MD Anderson Hospital

audib · Regular Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 15

Can someone recommend the name of a good pancreatic cancer doctor at MD Anderson in Texas? A secondary place would be John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. Father in law would like a second opinion as to possible treatment. He has been undergoing chemo/radiation in Florida and we have heard these two hospitals are very good for treating pancreatic cancer. I do not have any names of oncologists/surgeons and was hoping someone could offer some info. Thanks

brainman · Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject: Re: MD Anderson Hospital

I cannot name a specific doctor and either hospital, but I can assure you the MD Anderson and John Hopkins are wonderful research hospitals. Both will have some of the top doctors in the world to help you.
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suoiruc · Regular Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 15

I believe the doctors name is John Cameron at John's Hopkins pancreatic cancer center. I read this doctor has performed the most whipple procedures in the world. He works with his son who is also a surgeon.
The phone # is 410-955-5166 for the cheif of pancreatic surgery.
I would consider the whipple only if the surgeon was confident he could resect all the cancer otherwise the patient would be left more vulnerable than before the surgery, in my opinion.

audib · Regular Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 15

thank you so much for responding. My father in law had a mini whipple in July by Dr. Levi in Miami. They could not remove entire tumor due to its location. He has been undergoing chemo/'radiatin to shrink it with hopes of going back in to remove it. Father in law would like a second opinion and wanted him to consider these two institutions. How does one research the qualifications of these surgeons or even get names? I have been on their websites and basically there is not much information. Thanks again for the response of Dr. Cameron-I have heard of his name through my research. The two names I keep hearing about at MD Anderson are Douglas Evans and Peter Pislers. Does anyone have any other info?

suoiruc · Regular Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 15

Your welcome.
You can obtain information on doctors by entering their name and location then doing a search or going to the hospital websites. One problem I had was some of the information sites wanted to charge a fee for a report.
I believe you need all this information but more importantly are the decisions you make. Don't let the doctors make the final decision. You and your father-in-law should learn as much as you can then he can decide what is best for him, what makes the most sense, what he can tolerate so that he can have the quality of life he chooses.
Write down all your questions then contact an information specialist for unbiased answers. He will state the facts and give you all the data collected with percentages. The national cancer institute should be able to provide you with numbers for information specialist.
Can you tell me which chemotherapy drugs they are using to shrink your father's tumor? I'm also still learning and comparing various treatments so I can help my mother. I think the best results are going to come from a sort of vaccine. The problem is I can't find a way to get more information on where to go next. The MUC1 vaccine looks promising but they don't provide enough information to go any further.
We need a new approach. It seems to me, if we all follow the same course, we should expect about the same results.

audib · Regular Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 15

My father in law was put on a high dose of docetaxel and gemcitabine. I had done a quite a bit of research and found a study done at Dartmouth by J. Marc Pipas who had used this combo and had gotten very good results. In fact, one patient who had been told they had an inoperable tumor had used this protocol and the tumor shrank enough to have surgery. My father in law's oncologist called Dr. Pipas and they both decided it was worth trying. Dr. Pipas was wonderful and took many calls over the few months to answer questions. It was followed by radiation and then twice weekly dosages of gemicitabine alone. His CA-19 numbers dropped rapidly and we were all excited. But after having done this for awhile, they did a CT scan and the surgeon is still reluctant to go back in and do the surgery. They have now put him on gemcitabine and tarceva. The Tarceva is wiping him out-sleeps all day, no energy and generally very weak. He would now like to get a second opinion to see if someone agrees with the first surgeon as to the feasibility of surgery. I think he will like to come to NY where his children are so it would be easier to manage. We are considering Sloan Kettering or Colombia Presbyterian who I have heard is better (not sure why, but the general consensus has been go there first). Can you elaborate on the information specialist? I have never heard of such a thing. Are they doctors who are supposed to give unbiased opinions? I don't understand who they are, what they do differently than the oncologist who should be managing the patient's treatment in my estimate.
By the way, Dr. Pipas is now doing a study where he is trying Gemcitabine and Erbitux in place of the docetaxel. You can google him to learn of his original study done in 2005 (I think).

suoiruc · Regular Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 15

Thank you for the information. Most everyone is using Gemcitabine alone or in combination with Oxaliplatin, Xeloda or Tarceva. I wonder why the doctor stopped the Docetaxel when your father was responding well.
In regards to your question, information specialists are not doctors. They specialize in obtaining information from various sources. For example, if your wondering whether or not to have a total pancreatectomy or a partial pancreatectomy, the information specialist can give you the statistics and show that having a total pancreatectomy is equal to or inferior to a partial pancreatectomy. That is not an opinion, those are what the numbers show. Hope this helps.

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