Alta Bates Summit Medical Center has been an integral part of the social fabric of the East Bay for more than 100 years. Through award-winning community health and chronic disease-management programs, the Medical Center has expanded its focus on health, wellness, education, and diseases prevention into all corners of our richly diverse community.
A NEW SPECIALTY: ORTHOPEDIC ONCOLOGY
Until recently, area patients with the rare diagnosis of bone cancer were forced to go to great lengths for treatment. Advanced care in California was available only in university settings, including those in far-flung parts of the state. Now that expertise is close to home. Alta Bates Summit has established a new program in spine and orthopedic oncology – one of only a handful in the state and one of three in the San Francisco Bay Area; all the others are in university settings.
According to the National Cancer Institute, about 2,300 new cases of primary bone cancer and about 7,000 soft tissue cancers – in which malignant tumors originate in bone tissue – are diagnosed in the United States each year. Such cases can also result from metastatic cancer than has spread to bone or tissue from the breast, lung, prostate, or other parts of the body.
All of these cancers, affecting adults and children, can now be diagnosed and treated at Alta bates Summit. The approach to care is comprehensive and multidisciplinary, says Dr. Donthineni, who came to the Medical Center in February with stellar experience in orthopedic oncology. His most recent posts were at the University of California at Davis, where he was chief of the orthopedic section, and the University of Pennsylvania. “I work very closely with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, and radiologists, to pinpoint a diagnosis and the best way to manage the disease.”
The good news, says Dr. Donthineni, is that treatments have improved tremendously. “As recently as 25 years ago, surgery, including amputation, was the mainstay of treatment, and more than 80 percent of patients died. With the advent of effective chemotherapy, improved radiation techniques, better surgical techniques, and the recent imaging options of CT scans and MRIs, the prognosis for bone cancer patients is better than ever – about a 70 percent rate for five-year survival. Patients feel rightfully that they have better choices.”
Cancer Surgery, Practice limited to spine and extremities
Orthopedic Oncology
Orthopedic Surgery, Practice limited to spine surgery
Spine Surgery
EDUCATION: Medical Education: University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
Residency:
University of California, San Diego, CA -Orthopaedics
Internship: University of California, San Diego, CA
Fellowships:
Orthopaedic Oncology - Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital of Boston, 2000, Fellowships: Spine and Spine Oncology - Ospedale Maggiore, Bologna, Italy, 2007, University of California, San Diego, CA
Professional Interests: Management of Adult Spine Disease. Spine and extremity soft tissue and bone tumor management.
