Mesothelioma Doctors
We highly recommended that your mesothelioma treatment comes from a doctor who specializes in this rare and aggressive disease. Few physicians have ever actually seen a case of mesothelioma, and as a result mesothelioma is often misdiagnosed.
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Call us at 1-800-692-8608 to get connected with the top mesothelioma doctors in the country. We have a doctor matching program to ensure that mesothelioma patients are matched with only experienced doctors who specialize in treating mesothelioma. You can also fill out this form to receive FREE information.
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Abraham Lebenthal, M.D.
Dr. Lebenthal is an expert in mesothelioma surgery, having trained under Dr. David Sugarbaker in general thoracic surgery at the Brigham and Womens hospital. He is himself a veteran, and currently works at the Harvard and Boston University-affiliated West Roxbury VA hospital, where he is pleased to give back to a community which has given so much for its country.
Anne Tsao, M.D.
Dr. Tsao works as an Associate Professor in the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in the Department of Thoracic and Head & Neck Medical Oncology. Her expertise is in treating patients who have both thoracic cancers and cancers of the head and neck. As a clinician and scientist, she is involved in clinical research as well as translational lab research with a focus aimed at the identification of novel therapies and the development of new strategies for treating malignant mesothelioma and aerodigestive cancers.
Brian Loggie, M.D.
Dr. Loggie is a physician and researcher most noted for his work in pioneering a treatment for malignant mesothelioma called heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the 1990s. The treatment–which is now growing to be more widely-used than ever due to its effectiveness in eradicating many types of cancers–involves a combination of hyperthermic chemotherapy medications and surgical procedures.
Brian Loggie, M.D.
Dr. Loggie is a physician and researcher most noted for his work in pioneering a treatment for malignant mesothelioma called heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the 1990s. The treatment–which is now growing to be more widely-used than ever due to its effectiveness in eradicating many types of cancers–involves a combination of hyperthermic chemotherapy medications and surgical procedures.
Daniel Sterman, M.D.
Dr. Sterman is a physician specializing in critical care and pulmonology. He currently serves in several positions at New York Universitys Langone Medical Center and Perlmutter Cancer Center. His positions allow him to work directly with patients, to be an educator, and to lead and direct research. His research into cancers, including gene therapy to treat mesothelioma, has gained him international recognition and the admiration and respect of both peers and patients.
David Bartlett M.D.
Dr. Bartlett is an expert surgical oncologist who specializes in managing complex and advanced abdominal diseases, abdominal sarcomas, gastric cancer and liver and bile duct cancer. He serves as vice chairman of the David C. Koch Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapy Center as well as vice chairman of surgical oncology and gastrointestinal services at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and is the director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute’s Multidisciplinary Disease Site Clinical and Research Programs.
David M. Jablons, M.D.
Dr. Jablons studied medicine at the Albany Medical College of Union University New York, having won a preceptorship studying under Dr. Steven Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute in his fourth year of study there. His training with Dr. Rosenberg sparked a deep interest in translational science, and Dr. Jablons currently serves as the Chief of General Thoracic Surgery, Director of the Thoracic Oncology Lab, and Program Leader of Thoracic Oncology at UCSF as well as being the Nan T. McEvoy Distinguished Professor of Thoracic Surgical Oncology.
David Rice, M.B. B.Ch.
Dr. Rice received his medical degree at the School of Medicine, Trinity College, the University of Dublin. Then he completed his internship at St. James Hospital, Dublin, Ireland in 1992. Dr. Rice joined the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center where he is a Professor of Surgery. His clinical interests include: thoracic malignancies, thoracic surgery, and video assisted thoracoscopic surgery in thoracic malignancies.
David Sugarbaker, M.D.
Dr. Sugarbaker was the Professor and Chief of Surgery at the Baylor Clinic. Unfortunately, he passed away on August 29, 2018. He specialized in general thoracic surgery and was board certified by the American Board of Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, and Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery. He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York. Dr. Sugarbaker interned at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston and did his residency at Brigham and Womens Hospital. His clinical interests included: mesothelioma, cardiothoracic surgery, lung, thoracic surgery, and esophageal cancer.
Eric Vallieres, M.D.
Dr. Vallieres studied medicine at Quebec’s Université Laval and was a resident at the University of Toronto before completing his fellowship in Bordeaux, France under the tutelage of Professor Louis Couraud. He currently serves at the Surgical Director of the Lung Cancer Program at Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center, focusing his research on surgical treatment of lung cancer and induction chemotherapy. He specializes in malignant mesothelioma, chest wall tumors, hyperhidrosis, bronchoscopy and esophageal achalasia.
Harvey Pass, M.D.
Dr. Pass graduated from Johns Hopkins University as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and studied medicine at Duke Medical School. He completed his specialty training in cardiothoracic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina and served as an attending physician there in cardiac surgery. He is dedicated to the treatment of thoracic disorders such as pulmonary metastases, lung cancer, mesothelioma and esophageal cancer.
Hedy Lee Kindler, M.D.
