Any recommendations for a top notch Prostate MO in the LA/ Orange Co area?

[Tristag]

Any recommendations for a top notch Prostate MO in the LA / Orange Co . area? Just informed by Keck Medical that my current MO is no longer available. My previous treatments include Proton Radiation and ADT.

[Tall_Allen]

My favorites are Tanya Dorff at COH (who used to be at Keck), Edwin Posadas at Cedars-Sinai, and Sandy Liu at UCLA (Matthew Rettig only works with vets now). I like Scholz and Lam but am put off by his concierge charges. At Keck, did you work with Gross?

[Schwah in reply to Tall_Allen]

Let me comment on their concierge charge TA at Scholz and Lam as I’ve discussed it candidly with Scholz. With the pandemic came many zoom appointments. The Medicare reimbursements for zoom and even in person appointments are shockingly low especially if you take a decent amount of time and don’t rush the patients out the door. They actually take the time to explain things and answer questions. They do not make you feel rushed. They answer emails and they are not tied to any medical center so they can advise their patients to go anywhere they see as the best fit. I think the fee is about $500 for the first appointment and them $250 a year. Very reasonable. And they think out of the box. Scholz was using Zytega with Lupron for newly diagnosed metastic patients years before the trials proved its efficacy. And he advised me to use chemo /Zytega/Lupron 5 years ago when I was first diagnosed as metastatic , again years before the trial that proved that protocol extended lives. By the way ucla advised against that protocol even tho they acknowledge it probably made sense.

Schwah.

[Russ506 in reply to Schwah]

I couldn't agree more. I've been with Dr. Lam for over 10 years and still work with him even though I'm in North Carolina now. All the tests and procedures are done here and he oversees everything from California. It's impossible for me to speak more highly of Dr. Lam and the Prostate Oncology group.

[DonUSNA73 in reply to Russ506]

Also agree…great practice and very forward thinking…recommended treatments a few years before they were approved.

[Tall_Allen in reply to Schwah]

While his guess may or may not have been effective for you, I strongly believe that to protect the patient, new therapies should ONLY be done within the context of a clinical trial where the patient is fully informed, in a written protocol, of the potential risks and there is IRB (independent) supervision. As it seems to be turning out, docetaxel+abiraterone may not be a good combination for patients with low volume metastases like yourself. I remember similar kudos for Snuffy Myers from patients for whom he advocated Sprycel with no evidence. In that case he turned out to be very wrong and there are many very serious side effects. I am all for "out-of-the-box" thinking, but there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it.

All of the top prostate cancer practitioners know one another and regularly refer to one another. They are very collegial. I have never met a single one, and I have met many, who would hesitate to refer to a doctor at another institution. Often, the patient finds "one stop shopping" to be more convenient, but the doctor gains nothing by referring in house.

I don't think Scholz is hurting for money. He runs the PCRI conferences which advertise him to patients. To many patients around the country, he is the only MO they have heard of. Because he invites some well-known researchers from around the country as speakers, their "glory" rubs off on him. Frankly, I have more respect for the doctors who actually do more of the research and publish more (like Dorff and Posadas). Scholz also charges for the diagnostic tests he does in office. He also takes patients that he has no expertise in (e.g.,, active surveillance and localized therapy).

Personality-wise, I think his ego can get in the way. I was with one patient who wasn't tracking with him, and Scholz put him down for being slow. I think Lam is a much nicer person. This is an area where the women (Tanya Dorff and Sandy Liu) really excel.

This post is overly negative - I actually think highly of him. He is very smart, and knows his stuff. But I was trying to provide some balance.

[Javelin18]

I’m very happy with my MO at UCLA Dr Drakaki. I like the team approach at UCLA.

Dr Dorff at City of Hope is also good. She was one of the investigators on the VISION trial of Lu-PSMA and currently running trials for BITE and CAR-T drugs.

[Schwah in reply to Javelin18]

I see Dr Drakaki fir second opinions at UCLA. She’s awesome. Very responsive and never rushes you. But as I said above very reluctant to go anything out of the box.

Schwah

[Javelin18 in reply to Schwah]

Yes, she is reluctant to do things out of the box, but is open to me following the advice of other physicians on her team and other institutions. She suggested I consult Dr Dorff COH and Dr Aparicio at MD Anderson.

She also has modified the standard treatment plan to deal with my aggressive disease.

[Schwah in reply to Javelin18]

The most amazing thing is I’ll email her at say 4pm on a Thursday and she will reply that night at like 10pm. I always tell her not to work so hard and she can get back to me in a day or two. I also like how she works closely with Dr Kishan the ucla Radiolgist. He did my SBRT on my met. He’s another nice amazing and brilliant guy.

Schwah

[Javelin18 in reply to Schwah]

I like Dr Kishan too. He agreed to do SBRT on my prostate, even though I was past oligometastatic.

[Jpl506]

Dr. Sandy Liu at UCLA is my MO and I can attest to TA’s recommendation of her. She prescribed me care that has just now been determined should be SOC for very high risk patients.

[timotur]

If you want an MO on the side of aggressive treatment, Scholz is good, although his practice started an annual “membership” fee of $250 this year.

[Russ506]

I couldn't agree more. I've been with Dr. Lam for over 10 years and still work with him even though I'm in North Carolina now. All the tests and procedures are done here and he oversees everything from California. It's impossible for me to speak more highly of Dr. Lam and the Prostate Oncology group.

[wilcoxsaw]

Have been a patient of both Dr Dorff and Dr Scholz. Both are good. I preferred Dorff and left Scholz a year ago.

[SViking]

Sholtz’s abundance of infomercials must have scored him an enormous patient list. In my consultations with him he was never prepared, always several hours late and sometimes postponed till the next day at the last minute. And he has a rough personality to deal with along with a rude impatience if you ask him too many questions. If someone else out there is happy with his service then you should continue. Otherwise buyer beware.