Kevin Hughes, M.D. joins MUSC Department of Surgery as the Director of Cancer Genetics. Dr. Hughes has been actively involved in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer for more than thirty years. Prior to joining MUSC, he spent the last 20 years at Massachusetts General Hospital and retains the title of Professor Emeritus, Harvard Medical School. He is well-known for his research in finding the least amount of treatment necessary to obtain the best results, for his work in identifying and managing women at risk of breast cancer, and for his extensive research in hereditary breast cancer. Dr Hughes believes in using the minimum amount of surgery and other treatments needed to maximize the likelihood of cure. IN addition, Dr Hughes believes strongly in using genetic testing to identify patients at high risk of cancer before cancer occurs. In this way screening and management can be optimized to prevent cancer or find it at an earlier and more treatable stage.

He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in breast cancer, breast disease management, genetic testing and the identification and management of patients with hereditary breast cancer risk. Dr. Hughes has published extensively on breast disease management and genetic testing and has helped set the standards for the treatment of breast cancer in older women and the use of genetic testing in clinical practice.

Dr. Hughes is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School. He trained in Surgery at the Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh and completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute.