoma Committee and is Co-Chair of the national Melanoma Prevention Working Group - a national research collaboration among academic dermatologists, pathologists, oncologists, surgeons, and epidemiologists who are dedicated to melanoma control, including screening and therapeutic prevention - comprised of Intergroup/NCTN (ECOG, SWOG, CALGB) melanoma centers in the US.
Dr. Swetter's research interests include clinical and translational studies of melanoma epidemiology, prognostic factors, screening and therapeutic prevention (formerly termed chemoprevention) in high-risk groups. She is the Stanford Principal Investigator (PI) for the NCI/University of Arizona Early Phase Cancer Chemoprevention Consortium for skin cancer research and co-led one of the first randomized trials of therapeutic prevention for melanoma in individuals with atypical nevi. She also served as VAPAHCS PI for the VA Cooperative Studies Program Keratinocyte Chemoprevention Trial, aimed at prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer in high risk patients.
Dr. Swetter co-led (through 2021) the Stanford University Network for Sun Protection, Outreach, and Teamwork (SUNSPORT) program to improve primary skin cancer prevention in college athletes. Her current Wipe Out Melanoma-CA research aims to improve early detection across all racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes to advance health equity and address health disparities in melanoma outcomes. The Stanford WOM-CA team works with Stanford and Cedars Sinai Medical Center collaborators to engage community participants (patients and providers) to reduce lethal melanomas across the state through the Melanoma Community Registry of California (MCRC) - which aligns with the national War on Melanoma efforts. She has established a statewide coalition of academic and health system partners to assist in this effort. Dr. Swetter is also involved in clinical trials for advanced melanoma patients at the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center, where she now co-leads the Pigmented Lesion/Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology Programs.
