Research Summary

Dr. Sima Porten is a specialist in cancers of the genital and urinary organs. She is a member of the urologic oncology team at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her clinical interests include the diagnosis and treatment of genitourinary cancer, particularly bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer, kidney cancer and high-risk prostate cancer.

Porten's research focuses mainly on the diagnosis and management of urothelial carcinoma, a cancer involving parts of the kidney, bladder and ureter (the tube connecting each kidney to the bladder). In studying the biologic or genetic basis of urothelial carcinoma, she hopes to develop new tests and treatments to bring personalized medicine to patients with bladder cancer.

Porten received her undergraduate, medical and master of public health degrees from Northwestern University. During medical school, she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and also completed a fellowship through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute–National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program. She then completed her urology residency training at UCSF, where she received the Julius R. Krevans Award for Clinical Excellence. During her training in urologic oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, she was awarded a John Quale Travel Fellowship for her research in bladder cancer.

Porten is an active member of the American Urological Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society of Women in Urology and Society of Urologic Oncology.

Education

  • Northwestern University, College of Arts and Sciences, B.A., 2001, Classics
  • Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, M.D., 2006, Medicine
  • Northwestern University, School of Public Health, M.P.H., 2006, Public Health
  • University of California, San Francisco, Intern, 2007, General Surgery
  • University of California, San Francisco, Resident, 2008, General Surgery
  • University of California, San Francisco, Resident, 2011, Urology
  • University of California, San Francisco, Chief Resident, 2012, Urology
  • U.T. MD Anderson Cancer Center, Fellow, 2014, Urol. Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2003
    Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar, National Institute of Health
  • 2005
    Julius Conn Award for Outstanding Performance in the Surgery Clerkship
  • 2005
    George Dennis Award (Phi Rho Sigma) for Achievement in Clinical Years
  • 2006
    Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, Gamma Chapter
  • 2007
    Julius R. Krevans Award for Clinical Excellence, San Francisco General Hospital
  • 2012
    The John Quale Travel Fellowship Award, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network
  • 2015
    The Joseph McCarthy Essay Contest Award, American Urological Association, Western Section
  • 2016
    William R. Smart Distinguished Teaching Award, UCSF Department of Urology
  • 2017
    Best Reviewer Award, Journal of Urology
  • 2017
    Faculty Learning and Development Fund Award Recipient, UCSF, School of Medicine
  • 2018
    New Investigator Scholarship-Leadership Award, ALLIANCE Foundation
  • 2019
    Muriel Steele Society Honor- Influential and Inspiring Women in Surgery, Murielle Steel Society UCSF

