Ate van der Zee

Ate van der Zee led the GROINSS-V (Groningen International Study on Sentinel nodes in Vulvar cancer) program, a series of prospective trials that established sentinel lymph node biopsy as the standard of care for early-stage vulvar cancer with clinically negative inguinal nodes, dramatically reducing the morbidity of full inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. The GROINSS-V I and II trials demonstrated equivalent oncologic safety with far lower rates of lymphedema, wound dehiscence, and cellulitis. His work has transformed the surgical management of vulvar cancer internationally.