Second Opinions & Consultation Services

• Cancer or Benign. Surprisingly, it is may be difficult to distinguish if a bladder lesion is a benign reaction to another process (for example, an infection or a catheter) or a bladder cancer. Treatment and prognosis hinge upon this crucial distinction. The pathology of the bladder is complex and therefore a second opinion is often advisable.
  
  
• Extent of Cancer. On biopsy specimens, it may be difficult to distinguish superficially invasive bladder cancer from muscle invasive cancer. The treatment for muscle invasive cancer is very different from superficially invasive bladder cancer.
  
  
• Type of Cancer. Is the cancer a bladder cancer or from another site (e.g., a prostate carcinoma that has spread to the bladder)? While the pathology can look very similar, the treatment for these conditions is often very different. We offer consultative diagnostic interpretation of pathologic materials derived from the bladder and urinary tract by our specialist Dr. Jonathan Epstein and Dr. George Netto.
  
  This second opinion requires only that you or your doctor send your slides to us. No additional surgery is necessary. If you send them yourself, be sure to include the report from the other laboratory. This report contains a code number (called the surgical pathology accession number) for the slides that must be matched with the microscope slides to assure that the slides belong to you. If you would like to have your slides reviewed at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Division of Surgical Pathology, please contact:
  
  

  The Johns Hopkins Hospital
  Department of Pathology
  401 N Broadway
  Weinberg Building, Rm 2242
  Baltimore, MD 21231
  ATTN: Dr. George Netto
  
  Telephone: (410) 955-5082
  fax: (443) 287-8946
  Urologic Pathology
  
  Reports are faxed within a few days of receipt of the slides.

  
  
  

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  For second opinions regarding your treatment please contact one of our urologists or oncologists.