Selected Publications

  1. Black PC, Tangen CM, Singh P, McConkey DJ, Lucia MS, Lowrance WT, Koshkin VS, Stratton KL, Bivalacqua TJ, Kassouf W, Porten SP, Bangs R, Plets M, Thompson IM, Lerner SP. Phase 2 Trial of Atezolizumab in Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-unresponsive High-risk Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer: SWOG S1605. Eur Urol. 2023 12; 84(6):536-544.  View on PubMed
  2. Kates M, Chu X, Hahn N, Pietzak E, Smith A, Shevrin DH, Crispen P, Williams SB, Daneshmand S, Packiam VT, Porten S, Westerman ME, Wagner LI, Carducci M. Background and Update for ECOG-ACRIN EA8212: A Randomized Phase 3 Trial of Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Versus Intravesical Docetaxel and Gemcitabine Treatment in BCG-naïve High-grade Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer (BRIDGE). Eur Urol Focus. 2023 07; 9(4):561-563.  View on PubMed
  3. Chappidi MR, Escobar D, Meng MV, Washington SL, Porten SP. Readmissions trends following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer unchanged in the era of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols. Urol Oncol. 2023 08; 41(8):355.e19-355.e28.  View on PubMed
  4. Jindal T, Zhang L, Deshmukh P, Reyes K, Chan E, Kumar V, Zhu X, Maldonado E, Feng S, Johnson M, Angelidakis A, Kwon D, Desai A, Borno HT, Bose R, Wong A, Hong J, Carroll P, Meng M, Porten S, Aggarwal R, Small EJ, Fong L, Chou J, Friedlander T, de Kouchkovsky I, Koshkin VS. Impact of Squamous Histology on Clinical Outcomes and Molecular Profiling in Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors or Enfortumab Vedotin. Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2023 10; 21(5):e394-e404.  View on PubMed
  5. Jindal T, Zhu X, Bose R, Kumar V, Maldonado E, Deshmukh P, Shipp C, Feng S, Johnson MS, Angelidakis A, Kwon D, Borno HT, de Kouchkovsky I, Desai A, Aggarwal R, Fong L, Small EJ, Wong A, Porten S, Chou J, Friedlander T, Koshkin VS. Somatic alterations of TP53 and MDM2 associated with response to enfortumab vedotin in patients with advanced urothelial cancer. Front Oncol. 2023; 13:1161089.  View on PubMed
  6. Li KD, Chu CE, Patel M, Meng MV, Morgan TM, Porten SP. Cxbladder Monitor testing to reduce cystoscopy frequency in patients with bladder cancer. Urol Oncol. 2023 07; 41(7):326.e1-326.e8.  View on PubMed
  7. Alsyouf M, Ladi-Seyedian SS, Konety B, Pohar K, Holzbeierlein JM, Kates M, Willard B, Taylor JM, Liao JC, Kaimakliotis HZ, Porten SP, Steinberg GD, Tyson MD, Lotan Y, Daneshmand S, Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview Registry Group. Is a restaging TURBT necessary in high-risk NMIBC if the initial TURBT was performed with blue light? Urol Oncol. 2023 02; 41(2):109.e9-109.e14.  View on PubMed
  8. Lobo N, Afferi L, Moschini M, Mostafid H, Porten S, Psutka SP, Gupta S, Smith AB, Williams SB, Lotan Y. Epidemiology, Screening, and Prevention of Bladder Cancer. Eur Urol Oncol. 2022 Nov 01.  View on PubMed
  9. Chang K, Porten SP. Sex-specific Augmentation of Treatment Responses in Bladder Cancer. Eur Urol Open Sci. 2022 Dec; 46:43-44.  View on PubMed
  10. Szymaniak J, Porten SP. Which Biomarkers are Useful in the Management of Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer in 2022? Eur Urol Focus. 2022 07; 8(4):901-903.  View on PubMed
  11. Wallace A, Porten SP, Lo AA, Oreper D, Lounsbury N, Havnar C, Pechuan-Jorge X, Zill OA, Meng MV. Origins and Timing of Emerging Lesions in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma. Mol Cancer Res. 2022 06 03; 20(6):909-922.  View on PubMed
  12. Stoia-Davis J, Colwell JC, Emodi K, Fellows J, Mahoney M, McDade B, Porten SP, Raskin ER, Norman HS, Kelly MT, Sims T. Survey Results on Use of a Convex Pouching System in the Postoperative Period. J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 2022 May-Jun 01; 49(3):247-250.  View on PubMed
  13. Colwell JC, Stoia Davis J, Emodi K, Fellows J, Mahoney M, McDade B, Porten S, Raskin E, Sims T, Norman H, Kelly MT, Gray M. Use of a Convex Pouching System in the Postoperative Period: A National Consensus. J Wound Ostomy Continence Nurs. 2022 May-Jun 01; 49(3):240-246.  View on PubMed
  14. Mujal AM, Combes AJ, Rao AA, Binnewies M, Samad B, Tsui J, Boissonnas A, Pollack JL, Argüello RJ, Meng MV, Porten SP, Ruhland MK, Barry KC, Chan V, Krummel MF. Holistic Characterization of Tumor Monocyte-to-Macrophage Differentiation Integrates Distinct Immune Phenotypes in Kidney Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res. 2022 04 01; 10(4):403-419.  View on PubMed
  15. Robbins R, Cole R, Ejikeme C, Orstad SL, Porten S, Salter CA, Sanchez Nolasco T, Vieira D, Loeb S. Systematic review of sleep and sleep disorders among prostate cancer patients and caregivers: a call to action for using validated sleep assessments during prostate cancer care. Sleep Med. 2022 06; 94:38-53.  View on PubMed
  16. Natesan D, Zhang L, Martell HJ, Jindal T, Devine P, Stohr B, Espinosa-Mendez C, Grenert J, Van Ziffle J, Joseph N, Umetsu S, Onodera C, Turski M, Chan E, Desai A, Aggarwal R, Wong A, Porten S, Chou J, Friedlander T, Fong L, Small EJ, Sweet-Cordero A, Koshkin VS. APOBEC Mutational Signature and Tumor Mutational Burden as Predictors of Clinical Outcomes and Treatment Response in Patients With Advanced Urothelial Cancer. Front Oncol. 2022; 12:816706.  View on PubMed
  17. Chou J, Trepka K, Sjöström M, Egusa EA, Chu CE, Zhu J, Chan E, Gibb EA, Badura ML, Contreras-Sanz A, Stohr BA, Meng MV, Pruthi RS, Lotan Y, Black PC, Porten SP, Koshkin VS, Friedlander TW, Feng FY. TROP2 Expression Across Molecular Subtypes of Urothelial Carcinoma and Enfortumab Vedotin-resistant Cells. Eur Urol Oncol. 2022 12; 5(6):714-718.  View on PubMed
  18. Stout TE, Regmi SK, Daneshmand S, Porten SP, Pohar KS, Konety BR. Clinical Utility of Rigid Blue Light Cystoscopy: Results from a Post Procedure User Survey in a Prospective Multicenter Registry. Urol Pract. 2022 Jan; 9(1):94-100.  View on PubMed
  19. Ahmadi H, Ladi-Seyedian SS, Konety B, Pohar K, Holzbeierlein JM, Kates M, Willard B, Taylor JM, Liao JC, Kaimakliotis HZ, Porten SP, Steinberg GD, Tyson MD, Lotan Y, Daneshmand S, Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview Registry Group. Role of blue-light cystoscopy in detecting invasive bladder tumours: data from a multi-institutional registry. BJU Int. 2022 07; 130(1):62-67.  View on PubMed
  20. Chappidi MR, Yang H, Meng MV, Bivalacqua TJ, Daneshmand S, Holzbeierlein JM, Kaimakliotis HZ, Konety B, Liao JC, Pohar K, Steinberg GD, Taylor JM, Tyson MD, Willard B, Lotan Y, Porten SP, Kates M. Utility of Blue Light Cystoscopy for Post-bacillus Calmette-Guérin Bladder Cancer Recurrence Detection: Implications for Clinical Trial Recruitment and Study Comparisons. J Urol. 2022 Mar; 207(3):534-540.  View on PubMed

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