California Mesothelioma Treatment Centers & Doctors

There are a number of cancer centers and physicians throughout California that treat mesothelioma cancer. The following includes many of the top California treatment centers and doctors. For a more complete list of physicians and cancer centers, CLICK HERE to contact one of our health consultants to learn more.

Mesothelioma Cancer Centers in California

California Mesothelioma Doctors

UCLA Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program Physicians

UCLA mesothelioma physicians are able to significantly benefit patients with this rare and difficult cancer through meticulous lung-sparing surgery and an innovative approach to follow-up care.

Jay Lee, M.D.

Cardiothoracic Surgeon
jaymoonlee@mednet.ucla.edu
UCLA Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program
200 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suite B265
Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 794-7333
Since acquiring his medical degree in 1997, Jay M. Lee, M.D., has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s top thoracic surgeons. He is the Surgical Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), where he both practices medicine and teaches as an assistant professor at the UCLA School of Medicine.
After graduating from UCLA School of Medicine with honors, Lee pursued his residency at Duke University Medical Center and Georgetown University Medical Center. After, he completed fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, both world renowned centers for the treatment of mesothelioma and lung cancer. The experience he gained from working with other top doctors in the field of thoracic surgery became invaluable to his own practice.

Olga M. Olevsky, MD

Medical Oncologist
UCLA Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program
Board Certifications:
Hematology, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2006, 2017
Medical Oncology, American Board of Internal Medicine, 2004, 2017
Fellowship: Hematology/Oncology, Harbor - UCLA Medical Center, 2001-2004
Residency & Internal Medicine, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, 1995-1998
Internship: Internal Medicine, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, 1994-1995
Degree: University of Minnesota Medical School, MD, 1994
Primary Office
Cancer Care - Santa Monica, Suite 230
2020 Santa Monica Blvd
Suite 230
Santa Monica, California 90404
310-829-5471
Secondary Office
Cancer Care - Torrance
3445 Pacific Coast Highway
Suite 300
Torrance, California 90505
310-325-8252

Jane Yanagawa, M.D.

Thoracic Surgeon
Medical Board Certifications
Surgery, American Board of Surgery, 2012
Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, American Board of Thoracic Surgery, 2014
200 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suite B265
Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 794-7333
Fellowship: Research, UCLA School of Medicine, 2007-2009 & Thoracic Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2011-2013
Residency: Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, 2005-2007 & Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, 2009-2011
Internship: Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, 2004-2005
Degree: Baylor College of Medicine, MD, 200

Heather Wakelee M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine
Medical Oncology
Stanford Cancer Institute
875 Blake Wilbur Dr., Rm 2233
MC6512
Stanford, CA 94305
(650) 36-7221
Dr. Heather Wakelee specializes in the treatment of lung cancer, thymoma and mesothelioma. She has been in practice for over a decade at Stanford University. She is the physician lead for the thoracic malignancies clinical research group and has developed research programs related to lung cancer and thymoma across multiple areas including clinical trials, translation work and population sciences. She is the Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials. Dr. Wakelee is the faculty director of the Stanford Cancer Clinical Trials office and is the lead investigator for ECOG-ACRIN clinical trials group at Stanford. She is also active in many national and international organizations related to lung cancer and thymoma including leadership roles in the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group (ITMIG).

University Of California, San Francisco Physicians

David Jablons, M.D.

