Dr. Kutikov is a member of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Health Advisory Panel.
You can find some of his selected Inquirer pieces here.
Chair, Department of Urology
Professor, Department of Urology
Roberta R. Scheller Chair in Urologic Oncology
Testicular Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Urethral Cancer, Adrenal Tumor, Penile Cancer, Ureteral Cancer, Kidney Cancer
Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotic Surgery, Laparoscopic Surgery, Traditional Open Surgery
Prostate Cancer: robotic and open radical nerve-sparing prostatectomy
Bladder Cancer: urinary diversion, orthotopic neobladder reconstruction
Kidney Cancer: kidney-sparing approaches, robotic, laparoscopic, open kidney surgery.
Adrenal masses: minimally-invasive adrenal surgery and extensive expertise in treatment of adrenal incidentalomas.
I am a surgical specialist who treats tumors of the adrenal, kidney, prostate, bladder, testis, and other genitourinary organs. Working closely with other members of the Fox Chase multidisciplinary team, I make certain that my patients are aware of all the choices that today's cutting edge oncological care has to offer, regardless of whether these treatments take place inside or outside the operating room.
When surgery is necessary, I strive to offer the best operation that fits an individual's particular condition and circumstance. Indeed, my unique fellowship training in both traditional open surgery and minimally-invasive approaches such as laparoscopy and robotics, allows me to offer a wide range of options that optimize oncological outcomes and minimize recovery time. For example, I am skilled at both open and robot-assisted nerve-sparing prostatectomy and open, laparoscopic, and robotic kidney surgery. Particularly, I have advanced expertise in kidney preservation. For patients with bladder cancer, I am able to offer both bladder-sparing approaches and the latest techniques in continent urinary reconstruction. Furthermore, I have a particular interest and expertise in treatment of various tumors and conditions that stem from the adrenal gland.
As a clinician at an academic institution such as Fox Chase, I actively participate in medical research. In particular, my academic interests focus on kidney, prostate, bladder, and adrenal disease. Being an active contributor to the medical literature, I hope to offer my patients the most up-to-date information on medical progress and, if necessary, help them enroll into appropriate clinical trials — many of which are only available through Fox Chase.
Modern oncology offers patients tremendous hope; however, today's treatment options can be overwhelming, especially to those who are trying to cope with the shock of a recent cancer diagnosis. I greatly appreciate the toll that such a diagnosis can take not only on the patient, but also on his or her family. I hope to bring to every one of my patients a sense of understanding and compassion that can help us effectively work together to achieve the best outcome that modern medicine has to offer.
In collaboration with Vladimir Kolenko, MD, PhD, and Robert Uzzo, MD, our research efforts span the basic and the clinical sciences. Our work focuses on understanding the process of renal and prostatic carcinogenesis and assessing novel therapeutic regimens for the treatment of urological cancers.
As part of our work, we explore the role of zinc in development and progression of prostate malignancy. Zinc concentrations diminish early in the course of prostate carcinogenesis—prior to histopathological changes—and continue to decline during progression toward castration-resistant growth. The objective of research in our laboratory is to test and advance an emerging paradigm that intracellular zinc deficiency augments malignant potential of prostate cancer cells and, therefore, promotes prostate tumorigenesis. We are also investigating the role of zinc chelators as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Work performed by Dr. Kolenko indicates that treatment of prostate cancer cells with the zinc chelating agent TPEN induces selective down-regulation of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and sensitizes cancer cells to cytotoxic agents. Importantly, the observed effect is not limited to prostate cancer, as TPEN reduces expression of XIAP in malignant cell lines of various origins, e.g. colon, ovarian, leukemia, breast and cervical.
The second major theme of our research is to determine the mechanism of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKIs)-resistance in genitourinary tumors. Our studies reveal that TKI-resistance coincides with the loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) protein expression in prostate and renal malignant cells. On the contrary, expression of PTEN sensitizes prostate and renal tumors to multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, our studies indicate that an increase in expression of IL-6 and IL-8 correlates with sunitinib and pazopanib resistance in prostate and renal tumor cells. Use of a reliable biomarker for TKI response, harbors promise both in the clinical and research settings.
In the clinical arena, we focus our efforts on addressing quantification of competing risks of death for patients with urologic malignancies, investigating the biology and natural history of small renal masses, improving reporting and risk-stratification of surgical outcomes for patients with kidney cancer, and addressing clinical approaches to patients with adrenal cancers and incidental adrenal masses.
I’ve been a tennis coach for nearly 17 years, the last dozen at Legacy Youth Tennis and Education in Philadelphia. I run group clinics and offer private lessons. I specialize in movement and footwork training, as well as video-based training. My students range from kids as young as five to professional tennis players. I’m an active coach. When I teach my students how to do something, I want to show them I can do it. They’re amazed at how good I am!
I have always enjoyed being social and keeping busy with a handful of hobbies. At 68, I spent most of my time cycling with my husband Tom, going on walks, reading whatever I could find, and socializing with friends. Up until recently, those things had always been a regular part of my life. However, after being diagnosed with kidney cancer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, those activities had to take a back seat.
I never expected what I heard, that my cancer was aggressive. I went back to my primary care doctor and asked if I should get a second opinion. He told me I should, so I was referred to Dr. Alexander Kutikov, a surgical oncologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center. This was all during the time that COVID-19 was beginning to ramp up in the United States. I was concerned that my surgery would be rescheduled or even canceled.
"In 2018 I was diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer, which seemed like it would end my diving, but also provided me a new way to give back."
Dr. Kutikov has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications. His current research interests include understanding carcinogenesis of genitourinary cancers, risk-stratification of surgical outcomes, and quantification of competing risks. He serves on editorial boards of academic journals, including being the Associate Editor of Digital Media for European Urology, the field of Urology's leading academic publication.
Dr. Kutikov also has significant interests in harnessing web and mobile technology to improve patient engagement and quality of care. He is a co-founder of several ventures that strive to improve physician education and patient care.
Dr. Kutikov is a member of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Health Advisory Panel.
You can find some of his selected Inquirer pieces here.
Patient comments