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northern california – which oncologist / institution for adjuvant therapy?
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northern california – which oncologist / institution for adjuvant therapy?

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › northern california – which oncologist / institution for adjuvant therapy?

  • Post
    • November 22, 2016 at 11:45 pm
    mitranaaseh
    Participant

      hello everyone,  we are in northern california.  my husband is stage IIIb. we have had SLNB and CLND done already (chose the most experienced surgeon around our area) and are now getting ready for adjuvant therapy and are deciding where to go.  any experience / input would be greatly appreciated.  our choices are:

      Stanford Hospital – Dr Sunil Reddy (closest to us)

      UCSF – Dr. Adil Daud 

      CPMC in SF – Dr. Kevin Kim

      thank you kindly

       

       

       

       

    Viewing 8 reply threads
    • Replies
        • November 23, 2016 at 12:00 am
        jennunicorn
        Participant

          I highly recommend UCSF, I have been seeing my melanoma oncologist, Dr. Tsai, there for a year now and I have nothing but good things to say about my treatment there. I actually live 15 minutes from Stanford, but 45 minutes (without traffic) from UCSF, and prefer the drive to UCSF for the excellent doctors and knowledge of current research in the melanoma field. I have heard lots of good stuff about Dr. Daud.

          • November 23, 2016 at 12:00 am
          jennunicorn
          Participant

            I highly recommend UCSF, I have been seeing my melanoma oncologist, Dr. Tsai, there for a year now and I have nothing but good things to say about my treatment there. I actually live 15 minutes from Stanford, but 45 minutes (without traffic) from UCSF, and prefer the drive to UCSF for the excellent doctors and knowledge of current research in the melanoma field. I have heard lots of good stuff about Dr. Daud.

              • November 23, 2016 at 4:09 am
              mitranaaseh
              Participant

                thank you jenn.  are you able to get the ipi/nivo because you are IIIC?  do they treat IIIC as stage IV?  did you ever look into stanford or did they just not come up on the map for top institutions for melanoma?  unfortunately UCSF does not have the 1404 trial to get keytruda for stage III's.  thanks much . mitra

                • November 23, 2016 at 5:18 am
                jennunicorn
                Participant

                  I was on Ipi in the adjuvant setting when I was 3b, I got through those fine, then a couple of months ago found out it came back in my lymph nodes, so in order to get the more effective treatments my onc calls it unresectable 3C, which then opens the door to all treatment options like with stage 4.

                  I considered Stanford when I was looking for a melanoma specialist. I had Kaiser when I was originally diagnosed and needed to find a much better place for treatment. After some research and talking with a friend whose brother had stage 4 melanoma and went to UCSF for treatment and has been NED for almost 5 years now, I decided to give UCSF a try and I've been very happy with them. 

                  I would say, make an appointment with both the Stanford doctor and the UCSF one, ask both lots of questions, specifically about trials and what options would be available either location for you, and decide from there where you'd feel most comfortable going. I am sure Stanford is good too, it just doesn't have the same reputation that UCSF does for melanoma research specifically. 

                  • November 23, 2016 at 10:53 pm
                  knittingirl
                  Participant

                    I have been a patient of doctor A Daud for more than a year now. I am 3C . He declared me unresectable so I was able to undergo a ipi/nivo treatment. After 3 infusions I developed bad side effects and I was very happy by the quality of care I received during that time. Nurses, receptionist, doctor are very professional and nice. For blood tests, CT/PT scan I didn't have to go to Mount Zion but went to Mission bay: it is closer for me ( I live in south Bay).

                    Wish you the best,

                    • November 23, 2016 at 10:53 pm
                    knittingirl
                    Participant

                      I have been a patient of doctor A Daud for more than a year now. I am 3C . He declared me unresectable so I was able to undergo a ipi/nivo treatment. After 3 infusions I developed bad side effects and I was very happy by the quality of care I received during that time. Nurses, receptionist, doctor are very professional and nice. For blood tests, CT/PT scan I didn't have to go to Mount Zion but went to Mission bay: it is closer for me ( I live in south Bay).

