Doctors of USC

The USC Center for Orthopaedic Oncology specializes in treating musculoskeletal tumors, both malignant and benign. Led by Dr. Lawrence Menendez, the center brings together a broad range of subspecialists to offer patients comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services. In addition to Dr. Menendez and his staff, the center represents a variety of other subspecialties, including pathology, medical oncology and radiation oncology.

With a multidisciplinary approach to care, the center offers innovative treatments not available anywhere else. The University of Southern California is the only facility in Los Angeles with a Cyberknife, a device that treats tumors noninvasively anywhere in the body. Using the Cyberknife our physicians are able to perform Cyberknife Stereotactic Radiosurgery, which precisely targets high doses of radiation to cancer cells in order to reduce the size and viability of the tumor.

This benefits patients because our physicians are able to give targeted high doses of radiation to the tumor and spare the surrounding normal tissues. Another advantage of Cyberknife treatment is its convenience for patients.  The short courses extend over five days, and work well on sarcomas. Patients undergoing this form of radiation treatment have seen minimal to no side effects.

Additionally, USC physicians are the only ones on the West Coast developing techniques for the use of surgical navigation in orthopaedic oncology. Surgical navigation uses three-dimensional computer guidance to help improve the precision of the surgery. Patients benefit from the reduction of procedure duration and recovery time.

The USC Center for Orthopaedic Oncology also offers such innovative treatments as limb salvage procedures, designed to save the limb while surgically removing the tumor, and cryoablation of benign and malignant tumors, utilizing extreme cold to freeze and destroy tissue.

Other services provided by Dr. Menendez and his team include comprehensive management of metastatic bone tumors, the treatment of periprosthetic joint infection (following prosthetic joint replacement surgery) and complex joint reconstruction. They also offer anterior approach muscle sparing total hip replacement, surgery in which the hip joint is reached from the front of the body and muscles are pushed aside, not cut. When no muscles are cut, pain after surgery is generally reduced and recovery is quicker.