Shwe Han, MD

Meet Shwe Han, MD

Surgical Oncologist Bringing Hepatobiliary and Cancer Surgery Expertise to Santa Fe

Dr. Shwe Phyo Han is a surgical oncologist and general surgeon at CHRISTUS Health in Santa Fe, New Mexico, seeing patients at the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center on St. Michaels Drive. He earned his medical degree from Mandalay University – Institute of Medicine and trained at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at UPMC in Pittsburgh — one of the world's foremost programs for hepatobiliary and transplant surgery. His published research focuses on liver cancer surgery, liver transplantation for cancer, and outcomes after hepatic resection — work that reflects the specialized surgical training he now brings to the cancer program in Santa Fe, where patients have access to the region's only nationally accredited cancer center.

Clinical Role

Dr. Han practices at the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Cancer Center at 445 St. Michaels Drive in Santa Fe — the region's only nationally accredited cancer program, where care is measured, tested, and held to the highest national standards from diagnosis to recovery. He joins a surgical oncology team that includes hepatopancreaticobiliary and general surgical oncology capabilities. His research at UPMC — focused on liver cancer resection, liver transplant allocation for hepatocellular carcinoma, and transplantation for colorectal liver metastases — directly reflects the types of complex cancer surgeries he is trained to perform. The cancer center also participates in the Mayo Clinic Care Network, allowing physicians to combine their understanding of each patient's unique medical needs with Mayo Clinic expertise.

He provides surgical care for conditions such as:

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) — surgical resection and evaluation for transplant candidacy
• Colorectal cancer with liver metastases — hepatic resection and surgical management
• Pancreatic cancer — surgical evaluation, resection, and staging
• Biliary tract cancers (cholangiocarcinoma) — surgical management of cancers affecting the bile ducts
• Gastrointestinal cancers — including stomach, small bowel, and other abdominal malignancies requiring surgical intervention
• Soft tissue tumors and abdominal masses — surgical excision and biopsy
• General surgical oncology — surgical management of cancers that require operative treatment, including staging, debulking, and curative resection

What You Can Expect from Care with Dr. Han

Cancer surgery is often the most decisive intervention in a patient's treatment plan — the procedure that determines whether a tumor can be fully removed and what recovery and further treatment will look like. Dr. Han's background at the Starzl Transplantation Institute means he has trained in an environment where the most complex abdominal and hepatobiliary cases — cases other programs may not take on — are part of daily practice. That level of exposure to difficult anatomy, challenging tumor biology, and multi-organ surgical planning informs the judgment he applies to every case, including knowing when surgery is the right option and when a different approach will serve the patient better. His research on surgical outcomes and transplant allocation reflects a data-driven approach to surgical decision-making.

You can expect:

• A surgeon trained at one of the world's leading hepatobiliary and transplant surgery programs, now practicing locally in Santa Fe
• Thorough preoperative evaluation — including imaging review, staging, and discussion of surgical options — before any procedure
• Clear explanation of the surgical plan, including what the surgery will involve, what the recovery timeline looks like, and what the goals are
• Coordination with the full cancer care team — including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and palliative care — as part of a multidisciplinary treatment plan at a nationally accredited cancer center
• A surgeon whose published research directly informs his clinical decision-making in liver, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal cancer surgery

Research and Clinical Insight

Dr. Han's published research, conducted at the UPMC Starzl Transplantation Institute, focuses on the surgical management and transplant treatment of liver cancer — one of the most complex areas in surgical oncology. His work includes studies on outcomes after curative liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma, optimization of liver transplant allocation models for cancer patients, survival outcomes of liver transplantation, and a scoping review on liver transplantation for unresectable colorectal liver metastases — a rapidly evolving area of transplant oncology. Earlier publications address general surgical complications including splenic abscess management and ischaemic pancreatitis. This research background means his surgical recommendations are grounded in the published evidence on what works, for whom, and under what circumstances — critical when the surgical decisions are high-stakes.