NCMC: NCMC Center - Biographies

Dr. Lynn E. Spitler received her M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Immunology. She then joined the faculty at the University of California Medical Center where with three other physicians she founded the UCSF Melanoma Clinic in 1969.

In 1978, she founded the Melanoma Clinic at Children's Hospital of San Francisco, the forerunner of the current Northern California Melanoma Center (NCMC).

Dr. Spitler's particular interest is in therapies aimed at preventing recurrence of melanoma in patients who have been rendered clinically tumor free by surgery or other therapeutic modalities but have high risk for recurrence. An example of such a patient would be someone who has had spread of the melanoma from a primary melanoma to regional lymph nodes. Standard therapy is to surgically excise the lymph nodes and some doctors recommend that this be followed by high-dose interferon. Interferon therapy is toxic and is not very effective. Dr. Spitler believes we need to find agents that are more effective and less toxic. Therefore, the Northern California Melanoma Center is conducting trials of agents which boost the immune response in an effort to help the patient's own immune system recognize tumor cells as foreign and reject them thus delaying or preventing recurrence of the melanoma.

Dr. Spitler says, "If you can treat a patient who already has had a melanoma and is at high risk for recurrence with an agent which will prevent or delay the recurrence, you have done a real service for the patient, because you have provided a period of good quality of life." There are a number of therapeutic options for patients in this category as discussed in "Surgical Adjuvant Treatment of Melanoma". They are available now and many patients are referred to the NCMC for information regarding these therapeutic options.

Dr. Robert Weber is a Board Certified specialist in Internal Medicine and in Hematology and Oncology. He joined the Northern California Melanoma Center in 2000 as Associate Director and is a member of the NCMC Consulting Panel of physicians. He is particularly interested in clinical research in oncology.

Dr. Weber performs a physical examination on new patients who come to the clinic and presents their history and physical to the physicians on the melanoma panel. He also sees patients in follow-up and cares for patients participating in clinical trials and/or receiving chemotherapy.

In addition to his work at NCMC, Dr. Weber has a private practice in oncology in San Francisco. He is a member of the teaching faculty of the St. Mary’s Hospital Residency Program and Chair of the Cancer Committee.

Dr. Jeaniesar Caluag

Dr. Jeaniesar Caluag joined us in July 2011 as Associate Director, Internal Medicine and is Board Certified. She performs Physical Examinations and presents cases to the Consulting Panel.

Dr. Caluag was born and raised in the Philippines. She majored in Biology at De La Salle University and later obtained her medical degree from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center. She briefly worked for the National Leprosy Control Program of the Department of Health. After this, she underwent Residency Training in Dermatology at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Caluag practiced Dermatology after graduation until she moved to the United States, where she pursued further training in Internal Medicine. Dr. Caluag finished her Residency Training at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn New York.

Dr. Ruth Marlin joined the Northern California Melanoma Center in 2007 as a staff physician and was subsequently promoted to Associate Director. She has special interest and expertise in Integrative Oncology. She is a member of the NCMC Consulting Panel.

Dr. Marlin performs physical examinations on new and follow-up patients who come to the clinic and presents patients to the physicians on the NCMC Consulting Panel. She has a background in general medicine, health education and experience in clinical research at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, where she investigated the effect of comprehensive lifestyle change on heart disease and prostate cancer. She is a member of the Society for Integrative Oncology,

Dr. Marlin provides expertise on the effect of lifestyle factors and complementary therapies on the course of melanoma, other cancers and illnesses. She offers consultations to melanoma patients seeking information regarding complementary therapies, which may include diet, exercise, yoga, massage therapy, dietary supplements, and other factors that may provide benefit to patients and improve their quality of life.

Dr. Robert E. Allen, Jr. is the oncologic surgeon and is a member of the Northern California Melanoma Center Consulting Panel. He has been specializing in surgery for patients with melanoma for over 30 years.

Dr. Allen graduated from Meharry Medical College and completed residency training at Sparrow Hospital, the University of California, San Francisco, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, New York. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Clinical Professor of Surgery emeritus at the Mt. Zion Medical Center of the University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Dr. Alice Do

Dr. Alice Do is a board-certified dermatologist. She obtained her medical degree at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in California and completed her dermatology residency training at Michigan State University (Genesys Regional Medical Center). She joined the Northern California Melanoma Center in 2009. She has a special interest in clinical dermatology research.

Dr. Do performs skin examinations on new patients and follow-up patients in the clinic. Her interests include prevention and early detection of melanoma and other skin cancers. Dr. Do is in private practice in San Francisco, and she enjoys giving dermatology lectures to the residents at St. Mary's Medical Center.