Daniel W. Lin, MD

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Lin
Daniel W. Lin, MD
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Daniel W. Lin, MD

  • Physician, Fred Hutch
  • Professor, Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutch
  • Chief of Urologic Oncology, UW Medicine
  • Co-Chair, Surgical Oncology, Department of Urology, UW Medicine
  • Professor, Department of Urology, University of Washington School of Medicine
  • Pritt Family Endowed Chair in Prostate Cancer Research, UW Medicine

Surgery

Urology

“Educating a patient for his or her options for their cancer, about what to expect in the big picture, whether that’s about their surgery, or after surgery, or their general wellbeing later, I consider to be an important part of their care. The meaning of the word physician is teacher. I embrace that.”

— Dr. Lin

Why do you practice oncology?

Daniel Lin, MD, comes from a family of educators and physicians. He went to college thinking he could do anything. “I quickly realized that biology and the study of cancer was my calling,” he said. His father is an academic pathologist whose calling was also cancer. “I grew up hearing about tumors. In eighth grade, I wanted a picture of a tumor for a report which I thought was really cool,” Dr. Lin said.

By the time Dr. Lin went to college, he knew his calling was medicine. He enjoys what he does and in particular, the education piece. He teaches residents and medical students, but it’s the teaching of his patients that he considers most important and is the most rewarding for him. “Educating a patient for his or her options for their cancer, about what to expect in the big picture, whether that’s about their surgery, or after surgery, or their general wellbeing later, I consider that to be an important part for their care,” he said. “The meaning of the word physician is teacher. I embrace that.”

Looking at prostate cancer in general, Dr. Lin knows the future lies in what can be achieved in research. Two areas of interest for him include treatment and understanding biomarkers of prostate cancer aggressiveness, and learning how to prevent prostate cancer. “Is there something we can measure in tissue, urine, or blood, that goes beyond what we already know about the patient to understand the behavior of prostate cancer?” Dr. Lin asked.  “That can help recommend treatment or surveillance.” The other area of research interest for him is in prevention, avoiding prostate cancer to begin with, but preventing it from recurring as well. “What are you born with?” he asked. “Can we modulate your predisposition with diet or exercise? We know we are doing something to ourselves. Men in Asia particularly don’t really get much fatal prostate cancer, but when they start immigrating to this country, they start getting prostate cancer and more aggressive prostate cancers.” Many studies recognize that Japanese men are now getting more cancers similar to Caucasians.

Dr. Lin and his colleagues have done experiments with diet, specifically high-fat versus low-fat diets, over six weeks and biopsied prostates to see if they can see a difference. “The genes had favorable response to the diet,” Dr. Lin said. The question then moved to what to do with these patients and studies moved to specific foods and down to the enzyme level where Dr.  Lin and colleagues now have a study with a broccoli enzyme in pill-form that they are studying in men.

Provider Background

Area of Clinical Practice
Genitourinary cancers, kidney cancer

I am a board certified urologist who specializes genitourinary oncologic surgery. I see patients at the Urology Clinic at UW Medical Center – Montlake. 

My clinical and research interests include genitourinary oncology, early detection and prevention and basic research.

Diseases Treated

Languages

English

Education, Experience and Certifications

Undergraduate Degree
Stanford University

Medical Degree
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Residency
University of Washington, Dept. of Urology

Fellowship
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certification
Urology, 2003, 2013, American Board of Urology

Other
Internship, University of Washington, Dept. of Surgery

Awards

Seattle Met's 2023 Top Doctors award
Dr. Lin has received this peer-nominated award for exceptional patient care for multiple years.

Seattle magazine's 2021 Top Doctors Award
Dr. Lin has been recognized as a Top Doctor in this peer-nominated award multiple years in a row.

Stories

All news
ASCO 2023 highlights: Fine-tuning cancer care Annual oncology meeting emphasizes less-toxic treatments, more precision oncology and new ways to reduce collateral damage June 9, 2023
Black men with early-stage prostate cancer can do active surveillance New study using Canary PASS data shows African American men with low-risk disease can delay radical treatment just like white men November 27, 2019
Fred Hutch receives 5 years of NCI funding to grow and maintain key prostate cancer cohort $6.7M grant will boost size, participant diversity of Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study November 22, 2019

Clinical Trials

We make promising new treatments available to you through studies called clinical trials led by Fred Hutch physicians. Many of these trials at Fred Hutch have led to FDA-approved treatments and have improved standards of care globally. Together, you and your physician can decide if a study is right for you. 

Find a Clinical Trial Led by Dr. Lin

Publications

Many of our Fred Hutch physicians conduct ongoing research to improve standards of patient care. Their work is evaluated by other physicians and selected for publication to the United States National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world. See scientific papers this Fred Hutch physician has written. 

View Dr. Lin's Publications

Your Care Team

At Fred Hutch, you receive care from a team of providers with extensive experience in your disease. Your team includes physicians, a patient care coordinator, a registered nurse, an advanced practice provider and others, based on your needs. You also have access to experts like registered dietitians, social workers, acupuncturists, psychiatrists and more who specialize in supporting people with cancer or blood disorders. 

Insurance

Fred Hutch accepts most national private health insurance plans as well as Medicare. We also accept Medicaid for people from Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. We are working to ensure that everyone, no matter what their financial situation, has access to the care they need.

For the Media

The Media Relations team at Fred Hutch is available to assist members of the news media who would like to arrange interviews with providers.

Email media@fredhutch.org or call 206.667.2210