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Memorial Sloan Kettering surgeon Emmanouil Pappou

Emmanouil P. Pappou, MD, PhD, FACS, FASCRS

Colorectal Surgeon

My Role at MSK

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Colon cancer
  • Rectal cancer
  • Anal cancer

My Specialties

  • Minimally Invasive Surgery
  • Robotic Surgery
  • Laparoscopic Surgery
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Dr. Pappou's Office Information
Languages: English, German, and Greek
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About Me

What I Do at MSK
  • Assistant Attending Surgeon
Get To Know Me

I am a board-certified colorectal surgeon who specializes in caring for people with gastrointestinal cancers. Specifically, I focus on:

I have extensive experience in both open surgery and minimally invasive approaches, including robotic and laparoscopic surgery. These advanced techniques, which use smaller incisions (cuts) than open surgery, have been shown to lessen the risk of complications and speed recovery.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is one of the highest-volume centers in the country for robotic surgery. We are also leaders in treating people with rectal cancer without surgery when possible, and in using newer treatment options, such as immunotherapy, which boosts your immune system’s natural ability to fight cancer.

People being treated for colorectal cancer often face issues that may be difficult to talk about, such as bowel and sexual function. For this reason, my team and I approach each patient as a member of our family. We treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. 

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I work closely with my patients, their families, and my colleagues across medical specialties to customize a treatment plan that best fits my patients’ needs. As a surgeon, I am committed to reducing the risks of cancer surgery while having a meaningful, positive impact on my patients’ quality of life. This commitment is what originally drew me to the field colorectal cancer surgery. I also find it most rewarding to see people get their lives back after they have completed cancer treatment.

Our number one goal is to cure cancer, but we place equal importance on our patients’ quality of life. That’s why we are developing clinical trials that look at ways to restore or improve function after surgery for colorectal cancer. We’re also developing new tools for early detection and treatment of colorectal and anal cancer.

No two people have the same expectations for surgery. Taking the time to get to know my patients helps me finetune the procedure to meet their needs. My team and I are easily accessible and readily available to answer any questions that my patients may have. We are here to guide them and their families before, during, and after surgery.

My Role at MSK

A colorectal (KOH-loh-REK-tul) surgeon is a doctor with special training in surgery on the colon and rectum.

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Colon cancer
  • Rectal cancer
  • Anal cancer
  • Appendiceal (appendix) cancer and conditions

My Specialties

  • Minimally Invasive Surgery
  • Robotic Surgery
  • Laparoscopic Surgery
  • Preserving bowel, bladder, and sexual function
  • Clinical trials
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Technical University of Munich
  • PhD, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich

Residencies

  • Surgery – Johns Hopkins Hospital

Awards and Honors

  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2024)
  • Castle Connolly: Top Doctors New York Metro Area (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: America's Top Doctors (2023)
  • Johns Hopkins Department of Surgery Core Values in Practice Award (2009)
  • Johns Hopkins George D. Zuidema Research Award for Meritorious Laboratory Research (2010)

Fellowships

  • Surgical Oncology - The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University
  • Colon and Rectal Surgery – NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Surgery
  • Colon and Rectal Surgery

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA and NYC retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

See updates

Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO, DSN

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

See updates

Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

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Current Patients
Request an appointment by logging on to MyMSK or calling your doctor’s office. If you aren’t registered for MyMSK, call 646-227-2593 for your Enrollment ID.

Contact and Location

Dr. Pappou sees patients at three locations.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
Montvale, NJ
Middletown, NJ
Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen
225 Summit Avenue Montvale NJ 07645
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth
480 Red Hill Road Middletown NJ 07748
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Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.

Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Patient-Reported Outcomes doctors

See all Colorectal Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

1. PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair-Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Cercek A, Lumish M, Sinopoli J, Weiss J, Shia J, Lamendola-Essel M, El Dika IH, Segal N, Shcherba M, Sugarman R, Stadler Z, Yaeger R, Smith JJ, Rousseau B, Argiles G, Patel M, Desai A, Saltz LB, Widmar M, Iyer K, Zhang J, Gianino N, Crane C, Romesser PB, Pappou EP, Paty P, Garcia-Aguilar J, Gonen M, Gollub M, Weiser MR, Schalper KA, Diaz LA Jr. N Engl J Med. 2022 Jun 23;386(25):2363-2376. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2201445. Epub 2022 Jun 5.

2. Organ Preservation in Patients With Rectal Adenocarcinoma Treated With Total Neoadjuvant Therapy.

Garcia-Aguilar J, Patil S, Gollub MJ, Kim JK, Yuval JB, Thompson HM, Verheij FS, Omer DM, Lee M, Dunne RF, Marcet J, Cataldo P, Polite B, Herzig DO, Liska D, Oommen S, Friel CM, Ternent C, Coveler AL, Hunt S, Gregory A, Varma MG, Bello BL, Carmichael JC, Krauss J, Gleisner A, Paty PB, Weiser MR, Nash GM, Pappou E, Guillem JG, Temple L, Wei IH, Widmar M, Lin S, Segal NH, Cercek A, Yaeger R, Smith JJ, Goodman KA, Wu AJ, Saltz LB. J Clin Oncol. 2022 Aug 10;40(23):2546-2556. doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.00032. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

3. Programme of self-reactive innate-like T cell-mediated cancer immunity.

Chou C, Zhang X, Krishna C, Nixon BG, Dadi S, Capistrano KJ, Kansler ER, Steele M, Han J, Shyu A, Zhang J, Stamatiades EG, Liu M, Li S, Do MH, Edwards C, Kang DS, Chen CT, Wei IH, Pappou EP, Weiser MR, Garcia-Aguilar J, Smith JJ, Leslie CS, Li MO. Nature. 2022 May;605(7908):139-145. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04632-1. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

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4. A rectal cancer organoid platform to study individual responses to chemoradiation.

