About

Maintaining our patients’ dignity is the cornerstone of rebuilding their health.

The word ‘doctor’ comes from the Latin word for ‘teacher’. We believe our first and most important role is to teach our patients about their bodies, their disease, and the various treatment options. We work with our patients to develop individualized treatment plans for their needs and desires. We respect those who choose to take the ‘less is more’ route for care and those who decide to proceed with more aggressive treatment.

When surgery is necessary, we strive to provide the least invasive procedure to shorten recovery times and minimize discomfort to our patients while still providing the most effective outcomes. When traditional treatments have failed, we offer our patients the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge clinical trials and collaborate with a robust network of physicians and institutions conducting clinical trials and our innovative trials. We understand the problems that cancer can cause continue long after treatment is over and have programs to alleviate the long-term social, mental, and physical problems caused by cancer and the treatment of cancer.

Through diagnosis, treatment, and long after treatment is over, we continue to work with our patients to maintain their dignity and maximize their health so they can live full, productive, and happy lives.

To make surgery easier for our patients and their families and improve access to care we travel to most hospitals in the greater Bay Area, from as far south as the Salinas hospitals to as far north as Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. We accept most insurances and are always accepting new patients. Dr. Lilja, Dr. Volpe and Dr. Velasco are Spanish speaking, Dr. Liu is fluent in Mandarin; and Christina Nguyen, PA-C is fluent in Vietnamese.