GIST Specialist for West Hollywood, CA
If an endoscopy has turned up something in the wall of your stomach, the surgeon who spends his week on gastrointestinal stromal tumors works a few blocks away. Joshua Ellenhorn, MD, FACS operates at Cedars-Sinai, just south of the West Hollywood line.
- Five to ten minutes from Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose
- Clinical Professor of Surgery, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Board certified in General Surgery and Colorectal Surgery
- Willing to recommend surveillance when surgery is not warranted
Practically Around the Corner
From Santa Monica Boulevard, take Fairfax or La Cienega south to 3rd Street and you are there in under ten minutes. From the Sunset Strip either artery drops you straight down. From the Melrose and Beverly stretch it is a five minute drive, and from the Beverly Center it is close enough to walk if you are inclined.
The value of that is not only the commute. The office sits in the medical plaza attached to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, so a CT, a pathology review, and the operation itself happen in one building rather than across three appointments in three parts of the city. For a diagnosis that involves a lot of waiting on results, that compression matters more than patients expect.
Residents of 90046, 90048, and 90069 are among the closest patients this practice sees.
8635 W 3rd St, Suite 880W
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Monday to Saturday, 11:00am to 8:00pm
Closed Sunday
One Percent of Cases, Most of the Difficulty
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors account for roughly one percent of gastrointestinal cancers. A capable general surgeon might remove two or three across twenty years of practice. That is not a criticism of general surgeons, it is arithmetic.
The consequence shows up in the decisions rather than the technique. Whether a two centimetre gastric lesion should be watched or taken out. Whether a wedge resection will clear it, or whether its position near the pylorus or the gastroesophageal junction forces something larger. Whether the capsule will tolerate a laparoscopic approach, because tearing it seeds tumor cells across the abdomen and permanently worsens the outlook. Whether a few months of imatinib would turn a difficult operation into a routine one.
None of those have a protocol answer. They are judgment, and judgment is built from volume. The price of getting one wrong is usually a second, larger operation.
What GIST Is, and What It Is Not
GIST is not stomach cancer, although the stomach is where it grows most often. It is a sarcoma arising from the interstitial cells of Cajal, the pacemaker cells inside the wall of the digestive tract that coordinate the contractions pushing food along.
That origin explains the behaviour. Sitting within the wall, a GIST pushes outward rather than inward, which is why a gastroenterologist may see only a smooth bulge beneath an otherwise normal lining. It also explains why these tumors rarely involve lymph nodes, and why the wide clearance a conventional gastric cancer demands is usually unnecessary.
Nearly all GIST carry a mutation in KIT, a minority in PDGFRA. Those mutations jam a growth switch in the on position. They are also the reason a targeted pill works here when it does nothing for most sarcomas.
What patients notice, when they notice anything
- Nothing at all, in the large share found incidentally
- Anemia on routine bloodwork with no visible bleeding
- Dark or tarry stools, occasionally vomited blood
- Early fullness after small meals, or bloating that does not settle
- A vague ache or pressure that is hard to point to
- Nausea and vomiting once a tumor begins to obstruct
Working Out What You Actually Have
A CT scan, a PET/CT, or an upper endoscopy is usually what brings a GIST to light. When the imaging appearance is characteristic enough, a biopsy before surgery may add nothing useful.
Endoscopic ultrasound earns its place here. Because a GIST lives inside the wall, a standard endoscope looks past it and sees only the bulge it creates. EUS visualises the layers underneath and allows controlled sampling. That control matters, because rupturing the capsule can spread tumor cells through the abdominal cavity. The decision about whether and how to biopsy is not a formality.
If tissue is obtained, mutation testing should follow. KIT driven, PDGFRA driven, and wild type tumors answer to different drugs at different doses, and that result can determine whether medication belongs before the operation or after it.
Bring whatever you already have from your West Hollywood gastroenterologist. Reports, images, pathology slides. A second reading of existing material frequently changes the plan without a single new test.
Watch It, Shrink It, or Remove It
Three broad paths. Which applies depends on size, position, how fast the cells are dividing, mutation status, and whether anything has spread.