Ganesh K, Wu C, O’Rourke KP, Szeglin BC, Zheng Y, Sauvé CG, Adileh M, Wasserman I, Marco MR, Kim AS, Shady M, Sanchez-Vega F, Karthaus WR, Won HH, Choi SH, Pelossof R, Barlas A, Ntiamoah P, Pappou E, Elghouayel A, Strong JS, Chen CT, Harris JW, Weiser MR, Nash GM, Guillem JG, Wei IH, Kolesnick RN, Veeraraghavan H, Ortiz EJ, Petkovska I, Cercek A, Manova-Todorova KO, Saltz LB, Lavery JA, DeMatteo RP, Massagué J, Paty PB, Yaeger R, Chen X, Patil S, Clevers H, Berger MF, Lowe SW, Shia J, Romesser PB, Dow LE, Garcia-Aguilar J, Sawyers CL, Smith JJ. Nat Med. 2019 Oct;25(10):1607-1614. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0584-2. Epub 2019 Oct 7.

5. Genomic and transcriptomic determinants of response to neoadjuvant therapy in rectal cancer.

Chatila WK, Kim JK, Walch H, Marco MR, Chen CT, Wu F, Omer DM, Khalil DN, Ganesh K, Qu X, Luthra A, Choi SH, Ho YJ, Kundra R, Groves KI, Chow OS, Cercek A, Weiser MR, Widmar M, Wei IH, Pappou EP, Nash GM, Paty PB, Shi Q, Vakiani E, Duygu Selcuklu S, Donoghue MTA, Solit DB, Berger MF, Shia J, Pelossof R, Romesser PB, Yaeger R, Smith JJ, Schultz N, Sanchez-Vega F, Garcia-Aguilar J.  Nat Med. 2022 Aug;28(8):1646-1655. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01930-z. Epub 2022 Aug 15.

6. Clinical Calculator Based on Molecular and Clinicopathologic Characteristics Predicts Recurrence Following Resection of Stage I-III Colon Cancer.

Weiser MR, Hsu M, Bauer PS, Chapman WC Jr, González IA, Chatterjee D, Lingam D, Mutch MG, Keshinro A, Shia J, Vakiani E, Konishi T, Shimada Y, Stadler Z, Segal NH, Cercek A, Saltz L, Yaeger R, Varghese A, Widmar M, Wei IH, Pappou EP, Smith JJ, Nash G, Paty P, Garcia-Aguilar J, Gonen M. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Mar 10;39(8):911-919. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.02553. Epub 2021 Jan 13.

7. Progressive plasticity during colorectal cancer metastasis.

Moorman AR, Cambuli F, Benitez EK, Jiang Q, Xie Y, Mahmoud A, Lumish M, Hartner S, Balkaran S, Bermeo J, Asawa S, Firat C, Saxena A, Luthra A, Sgambati V, Luckett K, Wu F, Li Y, Yi Z, Masilionis I, Soares K, Pappou E, Yaeger R, Kingham P, Jarnagin W, Paty P, Weiser MR, Mazutis L, D’Angelica M, Shia J, Garcia-Aguilar J, Nawy T, Hollmann TJ, Chaligné R, Sanchez-Vega F, Sharma R, Pe’er D, Ganesh K. bioRxiv. 2023 Aug 21:2023.08.18.553925. doi: 10.1101/2023.08.18.553925.

8. Contemporary Management of Locally Advanced and Recurrent Rectal Cancer: Views from the PelvEx Collaborative. PelvEx Collaborative. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Feb 24;14(5):1161. doi: 10.3390/cancers14051161.

9. Quality of life and function after rectal cancer surgery with and without sphincter preservation.

Pappou EP, Temple LK, Patil S, Smith JJ, Wei IH, Nash GM, Guillem JG, Widmar M, Weiser MR, Paty PB, Schrag D, Garcia-Aguilar J.  Front Oncol. 2022 Oct 21;12:944843. doi: 10.3389/foc.2022.944843. eCollection 2022.

10. Predicting outcomes of pelvic exenteration using machine learning. PelvEx Collaborative. Colorectal Dis. 2020 Dec;22(12):1933-1940. doi: 10.1111/codi.15235. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

11. Comparing outcomes of robotic versus open mesorectal excision for rectal cancer.

Jimenez-Rodriguez RM, Flynn J, Patil S, Widmar M, Quezada-Diaz F, Lynn P, Strombom P, Temple L, Smith JJ, Wei IH, Pappou EP, Guillem JG, Paty PP, Nash GM, Weiser MR, Garcia-Aguilar J. BJS Open. 2021 Nov 9;5(6):zrab135. doi: 10.1093/bjsopen/zrab135.

12. Comparison of Robotic, Laparoscopic, and Open Resections of Nonmetastatic Colon Cancer.

Yuval JB, Thompson HM, Verheij FS, Fiasconaro M, Patil S, Widmar M, Wei IH, Pappou EP, Smith JJ, Nash GM, Weiser MR, Paty PB, Garcia-Aguilar J. Dis Colon Rectum. 2023 Oct 1;66(10):1347-1358. doi: 10.1097/DCR.0000000000002637. Epub 2022 Dec 16.

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Pappou’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Emmanouil P. Pappou discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

No disclosures meeting criteria for time period


If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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