Peter J. Allen, MD
Gastrointestinal Surgeon, General Surgeon, Surgical Oncologist
My Locations
Part of the Duke Cancer Institute
About Me
I am a cancer surgeon who specializes in treating patients with pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions of the pancreas, liver, bile ducts, stomach, and adrenal glands. I initially trained and practiced at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. During this time, I served one year on a forward surgical team in Iraq. Following this service, I practiced for 13 years as a surgical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. In 2018, I joined the faculty at Duke University and now serve as the chief of surgical oncology for Duke Health. I enjoy getting to know my patients and delivering the highest quality of cancer care. I am dedicated not only to treating and curing your cancer, but also providing you with the highest quality of life. Operations for cancers within the abdomen are a serious undertaking, and I am committed to making sure that they are performed with the highest level of expertise.
- David C. Sabiston, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology 2023
- Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology 2019
- Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology, Surgical Oncology 2018
Areas of Expertise
- Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia
- Colon and Rectal Cancer Surgery
- Liver Surgery
- Pancreatic Surgery
- Liver Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Stomach Cancer
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
My research focuses on early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and the development of safer and less invasive ways to perform pancreatic surgery. My work in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer has centered on the evaluation of patients with precancerous cystic lesions of the pancreas. These lesions are quite common and many have the potential to become pancreatic cancer. Our research has identified proteins in the fluid of these cysts that may allow us to identify very early pancreatic cancer. We have also found a possible mechanism to prevent this progression to cancer.
- Duke Research Training Program in Surgical Oncology awarded by National Institutes of Health 2024 - 2029
- McIntyre, Caitlin A., and Peter J. Allen. How Long Should Patients with Cystic Lesions of the Pancreas Be Followed? Vol. 52, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yasu.2018.03.014.
- Allen, Peter J., and Murray F. Brennan. The management of cystic lesions of the pancreas. Vol. 41, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yasu.2007.05.014.
- Allen, Peter J., and William R. Jarnagin. Current status of hepatic resection. Vol. 37, 2003.
- Sharib, Jeremy, Kristen E. Rhodin, Annie Liu, Sarah McIntyre, Alex Bartholomew, Sabran Masoud, Isabel DeLaura, et al. “ASO Visual Abstract: Adjuvant Cytotoxic Chemotherapy May Not Be Associated with a Survival Advantage for Resected Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.” Ann Surg Oncol 32, no. 4 (April 2025): 2501–2. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-025-16881-1.
- Liu, Annie, Melissa Lowe, Donna Niedzwiecki, Kristen E. Rhodin, Jeremy Sharib, Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner, Terence Z. Wong, et al. “ASO Visual Abstract: Perioperative and Oncologic Outcomes of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Pump Chemotherapy for Patients with Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases at an Expanding Hai Program.” Ann Surg Oncol 32, no. 4 (April 2025): 2508–9. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-024-16611-z.
- Sharib, Jeremy, Kristen E. Rhodin, Annie Liu, Sarah McIntyre, Alex Bartholomew, Sabran Masoud, Isabel DeLaura, et al. “Adjuvant Cytotoxic Chemotherapy may not be Associated with a Survival Advantage for Resected Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.” Ann Surg Oncol 32, no. 4 (April 2025): 2456–66. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-024-16799-0.
- Zambirinis, C. P., and P. J. Allen. “Anatomy of the pancreas and biliary tree.” In Surgical Diseases of the Pancreas and Biliary Tree, 1–26, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8755-4_1.
- Zambirinis, C. P., and P. J. Allen. “Anatomy of the pancreas and biliary tree.” In Current and Emerging Therapies in Pancreatic Cancer, 23–47, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58256-6_2.
- Wang, S. C., and P. J. Allen. “Pancreatic cancer.” In Biomarkers in Cancer Screening and Early Detection, 130–40, 2017.
- Liu, Annie, Melissa Lowe, Donna Niedzwiecki, Kristen E. Rhodin, Jeremy Sharib, Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner, Terence Z. Wong, et al. “Perioperative and Oncologic Outcomes of Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI) Pump Chemotherapy for Patients with Unresectable Colorectal Liver Metastases at an Expanding HAI Program.” In Ann Surg Oncol, 32:1033–42, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-024-16488-y.
- Kanu, Elishama, Joelle Sills, Rebecca Shelley, Joshua Ginzel, Joseph Fernandes, Ethan Agritelley, Ash Fletcher, et al. “Uncovering the role of oncogenic HER2 variants as drivers of pancreatic cancer.” In Journal of Clinical Oncology, 43:772–772. American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2025. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.4_suppl.772.
- Agritelley, Ethan S., Elishama N. Kanu, Jiayin Bao, Ashley A. Fletcher, Holly Skinner, Adi Molvin, Stacy Murray, et al. “Abstract C004: A window-of-opportunity trial using neoadjuvant hepatic artery chemotherapy for patients with localized pancreas cancer: Interim analysis of safety and feasibility.” In Cancer Research, 84:C004–C004. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2024. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.pancreatic24-c004.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- Lustgarten Foundation
Always great yo see Dr. Allen
Very pleased with everyone. Dr Allen and his assistant were absolutely wonderful. They made we feel well cared for and about. Thank God for both.
Nurses were among the best I have experiencedcaring, efficient, and responsive.
Can't say enough great things about our stay at Duke University Hospital!
Outstanding example of how healthcare should be provided.
My entire experience was positive, and I truly appreciate the care I received at Duke! I travel to get there every 2 months. Dr. Allen saved my life!
Dr. Allen was friendly and professional. He explained things very clearly and was proactive in many ways. He was aware of my previous CT scan and MRI and the results of those tests. He is an awesome listener and very compassionate.
I am confident that Dr. Allen and all the staff have my health as a top priority when I am at Duke. I trust Dr. Allen's judgment completely.