Mark S. Soloway (born 1943) is an American emeritus professor of urology, known for his work on prostate, bladder and kidney cancer.
[22] Soloway was one of the first urologic oncologists to use flexible cystoscopy as an integral part of his office practice; today, the majority of the world uses it.
[citation needed] During the 1980s and early 1990s, a high percentage of men with prostate cancer were diagnosed with locally advanced disease.
Since their initial responses were impressive, it seemed reasonable to give androgen deprivation prior to prostatectomy with the hope of improving progression-free and overall survival.
[29][30] Enlisting the cooperation of a multi-institutional group, Soloway initiated a prospective randomized trial to test the efficacy of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy.
This randomized trial showed that although the surgical margin rate was lower for men who had received androgen deprivation prior to prostatectomy, there was no improvement in progression-free or overall survival.
[31][30][d] Another focus of Soloway's clinical research has been on the relationship between positive surgical margins and the preservation of the bladder neck and approach to the seminal vesicles.
They have popularized the lower abdominal transverse incision to minimize pain and enhance recovery as well as providing a smaller, less obvious scar.
[37] They have shown that most patients do not require a drain[38][39][40] and an inguinal hernia can be easily be repaired at the same operation of a radical prostatectomy using this transverse incision.
More than 10 years ago, Soloway and Ciancio worked as a team to reduce the perioperative morbidity and mortality associated with these large tumor masses.
Their idea was to incorporate surgical techniques from liver transplantation to increase the exposure of the vena cava with the anticipation that this would reduce blood loss and obviate circulatory arrest.
[45] Their most recent publication[46] is an update of their step-by-step approach toward minimizing complications related to renal cell carcinoma with vena cava thrombus.
In 1995 Soloway and his colleagues reported on a study that looked at patients with localized prostate cancer and the QOL implications of surgical management vs. radiation therapy.