                      Wish you the best,

                      • November 23, 2016 at 10:53 pm
                      knittingirl
                      Participant

                        I have been a patient of doctor A Daud for more than a year now. I am 3C . He declared me unresectable so I was able to undergo a ipi/nivo treatment. After 3 infusions I developed bad side effects and I was very happy by the quality of care I received during that time. Nurses, receptionist, doctor are very professional and nice. For blood tests, CT/PT scan I didn't have to go to Mount Zion but went to Mission bay: it is closer for me ( I live in south Bay).

                        Wish you the best,

                        • November 23, 2016 at 5:18 am
                        jennunicorn
                        Participant

                          I was on Ipi in the adjuvant setting when I was 3b, I got through those fine, then a couple of months ago found out it came back in my lymph nodes, so in order to get the more effective treatments my onc calls it unresectable 3C, which then opens the door to all treatment options like with stage 4.

                          I considered Stanford when I was looking for a melanoma specialist. I had Kaiser when I was originally diagnosed and needed to find a much better place for treatment. After some research and talking with a friend whose brother had stage 4 melanoma and went to UCSF for treatment and has been NED for almost 5 years now, I decided to give UCSF a try and I've been very happy with them. 

                          I would say, make an appointment with both the Stanford doctor and the UCSF one, ask both lots of questions, specifically about trials and what options would be available either location for you, and decide from there where you'd feel most comfortable going. I am sure Stanford is good too, it just doesn't have the same reputation that UCSF does for melanoma research specifically. 

                          • November 23, 2016 at 5:18 am
                          jennunicorn
                          Participant

                            I was on Ipi in the adjuvant setting when I was 3b, I got through those fine, then a couple of months ago found out it came back in my lymph nodes, so in order to get the more effective treatments my onc calls it unresectable 3C, which then opens the door to all treatment options like with stage 4.

                            I considered Stanford when I was looking for a melanoma specialist. I had Kaiser when I was originally diagnosed and needed to find a much better place for treatment. After some research and talking with a friend whose brother had stage 4 melanoma and went to UCSF for treatment and has been NED for almost 5 years now, I decided to give UCSF a try and I've been very happy with them. 

                            I would say, make an appointment with both the Stanford doctor and the UCSF one, ask both lots of questions, specifically about trials and what options would be available either location for you, and decide from there where you'd feel most comfortable going. I am sure Stanford is good too, it just doesn't have the same reputation that UCSF does for melanoma research specifically. 

                            • November 23, 2016 at 4:09 am
                            mitranaaseh
                            Participant

                              thank you jenn.  are you able to get the ipi/nivo because you are IIIC?  do they treat IIIC as stage IV?  did you ever look into stanford or did they just not come up on the map for top institutions for melanoma?  unfortunately UCSF does not have the 1404 trial to get keytruda for stage III's.  thanks much . mitra

                              • November 23, 2016 at 4:09 am
                              mitranaaseh
                              Participant

                                thank you jenn.  are you able to get the ipi/nivo because you are IIIC?  do they treat IIIC as stage IV?  did you ever look into stanford or did they just not come up on the map for top institutions for melanoma?  unfortunately UCSF does not have the 1404 trial to get keytruda for stage III's.  thanks much . mitra

                              • November 23, 2016 at 12:00 am
                              jennunicorn
                              Participant

                                I highly recommend UCSF, I have been seeing my melanoma oncologist, Dr. Tsai, there for a year now and I have nothing but good things to say about my treatment there. I actually live 15 minutes from Stanford, but 45 minutes (without traffic) from UCSF, and prefer the drive to UCSF for the excellent doctors and knowledge of current research in the melanoma field. I have heard lots of good stuff about Dr. Daud.

                                • December 2, 2016 at 7:13 pm
                                jade1111
                                Participant

                                  Hello.. So sorry you are dealing with this..

                                  My mom is stage 4 and sees Dr Adil Daud at UCSF. She was at Stanford prior to UCSF which was also located closer. After much deliberation she decided to go with UCSF despite the distance. She is currently doing a trial there. My mom's intitial WLE was with Stanford and the saw Dr Reddy a few times after finsing out about reoccurence. Overall felt that UCSF had a bigiger department for Melanoma and we were dissapointed in Stanford's handling of her initial diagniosis in retrospect. Think its very important to see a couple of Drs and assess based on your situation. Once we figured out treatment.. standard of care versus trial.. we then has to decide on location. If my mom had decided on Standard of care (1 infusion) we may have had her do that with a local oncologist and consulted with Dr Daud.. there are a few options on how to go about once treatment is decided. 

