Locations
Office
Detroit, MI
About
Bio
Urologic surgical pathologist with special interest in tumors of the kidney
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.
Pathology
Languages spoken
English
Doctor Q&A
74 Answers
94 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies with stage: Fortunately many renal cell carcinomas are now being diagnosed at an early stage (when the tumor is small and doesn't invade any other structures) tha... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Yes: An unusual feature of renal cell carcinoma is that it sometimes metastasizes to unusual locations such as the skin. However, there are many other caus... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Cancer types: There are many different types of cancers that can develop from different organs. Some of the general categories are carcinomas ;#40;cancers of epithe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Blood: Blood in the urine and other symptoms related to urination are the most common symptoms of bladder cancer. However, it is also important to keep in mi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 55-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Chromophobe: Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma makes up a small percentage of kidney cancers (about 5%). It is named that -"chromo" = color or stain and "phobe" = f... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Not always: In addition to kidney cancer, there are a few types of benign (noncancerous) tumors that form a solid nodule in the kidney, such as angiomyolipoma or ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Cell size and shape: When a clear cell renal cell carcinoma is removed, the cells are examined under the microscope by a pathologist. Grade 1 means that the nuclei (which ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Many: There are many different types of cancers that can develop from many different organs. Some of the general categories are carcinomas (cancers of epith... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
It shouldn't: Although the Mirena (levonorgestrel) intrauterine device releases hormones somewhat similar to a pregnancy and may stop a patient from having menstrua... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Sometimes: Sometimes kidney tumors can occur in both kidneys. Often the second tumor is not related to the first (not recurrence or metastasis). In some cases, t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 44-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Not really: Although HIV has its effects on white blood cells, there would not be specific findings in the CBC test to diagnose it. The virus is much too small to... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
"Young" cells: White blood cells help the body fight infections. Left shift is a term used to indicate that some of the white blood cells are not fully mature, often... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Relatively uncommon: Kidney cancer is uncommon in young patients (such as under 40 years of age) but it does sometimes occur. Some patients with family history of kidney ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Unpredictable: Kidney cancers can be unpredictable in their growth and spread. In studies where tumors have been monitored and not removed, the overall size on x-ray... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Basal cell: Basal cell carcinoma is technically a type of skin cancer. However in comparison to melanoma, the more dangerous type of skin cancer, basal cell carci... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 42-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
It's complex: Lymph node biopsies often require additional types of testing compared to other biopsies. In addition to looking at the cells under the microscope, th... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 26-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Any adenoma?: Sometimes there are normal findings identified at colonoscopy that can form a small bump resembling a polyp. These will often be removed to make sure ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Glands: The prostate is composed of glands that produce secretions for ejaculation. Prostate cancer is an uncontrolled proliferation of these glands often inv... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies: Many prostate cancers are low grade and unlikely to spread. In fact, if the prostate glands of older men who die of other causes are examined, many ca... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Also: It can be serious. In addition to what others have said, these tumors were originally named synovial sarcomas since they occur near joints. However, t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
It depends: It depends on the type of tumor. "urothelial" tumors in general are prone to recur over time with the exception of urothelial papilloma, which usually... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 38-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Age: If you are only 39 years old, then your daughter must be quite young. There are some unique types of renal cell cancers that preferentially occur in y... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
No: It sounds like this wording comes from the diagnosis of a biopsy specimen. If so, it does not suggest that any cancer was found.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Depends: It is not possible to test randomly for any and all types of cancer. However, if you are experiencing symptoms, it is certainly worth seeing a doctor.... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Usually a few days: Slides are usually ready for the pathologist to examine the next day or so after the biopsy. Depending on whether additional tests need to be performe... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Usually not: Usually biopsies are not performed on the ovary. Rather if there is a cyst or mass that is suspicious, it will usually be removed entirely, either wit... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
