Dr. Thomas Chen
Internal Medicine
Campbell, CA
26 years experience male
Locations
Office
Campbell, CA
About
SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Internal Medicine
Languages spoken
English
Doctor Q&A
49 Answers
34 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 19-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably safe: You need to discuss with your doctor. Is your aa in remission? Are you requiring transfusions? What about any other health problems? Lots of unknowns.... Read More
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 64-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Lots of things: I've had one patient with enlarged nodes from a bad kidney infection. Sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, lupus, etc. Can cause abnormal nodes. However, most o... Read More
5.3k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Can't tell: Only way to establish lymphoma is a biopsy. Physical exam can be very misleading. In that area, could be lots of benign things as well.
I assume yo... Read More
4.6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Unclear: Some forms of rheumatism (i.e. Rheumatoid arthritis) are disorders of the immune system but others may not be (osteoarthritis). Similarly, lymphomas a... Read More
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Depends: Prior mammograms for comparison are critical. Also depends on whether this is a screening versus diagnostic mammogram. Likely you will need additional... Read More
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 22-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Not much: There is generally a minor degree of inherited risk in most cancers. The vast majority of cancers have little or no inherited component. I am not awar... Read More
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Unlikely: Congratulations on your fight. It would be very unlikely for your leukemia to come back, although secondary leukemias from the chemotherapy are still ... Read More
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Sometimes: The curability of any cancer depends on stage and treatment options.
5.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Yes: There are many types of leukemia. Some are so-called chronic leukemias that can persist for long periods of time before they need to be treated.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Yes: Colorectal cancer occurs in both men and women. Screening tests are appropriate for both.
6.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
From diagnosis: Usually people talk about overall survival which is from the time of diagnosis of the cancer. However, there are many other survival statistics used b... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 57-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Ask your oncologist: We don't know the optimum duration of endocrine therapy for the individual patient. I generally try to balance the beneficial effects (prevention of c... Read More
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
It depends: It depends on the type of cancer and stage. Oncologists can help monitor for recurrence and side-effects from treatment. I usually work with my referr... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
I am a smoker for may years.i spit up a little blood in a tissue a couple of times. is this serious?
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Maybe: Any smoker that coughs up blood deserves an evaluation. It may not be serious, but smoking greatly increases the chance of many cancers. Please strong... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably not: Studies of nutritional supplements have provided inconsistent results in cancer prevention. Some studies have actually shown increased risk of cancer ... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Complicated: Complementary/alternative medicine (cam) in my mind has less "proof" and more "anecdote" behind it. However, it's generally less likely to harm you di... Read More
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 30-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Yes: Stage 3b usually means lymph nodes are involved, so i think your information might not be entirely accurate. However, even stage 3b colon cancer can b... Read More
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
YMMV: Some reports of anti-nausea properties. When i tried it, i puked more. The science on it is mixed.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ginger#science.
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 51-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Depends: I'm not sure what a "t count" is. If you mean a t-cell count, a low level of 59 can sometimes indicate an immune system disorder but can sometimes be ... Read More
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
See a doctor: Most lumps in young women are benign. But it is difficult to know what it is without looking!
i might suggest starting with your family doctor (pcp... Read More
5.5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Definitely: There are lots of different subtypes of breast cancer. All have different prognoses and different recommended treatments.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
It depends: Like any other cancer, it depends on location and other factors. A brain tumor in a vital structure will cause symptoms very quickly, but if it is loc... Read More
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Not much: Medical oncologists are trained through to diagnose and treat cancer using internal medicine (i.e. With medications, or chemotherapy). Many medical on... Read More
5.9k viewsReviewed Aug 14, 2020
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably not: In general, if you shouldn't be doing something when you don't have cancer, you shouldn't do something when you do have cancer.