Chief of Thoracic Surgery
The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
1600 Divisadero Street, Fourth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
Phone: 415-885-3882
Dr. David M. Jablons is a renowned lung cancer expert, chief of General Thoracic Surgery at UCSF Medical Center and program leader of the Thoracic Oncology Program of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also is director of the UCSF Thoracic Oncology Laboratory where he is investigating molecular biology and genomics.
Jablons earned an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a medical degree from Albany Medical College of Union University. He completed a surgical residency at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He has written numerous research papers and frequently lectures about lung cancer at international and national meetings. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Theirry Jahan, M.D

Specialty: Hematology/Oncology
tjahan@medicine.ucsf.edu
The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
1600 Divisadero Street, Fourth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
415-885-3882
Dr. Thierry M. Jahan specializes in the treatment of lung cancer, mesothelioma, sarcomas and endocrine tumors and the use of multiple treatments. In addition to caring for patients, Jahan is involved in studying new treatments for malignancies related to the chest. His research focuses on treatments for the management of lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma.
Jahan earned a medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He completed an internship, residency and fellowship in medicine at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and then completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF, before joining the faculty in 1994. He is the recipient of the Medical Housestaff Outstanding Teacher Award at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. He also is member of numerous professional societies, including the American College of Physicians, American Society of Clinical Oncology, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer and the Association of Northern California Oncologists. He is a clinical professor of medicine at UCSF.

Shayne Cardozo

Lung surgery nurse coordinator
Shayne Cardozo, a nurse coordinator in lung surgery, specializes in the care of patients with lung cancer, in particular mesothelioma, a rare tumor that grows from the cells lining the lungs or the abdominal cavity. Cardozo is our patient's resource for information before and after surgery and works to ensure that the experience goes smoothly. She also assists doctors in the community to streamline the process of referring patients to UCSF Medical Center and teaches other nurses about caring for patients with lung disease. Cardozo earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1996. She continued her training at the University of Florida's Shands Hospital and at UCSF Medical Center, including experience in the liver, heart and lung transplant units.

Dr. Mark Lischner

Specialty: Pulmonology
Pulmonary Medicine Associates Medical Group
5 Medical Plaza Drive, Suite 190
Roseville, CA 95661
916-786-7498
Mark W. Lischner, M.D., is a critical care pulmonologist who has worked for more than 40 years in California’s Sacramento area, often using his personal experiences to guide him through his career. His areas of expertise as a disease specialist include asbestosis, asthma, interstitial fibrosis, and sarcoidosis, a disease Lischner lived through himself. Sarcoidosis is a potentially fatal inflammatory disease that usually affects the lungs. Its cause remains unknown, and it often improves as quickly as it appears. He also works with patients suffering from pleural mesothelioma, the most common form of mesothelioma cancer which affects the lining of the lungs. As with asbestosis, mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos.

Joel Baumgartner, M.D.

UC San Diego Health System - La Jolla
Moores Cancer Center
3855 Health Sciences Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
(800) 926-8273
Dr. Baumgartner has specific expertise and interest in treating tumors that have metastasized to the abdomen, using a promising treatment known as the “chemo bath" or hyperthermic (heated) intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). This treatment involves surgical resection of all tumors followed by circulation of heated chemotherapy throughout the abdomen. This technique avoids many of the toxicities associated with systemic chemotherapy, while exposing the abdomen to higher concentrations of chemotherapy. Dr. Baumgartner spent two years working and training at one of highest volume HIPEC centers in the world at the University of Pittsburgh and therefore has significant experience with this procedure.
Dr. Baumgartner completed a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine with a focus on clinical research, which included additional training in the development and conduct of clinical trials. He completed a residency at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine in Bloomington, Ind. Dr. Baumgartner is board certified in general surgery.
He is a member of numerous societies including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and is an associate member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American College of Surgeons.

Marianna Koczywas, M.D.

Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research
City of Hope Hospital
Duarte Location
1500 East Duarte Road
Duarte, CA, 91010
626-256-4673
Dr. Koczywas graduated from Pomorska Akademia Medyczna in 1984 and has been in practice for 32 years. She completed a residency at UCLA Medical Center.  She is the principal investigator in a recently-opened phase II clinical trial for mesothelioma involving methoxyamine, a small molecule inhibitor drug designed to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

San Diego Physicians

*Please note that all of the following physicians have treated an MRHFM client.

Pulmonologists

Medical Oncologists

Cardiothoracic Surgeons