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About Ithaar H. Derweesh, MD

Ithaar Derweesh, MD, is a board-certified urologist who subspecializes in urologic tumors and malignancies. He leads the surgical arm of UC San Diego Health's multidisciplinary program for management of kidney cancer.

Dr. Derweesh has established one of the highest volume kidney cancer surgical programs in North America. He offers an innovative approach to personalized treatment of kidney cancer for localized, locally advanced, and advanced disease, and has had several published first reports for surgical innovation and targeted therapies for disease. He is one of the world's leading experts for partial nephrectomy for large renal masses, use of minimally invasive surgery in setting of locally advanced disease, and the use of targeted medication to enable kidney preserving treatments in settings where such treatment was not possible. In these endeavors, Dr. Derweesh has partnered with colleagues from medical oncology to create innovative and leading-edge treatment for kidney cancer patients. In addition, he co-leads the interdisciplinary management treatment team for ablation of kidney masses with interventional radiologists.

Dr. Derweesh's research interests mirror those of his clinical practice. His established track record of surgical innovation include development of novel strategies for kidney preserving treatment and development of tumor markers for diagnosis and monitoring of kidney tumors and kidney function, and development of predictive models for kidney cancer treatment. Dr. Derweesh has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and has served on the American Urological Association's guideline panels for management of clinical T1 kidney mass follow-up of localized kidney tumors and management of localized kidney cancer, as well as the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's kidney and testicular cancer guideline panels.

Additionally, Dr. Derweesh serves as an associate editor for The Journal of Urology and on the editorial boards for BJU International and Frontiers in Oncology.

Before joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Derweesh served as chief of urology at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, and was residency program director of University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. He also served as attending physician at the Cleveland Clinic, and clinical instructor at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Derweesh completed fellowship training at the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and residency training in urology at Yale University School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He is board certified in urology.

Dr. Derweesh is a member of numerous medical organizations, including the American Urological Association, Society of Academic Urologists, Society of Urologic Oncology, European Association of Urology, Endourological Society, and Societe Internationale d'Urologie.

UC San Diego Health Links

For more information, see Urology and Prostate Cancer.

Medical DegreeUniversity of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, ILFellowshipGlickman Urological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OHResidencyYale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
GenderMale
LanguagesFrench
Date Joined Staff2008-07-02
Board Certifications
American Board of Urology
Conditions and Treatments
  • Renal Cell Carcinoma
  • Percutaneous Renal Cryoablation
  • Robotic and Open Partial Nephrectomy (Nephron-Sparing Surgery)
  • Robotic and Open Radical Nephrectomy and Renal Vein and Inferior Vena Caval Thrombectomy
  • Single Port Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery (Laparo-endoscopic Single Site Surgery/LESS)
  • Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
  • Kidney Cancer Program
Urology
Cancer

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Meet Ithaar H. Derweesh, MD: Urologic Oncologist

Meet Ithaar H. Derweesh, MD: Urologic Oncologist

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For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.

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