It could: It could. Ultrasound can detect some kidney tumors; however, the most common method to evaluate kidney tumors is ct scan. Often a ct scan will demonst... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Bladder: It is theoretically possible; however, bladder cancer is highly unusual in a patient 35 years of age. There are many other more common causes of const... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies: Some bladder cancers are highly aggressive and can result in patient death, especially those that invade the muscle of the bladder or metastasize to l... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 21-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Both: Some of these tumors occur as a result of an inherited syndrome, whereas others are thought to be spontaneous. Syndromes associated with these tumors ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 24-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Yes: Particularly invasive bladder cancers and especially those that invade the bladder muscle or spread to lymph nodes. However many bladder cancers are l... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 30-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies with tumor: Most bladder cancers are urothelial carcinomas aka transitional cell carcinomas. Of these, low grade tumors are prone to come back, requiring procedur... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Often very good: It depends on the tumor stage, which is based on the tumor size and whether it is confined to the kidney or invades other structures. Many papillary ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Sarcoma: Sarcoma is a cancer of the connective tissues (muscle, bone, fat, etc), which is less common than other types of cancer such as breast cancer, colon c... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
For surgery: When it is time to have the tumor removed, some of these surgeries are done by urologists and others are done by general surgeons or endocrine-specifi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies: There are several types of renal cell carcinoma that have variation in prognoses. Today, many tumors are detected at an early stage (when small and no... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 55-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
No: In fact, "degenerative" is a term often used by pathologists to convey that the changes observed in a specimen are different from necrosis. The exact ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 26-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Soon: Lymph node biopsies often require additional testing compared to other biopsies. In addition to looking at the cells under the microscope, the cells o... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 27-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Preliminary: The data in this study were very preliminary. Whether or not the patients were taking fish oil supplements was not even measured in the study (only bl... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 56-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Description of skin: Hyperorthokeratosis means that the surface layer of the skin is thickened (extra layers of keratin) and hyperplasia means that there is an increased g... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Lining of uterus: The endometrium is the lining of the uterus that changes throughout the menstrual cycle to prepare for the possibility of a pregnancy. Pathology means... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 46-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Cystitis cystica: Cystitis cystica is a benign (noncancerous) change that is thought to be a reaction to irritation and not a specific disease of its own. Sometimes it ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Difficult: It would be unusual to have stomach cancer at a young age (34) although it is not impossible. Symptoms related to the stomach could be from a variety ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Depends: Prostate cancer typically occurs in older patients. Screening is usually performed with the prostate specific antigen test (psa). However before choos... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 63-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Atypical: Atypical cells means that there are some cells in the urine that look unusual but not abnormal enough to diagnose recurrence of bladder cancer. Often ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old male asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Depends: It depends what you mean by treatment. A diagnosis of cancer is usually not confirmed until the testis has been removed. Sometimes no treatment is a r... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
No smoking: Smoking is a major risk for multiple types of cancer, not just lung cancer, so avoiding smoking is a great step. Other factors include a healthy diet ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 55-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Gleason 7: Not all gleason 7 prostate cancer is the same. If the component of pattern 4 is low, some cancers are not much more aggressive than gleason 6 and have... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Varies: Some bladder cancers are highly aggressive and can result in patient death, especially those that invade the muscle of the bladder or metastasize to l... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 35-year-old female asked:
Dr. Sean Williamsonanswered
Pathology 15 years experience
Yes: Some patients develop multiple tumors in the same kidney (if the first was removed by partial removal of the kidney) or in the opposite. Often the sec... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
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.
5
Recommendations
60
Thank you notes
Nov 20, 2013
Great doc helpful answers. Thank you!
Sep 8, 2013
Thorough and compassionate answers.
HealthTap member
Sep 9, 2013
Thank you for your reply about 28yo non smoker with bladder cancer,aircraft engineer
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Thanks doctor it help me out a hole lot
HealthTap member
I am having a second biopsy after three courses of antibiotics. Tc. ♥️
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful!
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
Temple University School of Medicine, PA
Graduated 2008MD
Residency
INDIANA UNIVERSITY HEALTH
Awards
Thought Leader, Third Place, Detroit Region, MI - Summer
2013
Top Pathologist, First Place, Michigan - Summer
2013
HealthTap Founding Doctor
Affiliations
United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology
American Society for Clinical Pathology
Fellow, College of American Pathologists
Publications
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