                                  I have to say that UCSF is super friendly and the staff amazing and all the patients I have talked with who see Dr Daud have nothing but great things to say. You will wait a while but Dr Daud continues to impress me with his ability to answer questions and be very present despite how busy they are. 

                                  All the best to you and your husband!

                                  • December 2, 2016 at 7:13 pm
                                  jade1111
                                  Participant

                                    Hello.. So sorry you are dealing with this..

                                    My mom is stage 4 and sees Dr Adil Daud at UCSF. She was at Stanford prior to UCSF which was also located closer. After much deliberation she decided to go with UCSF despite the distance. She is currently doing a trial there. My mom's intitial WLE was with Stanford and the saw Dr Reddy a few times after finsing out about reoccurence. Overall felt that UCSF had a bigiger department for Melanoma and we were dissapointed in Stanford's handling of her initial diagniosis in retrospect. Think its very important to see a couple of Drs and assess based on your situation. Once we figured out treatment.. standard of care versus trial.. we then has to decide on location. If my mom had decided on Standard of care (1 infusion) we may have had her do that with a local oncologist and consulted with Dr Daud.. there are a few options on how to go about once treatment is decided. 

                                    I have to say that UCSF is super friendly and the staff amazing and all the patients I have talked with who see Dr Daud have nothing but great things to say. You will wait a while but Dr Daud continues to impress me with his ability to answer questions and be very present despite how busy they are. 

                                    All the best to you and your husband!

                                    • December 2, 2016 at 7:13 pm
                                    jade1111
                                    Participant

                                      Hello.. So sorry you are dealing with this..

                                      My mom is stage 4 and sees Dr Adil Daud at UCSF. She was at Stanford prior to UCSF which was also located closer. After much deliberation she decided to go with UCSF despite the distance. She is currently doing a trial there. My mom's intitial WLE was with Stanford and the saw Dr Reddy a few times after finsing out about reoccurence. Overall felt that UCSF had a bigiger department for Melanoma and we were dissapointed in Stanford's handling of her initial diagniosis in retrospect. Think its very important to see a couple of Drs and assess based on your situation. Once we figured out treatment.. standard of care versus trial.. we then has to decide on location. If my mom had decided on Standard of care (1 infusion) we may have had her do that with a local oncologist and consulted with Dr Daud.. there are a few options on how to go about once treatment is decided. 

                                      I have to say that UCSF is super friendly and the staff amazing and all the patients I have talked with who see Dr Daud have nothing but great things to say. You will wait a while but Dr Daud continues to impress me with his ability to answer questions and be very present despite how busy they are. 

                                      All the best to you and your husband!

                                      • December 2, 2016 at 7:19 pm
                                      jade1111
                                      Participant

                                        Also wanted to add.. that I mentioned being disappointed with Stanford.. that is not a reflection on Dr Reddy. We were very impressed with him.. thoughtful and kind…it was Stanford itself and the follow-up with my Mom's stage 1 initial diagnosis.. wish we had advocated for full body pet scan…we also founf Stanford harder to naviage logisticaly in terms of getitng hold of people and call backs..

                                        • December 2, 2016 at 7:19 pm
                                        jade1111
                                        Participant

                                          Also wanted to add.. that I mentioned being disappointed with Stanford.. that is not a reflection on Dr Reddy. We were very impressed with him.. thoughtful and kind…it was Stanford itself and the follow-up with my Mom's stage 1 initial diagnosis.. wish we had advocated for full body pet scan…we also founf Stanford harder to naviage logisticaly in terms of getitng hold of people and call backs..

                                          • December 2, 2016 at 7:19 pm
                                          jade1111
                                          Participant

                                            Also wanted to add.. that I mentioned being disappointed with Stanford.. that is not a reflection on Dr Reddy. We were very impressed with him.. thoughtful and kind…it was Stanford itself and the follow-up with my Mom's stage 1 initial diagnosis.. wish we had advocated for full body pet scan…we also founf Stanford harder to naviage logisticaly in terms of getitng hold of people and call backs..

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