John L. Gore, MD, MS, FACS

Tell us about an interaction with a patient that had a significant impact on you.

When I was a resident, I took care of a patient with a huge mass in his kidney. It turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer, but it hadn’t spread, and I was able to remove it. Fourteen years later, he remains cancer-free. Every spring, on the anniversary of his surgery, he sends me an email thanking me for saving his life. I cherish his message every time it comes, especially on the tough days. Being able to help patients like him through a complex health situation is one of the most meaningful contributions I can make.

What do you think patients appreciate about working with you?

One of my goals is to ensure that you leave the clinic room knowing everything I know about your disease. Often, people come to Fred Hutch understanding that they have cancer, but no one has shared with them the important details about their situation that influence their ability to make decisions. It’s really hard to be a patient, and one way I try to ease that burden is to lay out everything we know and the rationale behind my treatment recommendations. Good communication is a key ingredient of building trust and helping you feel confident in your care. 

Provider Background

Specialty: Surgery

Area of clinical practice
Genitourinary cancers, kidney cancer

Urologic cancers, urologic surgery
I am a clinician, surgeon and researcher who specializes in caring for patients with urologic cancers. My main focus is kidney and bladder cancers; however, I also treat cancers affecting the prostate, testicles, urethra and ureter. I have expertise in minimally invasive surgery, robotic surgery and complex open procedures. Regardless of the type of treatment you need, I believe in prioritizing safety, cancer control and quality of life. 

As a surgeon-scientist, I also study how to improve access to urologic cancer care and the quality of that care. One area of focus is comparative effectiveness research, which helps identify what treatments might work best for a particular patient at a particular time.