Dr. Kindlers medical specialty is in treating several forms of cancer, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors, pancreatic cancer, and mesothelioma. She is also actively involved in research endeavors that focus on investigating new agents for treating these cancer types, designing and leading various clinical trials for patients who suffer with these illnesses.
Jacques P. Fontaine, M.D.
Dr. Jacques Fontaine is a surgeon and Montreal native of Lebanese descent, board-certified by both the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. As well as being the lead thoracic surgeon at the Moffitt Cancer Center’s Mesothelioma Research and Treatment Center, he also teaches at the University of South Florida as an Associate Professor of Surgery. Dr. Fontaine is also a Fellow at both the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Fontaine’s clinical interests include lung cancers, mesothelioma, esophageal cancers and thymoma. As an experienced thoracic surgeon, he is an expert in utilizing minimally-invasive technologies to treat various chest-related malignancies. He believes strongly in a multidisciplinary approach to treatment and research and continues to actively contribute to clinical research endeavors.
John Chabot, M.D.
Dr. John A. Chabot has achieved expertise in the surgical treatment of both abdominal mesothelioma and pancreatic cancer with almost thirty years of medical experience. He is the head of the Division of Gastrointestinal and Endocrine Surgery at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan as well as the executive director of the Pancreas Center there. Dr. Chabot is not only a practitioner, but a teacher, as he serves as the David V. Habif Professor of Clinical Surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.
Joseph Friedberg, M.D.
Dr. Friedberg received his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania and completed his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. He obtained his training in general surgery from Massachusetts General Hospital and is a board-certified general surgeon and thoracic surgeon, having attained his specialization at the Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Friedberg currently serves as the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Health System-Presbyterian.
Lee Krug, M.D.
Dr. Krug is a medical oncologist and the director of the Mesothelioma Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the same facility in which he completed his oncology fellowship as a student. His leadership in research and patient treatment is making real strides in helping patients live longer and more comfortably. Dr. Klugs clinical and research interests and specialties are multimodal treatment of mesothelioma and thoracic cancers, vaccine treatments, and leading clinical trials of novel treatment strategies.
Marcelo DaSilva, M.D.
Dr. Marcelo DaSilva is board-certified as a critical-care, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and serves as the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Chicago’s Loyola University Medical Center. Previously, he worked as a thoracic surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as a surgery instructor at Harvard Medical School. He also did work as a consultant for Boston’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Dr. DaSilva serves as the program director of the International Midwest Mesothelioma Program as well as being the president elect of the Thoracic Surgery Society of Illinois. He is the co-director of the Cardinal Bernadine Cancer Center’s Lung Cancer Center and is both a thoracic-cardiovascular surgeon and general surgeon with the Stritch School of Medicine at Chicago’s Loyola University Medical Center.
Matthew Steliga M.D.
Dr. Matthew Steliga is a thoracic surgeon specializing in cancer and mesothelioma. He is an instructor and surgeon at the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas. He trained and taught at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, a leading facility for the management of mesothelioma. Dr. Steliga specializes in minimally invasive surgeries and is known for providing his patients with multiple treatment options and compassionate care.
Paul Sugarbaker, M.D.
Dr. Sugarbaker’s renown comes of his years of service as a clinical investigator, lecturer and mentor as well as a colorectal cancer surgeon and gastrointestinal oncologist. He is also an expert in rare disorders such as peritoneal carcinomatosis, peritoneal mesothelioma, abdominal sarcomas, and pseudomyxoma peritonei. He has spearheaded the development and use of specialized treatments such as cytoreductive surgery using heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy and hyperthermia techniques utilizing the Thermotron RF-8. He is also widely published, with over 780 academic journal articles, textbook chapters and textbooks including a text about sarcoma surgery which has been published in five different languages.
R. Taylor Ripley M.D.
Dr. R. Taylor Ripley is a thoracic oncology surgeon at Baylor College of Medicine’s Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Division of General Thoracic Surgery in Texas. He works out of the Baylor Clinic and the Baylor St. Luke Medical Center. He is also the leader of the Lung Institute’s Mesothelioma Treatment Center. Dr. Ripley is a board-certified thoracic surgeon who specializes in robotic surgery and mesothelioma. He works at Baylor as part of a multi-disciplinary team helping improve surgical treatments for mesothelioma patients.
Raffit Hassan, M.D.
As a senior investigator and medical oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Hassan has developed new therapies for treating mesothelioma and currently conducts clinical trials for two new immunotherapies which target mesothelin, a tumor agent involved in mesothelioma development. He serves as chair of the Science Advisory Board at the Meso Foundation, and received Career Development Awards from both the National Institutes of Health and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Raja Flores, M.D.
Dr. Flores is noted as a leader and pioneer in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, and currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery as well as the Ames Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. He utilizes a minimally-invasive surgical technique (VATS lobectomy) to effectively treat patients with lung cancer.
Raphael Bueno, M.D.