I don't know of any b... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably not: Each patient is different. We don't typically think of stage 4 lung cancer as "curable". Long-term survival has been anecdotally reported but i've not... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Yes: Most chemotherapy does cause hair loss but there are a significant number of medicines which do not.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably not: I don't know of any definitive conclusions regarding this. Some studies suggest a reduced risk of bladder cancer in coffee drinkers, others suggest hi... Read More
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 24-year-old member asked:
Can a man be sexually active during the period that he is undergoing treatments for prostate cancer?
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Maybe: Most treatments for prostate cancer have a high chance of causing impotence, so both the desire and ability to undergo sexual activity is compromised.... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Not much: Modern chemotherapy and radiation are so successful at curing hodgkin's disease i feel that other treatments should be complementary and should not su... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Common sense: A lot depends on your individual situation. If your mother was young or there are other cancers in the family, you may have an inherited cancer syndro... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 22-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Consultation: Low grade tumors are generally removed surgically, but the head/neck area is very tricky. Generally a multi-specialty conference between surgeons, rad... Read More
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 29-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Depends: The type of leukemia (acute vs chronic, myeloid vs lymphoid), the type of bone marrow transplant (allogeneic vs autologous), the status of the leukemi... Read More
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 19-year-old male asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Change in lipids: The liver is responsible for general metabolism in the body, and the plasma membrane has a complex collection of lipids that are responsible for its "... Read More
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 51-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Need more info: The labs you mention are normal. The significance is that your fatigue is not explained by b12, d, iron, or folate (folic acid) deficiencies.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old male asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
See below: Lymphoproliferative disorders (lpd) are characterized by abnormal growth or accumulation of lymphocytes. Most require an oncologist for evaluation.
... Read More
5.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Need to see a doctor: I assume this means a nodule was seen on your chest x-ray that looks like it may be dangerous. It usually requires comparison with prior x-rays and ev... Read More
5.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old female asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Unclear: 3 cm is pretty big for a jugulogastric node (?) - i assume this is a jugulodigastric lymph node.
Risk of serious disease depends on underlying medi... Read More
4.6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
X: The most common form of color blindness is red-green color blindness. The gene is on the x chromosome, so that is why it is most common to see males ... Read More
4.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Maybe: Behavioral changes can be one sign of brain tumors but generally it is not the only symptom. Schizophrenia is much more common than brain tumors.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Need more info: Prognosis in all is still very good in young adults when treated with aggressive chemotherapy (and possibly radiation). One of the most powerful progn... Read More
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Just about anything: Rubbing alcohol is a lousy germ killer. You're better off using soap and water.
5.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
See below: Horner's syndrome is a constellation of findings including eyelid drooping (ptosis), constriction of the pupils (miosis), and decreased sweat (anhidro... Read More
5.9k viewsReviewed >2 years agoMerged
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Absolutely: Kidney cancer typically needs several specialists:
1) urologists are involved in the surgery needed to remove kidney cancers
2) medical oncologists t... Read More
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 57-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
No: There's lots of smoke but no fire. Every study has been done in cell culture, and nothing is proven in humans. I did a quick search and the top hits a... Read More
6.1k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Unclear: Like many other epidemiological links, this one depends on your perspective. My personal view is that the link between cell phone use and brain cancer... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 26-year-old male asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
It depends: Survival rates for any cancer are very dependent on a number of variables. With astrocytomas, patient age, tumor location, pathological features (anap... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Probably not: It depends on the type of pancreatic cancer. The most common type (not the one steve jobs had) has a weak genetic link. A person with a first degree r... Read More
6.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Blood disorders: This is a subspecialty of internal medicine that deals with blood disorders. Some common issues include anemia (low red cells), bleeding disorders, th... Read More
5.7k viewsReviewed Jul 02, 2020
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Thomas Chenanswered
Internal Medicine 34 years experience
Bone marrow disease: Myeloma is a malignant disorder characterized by excessive growth of plasma cells. It can several complications: excess levels of calcium in the blood... Read More
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
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TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
2
Recommendations
154
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. Chen is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Chen is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Share thanks in your own words...
HealthTap member
Thanks alot! that really helped I will talk to my hematologist.
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful!
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
Stanford University School of Medicine, CA
Graduated 1996MD
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