Surveillance
Small gastric GIST with reassuring features can be followed with periodic endoscopy or imaging instead of removed. Being told to wait is not being fobbed off. It is a decision, and it spares you an operation you did not need.
Imatinib and Its Successors
Imatinib, sunitinib, and regorafenib block the abnormal KIT and PDGFRA signal. They shrink tumors ahead of surgery, reduce recurrence risk afterwards in higher risk cases, and control disease that has reached the liver. Alone they rarely cure.
Wedge or Formal Resection
The goal is complete removal with the capsule intact. For most gastric tumors that means a wedge taking the lesion and a cuff of wall, done laparoscopically, often as a day case. Position near the pylorus or gastroesophageal junction is what pushes toward something bigger.
Watch the Operations Themselves
Recordings of real GIST resections, narrated by the surgeon who performed them. A more honest credential than any claim about experience.
Laparoscopic Resection of a Gastric GIST
A gastric GIST removed through small incisions with the capsule kept intact.
Gastric GIST Resection: A Simplified Approach
A streamlined approach developed over many cases to shorten operating and recovery time.
Robotic Resection of a Duodenal GIST
Duodenal GIST is one of the hardest sites. Robotic assistance permits removal while preserving the pancreas and bile duct.
Ask How Much Stomach Stays
For a tumor in an awkward position, the difference between a wedge and a formal gastrectomy is often technique and confidence rather than the tumor itself. Worth asking before you agree to anything.
Credentials Worth Checking
Two board certifications, a Cedars-Sinai teaching appointment, and membership of the societies that set the standards for this disease.
- American Board of Surgery, certified in General Surgery
- American Board of Surgery, certified in Colorectal Surgery
- California State Medical License
- Florida State Medical License
Joshua Ellenhorn, MD, FACS
Dr. Ellenhorn is a surgical oncologist and Clinical Professor of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and a collaborative member of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. He is considered one of the foremost GIST surgeons in the United States.
His practice is narrow on purpose. Instead of spanning general surgery, it concentrates on complex abdominal cancers and gastrointestinal stromal tumors specifically. That focus is what makes the technical depth of his published operative videos possible, and why gastroenterologists and oncologists across Los Angeles send these particular cases to him.
He is certified by the American Board of Surgery in General Surgery and in Colorectal Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He practises with the Surgery Group of Los Angeles.
Three Steps, No Mystery
Send What You Have
Call (310) 356-3792 or book online. Forward the endoscopy report, any CT or PET imaging, and pathology if tissue was taken. Even an incomplete file is worth sending ahead so the visit starts with substance.
Hear It Straight
Dr. Ellenhorn reviews the material himself and explains what the size, site, and mitotic index mean in your case. If the answer is that this should be watched rather than removed, he will say so.
Operate and Follow Up
A laparoscopic wedge resection is frequently a day case or one overnight. You leave with a defined surveillance schedule and, where relevant, a coordinated plan with your medical oncologist.
What Patients Say About Dr. Ellenhorn
Reviews left by patients treated by Dr. Ellenhorn at the Surgery Group of Los Angeles.
★★★★★I was very pleased with the office staff, they were always very pleasant and helpful. I was very impressed with Dr. Ellenhorn as well. He was very friendly and addressed all my concerns regarding my surgery and aftercare and follow up.
Terry Jackson
★★★★★Very kind stuff, great service. Dr Joshua Ellenhorn is a very calm doctor who takes time with his patient.
Anita Lukacevic
Frequently Asked Questions
How close is the office to West Hollywood?
My endoscopy found a bump in the wall of my stomach. What happens now?
What does subepithelial or submucosal lesion mean on my report?
If it is small, can I just leave it alone?
Does a GIST turn cancerous over time?
Is a wedge resection the same as removing part of my stomach?
Will I be able to eat normally afterwards?
How often will I need scans after surgery?
Will you see me before I have a confirmed diagnosis?
Something Found in Your Stomach Wall? Get a Specialist Opinion.
A bulge on an endoscopy report is not a diagnosis. If you are in West Hollywood the surgeon who handles these routinely is minutes away, and the consultation is what turns uncertainty into a plan.
