Brian E. Kadera, MD
- Surgical Oncology
About
Dr. Kadera's clinical practice includes general surgical oncology, with an emphasis in soft tissue sarcoma and gastrointestinal malignancies (stomach, small bowel, appendiceal, colon, etc.), including minimally invasive and robotically-assisted surgery.
He trained in general surgery at UCLA, where he spent two extra years doing full-time cancer research. He studied two important reasons why pancreatic cancer is so resistant to chemotherapy, both because of signaling from fibroblasts that support the cancer cell and the cancer cell's ability to stimulate its own growth receptors.
Dr. Kadera then spent two years in surgical oncology fellowship at one of the world's premier clinical and research hospitals, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. There, he operated on a high volume of complex surgical cases for sarcoma, gastric, liver, pancreas, and colorectal malignancies, and participated in cutting edge clinical trials.
His laboratory focuses on novel drugs that can target cancer's metabolic machinery, specifically the mitochondria, to cut the source of power and building blocks of the cell.
He is fortunate enough to be married to Samantha Kadera, MD, and is the proud "Papa" to Sienna and Broderick "Brody."
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certifications
Fellowship
Residency
Internship
Degree
Recognitions
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2023, 2024
- Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars, 2020, 2021, 2023
- UCLA Golden Scalpel Teaching Award - 2021, 2019
- See More
Locations
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
Medical Services
Areas of Focus
Research
Interests
Dr. Kadera is working to improve outcomes in soft tissue sarcoma and GI malignancies by defining molecular pathways that predict local and distant recurrence. He has a particular interest in targeted therapy and the development of neoadjuvant clinical trials.
He is a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics program.
Publications
Recent Publications
- Kadera BE, Li L, Toste P, Wu N, Adams C, Dawson DD, Donahue TR. MicroRNA-21 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumor-associated fibroblasts promotes metastasis. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(8):e71978. PMID: 23991015.
- Kadera BE, Sunjaya DB, Isacoff WH, Li L, Hines OJ, Tomlinson JS, Dawson DW, Rochefort, MM, Donald GW, Clerkin BM, Reber HA, Donahue TR. Locally advanced pancreatic cancer: prolonged preoperative treatment is associated with lymph node negativity and excellent overall survival. JAMA Surg. 2014;149(2):145-53. PMID: 24306217.
- Kadera BE, Toste PA, Wu N, Li L, Nguyen AH, Dawson DW, Donahue TR. Low expression of the E3 ubiquitin ligase CBL confers chemoresistance in human pancreatic cancer and is targeted by epidermal growth factor receptor inhibition. Clin Cancer Res. 2015;21(1)157-65. PMID 25348515.
- Toste PA, Li L, Kadera BE, Nguyen AH, Tran LM, Wu N, Madnick DL, Patel SG, Dawson DW, Donahue TR. p85? is a microRNA target and affects chemosensitivity in pancreatic cancer. J Surg Res. 2015;196(2):285-93. PMID: 25846727.
- Toste PA, Nguyen AH, Kadera BE, Duong M, Wu N, Gawlas I, Tran LM, Bikhchandani M, Li L, Patel SG, Dawson DW, Donahue TR. Chemotherapy-induced inflammatory gene signature and pro-tumorigenic phenotype in pancreatic CAFs via stress-associated MAPK. Mol Cancer Res. 2016;14(5):437-47. PMID 26979711.
- Williams JL, Kadera BE, Nguyen AH, Muthusamy VR, Wainberg ZA, Hines OJ, Reber HA, Donahue TR. CA 19-9 normalization during pre-operative treatment predicts longer survival for patients with locally progressed pancreatic cancer. J Gastroinstest Surg. 2016 Jul;20(7):1331-42. PMID 27114246.
- Kadera BE, Hines OJ. Palliative therapy for pancreatic cancer. Cameron’s Current Surgical Therapy, 12th Ed. Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia, PA, 2016.
- Kadera BE, D’Angelica M. Colorectal liver metastasis. Complex General Surgical Oncology, 1st Ed. Decker Intellectual Properties, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 2018.
- Graham DS, Kadera BE, Eilber FC. Irregular lipomatous extremity tumor. JAMA. 2019 Apr 5;321(17):1718-1719. PMID 30951173.
- Fung B, Kadera BE, Tabibian J. Gastrointestinal luminal stenting: the early U.S. experience with the duodenal HANAROSTENT. Gastrointestinal Tumors. 2021 jan;8(1):1-7. PMID 34568291.
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- L.A. Care
- Medicare Advantage
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
The list of health care plans above may not be comprehensive and could change.
Please contact your benefits coordinator or health insurance company directly to verify coverage.
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Recognitions
- Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2023, 2024
- Super Doctors® Southern California Rising Stars, 2020, 2021, 2023
- UCLA Golden Scalpel Teaching Award - 2021, 2019
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center Grant - "Elucidation of metabolic dependencies in liopsarcoma to predict response to novel targeted therapy"
- UCLA Department of Surgery Research Award - 2016
- UCLA Department of Surgery Outstanding Student Teaching Award - 2011-2013
- California Institute of Regenerative Medicine Grant (TG2-01169) - 2011-2013
- Gerald S. Levey Research Scholarship - 2011 - 2013