Hi, Sol,
Here is my recommendations copied from a post I made to the webcafe e-mail discussion listserv in 2006. My recommendations remain the same now as then. They are in random order, not in order of preference. This list is comprehensive, but not exhaustive...there are other talented urosurgeons/treatment centers that I have not listed here. If you have a particular surgeon or center in mind, please let me know, and I will tell you if I know anything of the work being done there. Here is my list:
1. Vanderbilt University; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center: Drs. Joseph A. Smith, Michael Cookson, Sam Chang
Faculty Page:
www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?site=urolsur&doc=3229
Department page:
www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/root/vumc.php?site=urolsur&doc=3228
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center "Bladder Caner" page:
www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vicc/dd/disease.php?id=5
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center "Make an Appointment" page:
www.vicc.org/showcontent.php?id=59
Vanderbilt is noted for its superb attention to patient care before, during, and after surgery which enhances its reputation for expertise in treating bladder cancer...superficial and invasive. They have developed methods that result in a much shorter surgery time for radical cystectomies(RC) and that eliminates the need for blood transfusions during RC/urinary diversion surgery. They perform a very high volume of these surgeries and have a high number of out-of-town patients.
2. University of Michigan Drs. James Montie and Cheryl Lee
Department of Urology Page:
www.med.umich.edu/urology/
Montie's page:
www.med.umich.edu/urology/Staff/montie.htm
Lee's page:
www.med.umich.edu/urology/Staff/lee.htm
Michigan Urology Center brochure:
www.med.umich.edu/urology/News/Media/MUCbrochure.pdf
University of Michigan's Comprehensive Cancer Center:
Both of these doctors specialize in bladder cancer and reconstructive surgery and both are excellent. UM site has lots of patient education and patient instruction pages online.
3. Cleveland Clinic; Glickman Urological Institute
Cleveland Clinic Urology Physician Page:
www.clevelandclinic.org/staff/sdssearch.aspOrgLevel=Main+Campus+and+Family+Health+Centers&DeptName=Urological+Institute&LName=&Sinterests=&CCFDir=Search&extra=
or
tinyurl.com/kjr4w
Cleveland Clinic Florida physicians:
sck.clevelandclinic.org/florida/physicians/physicians.asp?location=weston&location=naples&department=42
or
tinyurl.com/gle9a
I know that the Cleveland Clinic is highly regarded, but I do not know which of the 59 people listed in their urology department would be the best to recommend. Gill is noted for pioneering and specializing in laparoscopic radical cystectomy. There is a main campus along with several Family Health and Surgery Centers in the Cleveland area. There are also Cleveland Clinics in Weston and Naples Florida. Hopefully, other members that have been treated here will give you specific physician names.
4. University of Chicago: Dr. Gary Steinberg
UC Urology page:
www.ucurology.org/
Dr. Steinberg's page with contact info:
www.ucurology.org/faculty/steinberg.htm
Dr. Steinberg is noted as being an excellent surgeon with extensive experience in RC/urinary diversion surgeries. We have several members that are patients of Dr. Steinberg. Hopefully, they will give you more information.
5. University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine; USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center: Drs. John Stein, Donald Skinner, Eila Skinner(D and E Skinner are not related)
Urology Department page:
www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/departments/urology/about/index.html
Faculty page with links to individual doctors with contact info on the individual pages:
www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/departments/urology/about/faculty.php USC/NOrris Comprehensive Cancer Page:
ccnt.hsc.usc.edu/
The USC/Norris urologic cancer treatment center is one of the top in the nation with some of the highest published long-term survival rates. They have the reputation of extensive lymph node removal during radical cystectomy...in the 60+ range whereas 14-30 lymph nodes removed is what is practiced at most other centers of excellence. I think the additional lymph nodes removed may be the reason for their high long-term survival rates. Stein was one of the pioneers in neobladders for women when most others thought it was not feasible. They have a large volume of RC/urinary diversion surgeries.
6. Johns Hopkins University; Brady Urological Institute: Dr. Mark Schoenberg
Brady Urological Institute page:
urology.jhu.edu/
Dr. Schoenberg's page:
urology.jhu.edu/about/faculty.php?id=58
Dr. Schoenberg is an excellent doctor/surgeon whose patients love him dearly. He has written a layman's book on bladder cancer.
There are many other good surgeons of which a few are: Dr. Michael Koch (pronounce "Cook") of Indiana University Hospital Indianapolis, Indiana. He practiced at Vanderbilt before coming to Indiana as head of the IU Urology Dept. He was instrumental in Vandy's streamlining of this surgery, reducing the time and cost of doing this surgery. He is a very talented surgeon, and from personal experience, I know that he does the radical cystectomy surgery with neobladder replacement in about 3 to 3.5 hours which is remarkable considering that many of the top urosurgeon take 7 or more hours to do this surgery. The shorter time can be important to those that may have other conditions that preclude being under anesthesia for long periods of time. I believe the surgeons at Vanderbilt also performs these surgeries in the 3 to 4 hour timeframe. Also, with the shorter surgery time and methods used, there is usually not a need for blood transfusions which is good since blood transfusions can be hard on the body's immune system. When I asked how he was able to perform this surgery so much faster than other surgeons, he replied that he believes in going in and getting out with no wasting of time at any stage of the surgery.
www.iupui.edu/~urology/Providers/koch.htm
Dr. Arthur Sagalowsky of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas TX (known as the great non-communicator, but an excellent surgeon)
Drs. H. Barton Grossman, Ashish Kamat, Colin Dinney of MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston TX
www.mdanderson.org/departments/urology/dIndex.cfm?pn=3F16E32C-83F2-11D4-AEC800508BDCCE3A
or
tinyurl.com/hnyp4
Mark Soloway of University of Miami Miami Florida
urology.med.miami.edu/chief.asp
Drs. Harry Herr, S. Machele Donat, Guido Dalbagni of Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center
Herr:
www.mskcc.org/prg/prg/bios/54.cfm
Donat:
www.mskcc.org/prg/prg/bios/335.cfm
Dalbagni:
www.mskcc.org/prg/prg/bios/53.cfm
That is my short list that covers most regions of the USA, but as I said earlier, there are many other fine, talented surgeons that have taken wonderful care of their patients.
Hope this helps,
LindaW