Dr. Ryan Holbrook

About Ryan Holbrook

Accolades

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  Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy

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  Peritoneal Mesothelioma

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  20+ Years of Experience

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  Excellence in Research

Holbrook has worked for almost two decades at Cancer Care Northwest in Spokane, Washington, where he served two years as practice president.

He has been credited with being the first surgeon in the Pacific Northwest to use the heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy procedure, helping patients to survive their battles with abdominal cancers.

“People need to know what their options are,” Holbrook said. “There is hope now for people who didn’t have a lot of options before.”

The procedure is typically performed in combination with cytoreductive surgery for several abdominal cancers, including peritoneal mesothelioma.

After all visible signs of cancer are removed surgically, a heated chemotherapy solution is circulated throughout the abdominal cavity for up to 90 minutes. This allows the drugs to kill any microscopic tumor cells that the surgeon may have missed.

The abdominal cavity is then drained and surgically closed.

Heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy has showed effectiveness at preventing — or at least slowing — any cancer recurrence.

The procedure also avoids many of the side effects typically linked to chemotherapy given through an IV.

Handling Most Abdominal Cancers

Holbrook handles most abdominal cancers. He has expertise in pancreatic cancer and liver cancer, along with melanoma and soft tissue sarcomas.

He was an early believer in using the sentinel lymph node biopsy for breast cancer and the radiofrequency ablation procedure for liver cancer.

Holbrook has been using the heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy procedure for almost 15 years, spanning more than 350 patients.

A leader in his field for many years, he has received the Best Doctors in American Award annually since 2003. Holbrook is a fellow in the American College of Surgeons and a fellowship-trained member of the Society of Surgical Oncology.

“This is an exciting time for cancer treatment in the inland northwest as we continue to develop our alliance with the major medical systems in the region,” he said during his recent tenure as practice president. “This will allow us to advance and improve the quality of cancer treatment.”

An Integrated Approach to Cancer Care

Cancer Care Northwest, which includes almost two dozen physicians, takes pride in its integrated approach to cancer care, with a staff of more than 250 professionals.

It also includes cutting-edge technology, the latest treatment breakthroughs and the kind of highly specialized cancer surgeries done by Holbrook.

Holbrook graduated from the Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School. He completed an internship in general surgery at the New England Medical Center in Boston and his residency at the Maine Medical Center in Portland.

He also did fellowships at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, and at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Cancer Care Northwest serves patients across seven locations in the Spokane, Washington, area and four clinics throughout the state.