Dr. Raphael Bueno is a leader in mesothelioma research and patient care. As a director of the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, he is leading cutting edge research and treatment for this rare cancer. He worked alongside Dr. David Sugarbaker, the previous director, for ten years and learned from this world-renowned expert in mesothelioma care. Dr. Buenos research interests focus on better diagnostic techniques for mesothelioma, surgical procedures for cancer, and the use of chemotherapy drugs along with surgical treatment.
Robert Cameron, M.D.
Dr. Cameron is the chief of surgery and director of the Pacific Mesothelioma Center at UCLA. He is a thoracic surgeon and has devoted most of his career to advancing diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma with a particular emphasis on lung-sparing surgical treatment, a multimodal approach, and the treatment of mesothelioma as a chronic disease. His clinical and research interests are pleural mesothelioma, less invasive surgical procedures, and immunotherapy.
Rodney Landreneau, M.D.
Rodney J. Landreneau, MD is a board-certified cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon. Dr. Landreneau completed residencies in both general surgery and thoracic surgery, at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, respectively.
Dr. Landreneau is noted for his years of experience in managing pleural mesothelioma and surgically treating disorders like myasthenia gravis and other mediastinal illnesses. His clinical expertise includes minimally-invasive and video-assisted surgery, treatment and surgery of lung cancer patients, esophageal cancer patients, as well as treatment of non-malignant esophageal disorders such as gastric reflux, among others.
Shanel Bhagwandin D.O.
Dr. Shanel Bhagwandin is a surgical oncologist and doctor of osteopathic medicine specializing in difficult and recurrent types of abdominal cancer, including peritoneal mesothelioma. He trained in surgical oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and is one of few doctors that are board certified in complex general surgical oncology. Currently working as the director of the Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncology Program at Jupiter Medical Center in South Florida, Dr. Bhagwandin has expanded the department and introduced the innovative new treatment known as HIPEC to patients in the region.
Tawee Tanvetyanon, M.D.
Dr. Tanvetyanon practices medical oncology, specializing in chemotherapy for all types of malignant mesothelioma (pleural, peritoneal and pericardial). He is a proponent of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy and utilizes many novel treatment methods via his work in clinical trials. He is an Associate Professor of Oncologic Sciences at the Moffitt Cancer Center at Tampa’s University of South Florida, and is widely published with various academic articles penned on patient survival and treatment outcomes.
Valerie Rusch, M.D.
Dr. Rusch is a board-certified expert in thoracic surgery – one of the first women in the country to become such – with more than 25 years of experience in this arena. She specializes in diagnosing and treating patients with tracheal, bronchial, esophageal, pleural and lung cancer, as well as those with cancers of the chest wall and mediastinum.
W. Charles Conway II, M.D.
Dr. Conway received his medical degree from Wayne State University. Having received his internship and residency at Wayne State University, he also went overseas to Ghana to complete his international studies. Dr. Conway is board certified in general surgery, and his clinical interests include: peritoneal malignant mesothelioma, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, gastric cancer, GI oncologic surgery, gallbladder cancer, metastatic disease to the liver, carcinoid tumors, abdominal sarcoma, and liver surgery.
Mesothelioma Treatment Centers
The physicians listed above and many others provide treatment at some of the nation’s leading cancer and mesothelioma treatment centers. These include:
Brigham & Women’s Hospital:
Brigham & Women’s Hospital’s International Mesothelioma Program (IMP) has made a name for itself as one of the leading treatment centers in the world. Its focus on multi-modality treatment utilizing a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy has been highly successful.
Pacific Meso Center:
The Pacific Meso Center is on the forefront for pleurectomy/decortication surgery. This lung-sparing treatment is among the cutting edge protocols used at the Pacific Meso Center, which is located in Los Angeles and which is a part of the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center:
Located in Houston, Texas, M.D. Anderson’s Mesothelioma Program has earned respect for its innovative radiation therapy center as well as for its state-of-the-art research programs and clinical trials.
Mount Sinai Hospital:
Mount Sinai first made a name for itself in the field of asbestos-related diseases by helping to create OSHA’s asbestos-in-the-workplace guidelines. The hospital is one of the country’s oldest and best-respected medical institutions, and boasts a staff of dedicated specialists who are recognized as leaders in the field of thoracic surgery, surgical oncology, and multi-modality therapies.
Selecting the Right Physician For You
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, one of the most important decisions that you will make will be where to seek treatment and who you choose for your doctor. Your decision needs to be based on the doctor’s expertise, but also on your level of comfort with them and their entire treatment team.
Be sure to consider the number of years the doctor has been treating mesothelioma patients, whether you are comfortable with them and whether they treat you with respect. You also need to address practical questions such as whether they accept your insurance and whether they are located in an area that is easily accessible for you.
Page edited by Dave Foster
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For over 20 years we’ve provided the best FREE resources to mesothelioma patients and loved ones. Our resources include information on the leading treatment options and best doctors in your area, lessons learned from survivors, claims and benefits specifically for Veterans, and how to access your share of billions of dollars in trust fund money.
Learn about the latest treatments.
- New treatment information
- Veterans benefits & claims
- $30 Billion asbestos trust fund information