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Best Prostate Cancer Surgeon at Kaiser

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Posted 7/1/2016 4:41 AM (GMT 0)
Everyone says you should only work with a very experienced surgeon that has done at least 300 procedures. Any recommendation within the Kaiser system in Southern California? How about outside Kaiser in case I need to get it done outside to get the right Doctor?
Posted 7/1/2016 5:44 AM (GMT 0)
If you were in Oregon I would recommend Christopher Mershon. He now does all the robots for St Vincent's as well as a majority of the Kaiser surgeries.
Posted 7/1/2016 11:41 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks. Actually I am in Southern California. Who are the most experienced Kaiser surgeons in Southern California who meet Pat Walsh's criteria of having done at least 300 surgeries and perform about 50 per year, and have good reputation for outcome? How about outside Kaiser in Southern California in case I need to get it done outside?
Posted 7/1/2016 11:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hey there
Dr Ahuja in San Jose did mine several years ago and so far so good. A few years ago his count was several hundred. Good luck!
Posted 7/3/2016 9:11 PM (GMT 0)
I know there were a couple of guys in my PC support group who were happy with their surgeon, David Finley, at Kaiser So Cal. I don't know how many he's done. There are many experienced surgeons outside of Kaiser at UCLA, USC, Cedars/Tower Urology, City of Hope, UCIrvine etc.

For SBRT, I can highly recommend Chris King at UCLA, and Mitchell Kamrava for HDR Brachy at UCLA.
Posted 6/27/2017 4:24 AM (GMT 0)
Did you find one? I am looking now
Posted 6/27/2017 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
Dr. Marc Chuang at Kaiser San Diego performed my RALP earlier this year. He was recommended to me by a close friend who is a surgeon and department head at Kaiser.

I was very pleased with the care I received from Dr. Chuang and with my personal outcome. He's relatively young, but told me that he has performed >800 RALP procedures.

PM me if you want more info.
Posted 6/27/2017 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you, This helps. After how were you, how long until you back on your feet? How much care was needed while you recovered?

So many questions

How are you now?
Posted 7/3/2017 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

We sent my husband's slides to John Hopkins for another opinion. He was originally 4+3, but John Hopkins downgraded to 3+4. We sent their results to Dr. Chuang and he still thinks surgery is "reasonable" since he is still in the intermediate risk stage. We are still not sure what to do at this point. I would like to look further into radiology without hormone therapy, if that's an option. Does anyone know if they recommended hormone therapy because he was originally 4+3? It sounds like hormone therapy is less than ideal. We need to speak to the radiologist at UCSD again, I guess.

I, also, would like another option beside Kaiser. It concerns me that the pathology department had a different reading than John Hopkins. I have different health insurance and could add him in September.

On a side note, one of the nurses at Kaiser pulled us aside when we started this ordeal and told us Dr. Chuang was the surgeon to see there.

Kit - thanks for the other to speak to us. I'm not sure how to PM you, but I will add his email address to my profile.

I need to add Husband's info to my profile, but quickly:

Age 52, PSA 10, 2 out of 12 cores positive.
Posted 7/3/2017 6:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Kelly...I've got a few comments re your last post:

1. Don't be too hard on Kaiser because they had a different pathology reading. Prostate biopsies are definitely hard to read and that's why most of us suggest that an expert read the slides. Dr. Epstein in one of the best so you can now take that pathology to the bank. Of course there may be other grades of cancer, lower and/or higher, that were missed by the biopsy needle but at least you now have a baseline for planning.

2. Of course your doctor still thinks surgery is reasonable. It is, plus...he was trained as a surgeon so he likely has a bias in that direction.

3. The full range of curative options should be now open to you guys. That means SBRT, HDR Brachy and LDR Brachy in addition to surgery. There are plenty of radiation experts in SoCal; Tall Allen gave some great suggestions on this thread. BTW, an "RO" isn't necessarily an expert in all forms of radiology and, in fact, most likely is not. So make sure you consult experts in each field.

4. Given that most of the mainline treatments are likely to be curative, you should also focus on the pluses and minuses of each option and determine what is important to you guys. With surgery you get immediate knowledge of post-op pathology and sooner feedback on post-op results as you watch the PSA. With the radiation options you get a significantly better chance of avoiding the onerous side effects of ED and/or incontinence.

Good luck,

Jim
Posted 7/3/2017 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
Since Jeff Demanes is back at UCLA now (he wasn't when I posted the above post), he would be the top HDR brachy guy in the area. Chris King is still at UCLA. If San Diego is more convenient, Don Fuller would be a good choice for SBRT.
Posted 7/3/2017 7:49 PM (GMT 0)
Another top HDR Brachy guy is Mitch Kamrava at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.
Posted 7/3/2017 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Demanes was Kamrava's mentor
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