Vamsidhar Velcheti, MD, New York NY

From the very beginning of this journey with lung cancer I was impressed with Dr. Velcheti's knowledge, expertise and caring. He responds quickly and thoughtfully to any questions I have. I am glad to have a top research md like Dr. Velcheti in my corner, and am very happy with my ongoing care with him and the people on his team!

Dr. Velcheti is such a kind and compassionate physician. He is engaged when talking to you and truly cares about his patients. You just feel his warmth in the office. A kind smile and a gentle pat on the knee helps you know that he does care.

I met Dr. Velcheti when my father was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer in 2015. As I am a cancer biologist by training, I thought I knew what to expect, a fairly quick end, but I was wrong.

He took the time to carefully explain options to my parents and valued our opinions when deciding treatment options. His extensive work with the new immunotherapy agents proved to be a literal lifesaver for my Dad. Even without being able to test for PDL-1 marker expression in my Dad's tumor, he felt that Opdivo would be a good choice for him to try-mere weeks after FDA approval of this drug. Over the 6 months my Dad was on the treatment, his tumor shrank and all of the metastases disappeared. Wisely, he then proceeded to give my Dad a break from therapy for a while-and the tumor continued to shrink. Even 3 years after stopping treatment, my Dad was completely cancer free-a remarkable result for a metastatic lung cancer patient.

I feel that if my Dad had been under the care of another oncologist, he would not have fared so well. He is willing to think out of the box and not simply follow standard protocols blindly. He looks at each patient as an individual with unique needs.

I highly recommend Dr. Velcheti to anyone who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. I realize that my Dad's result is not common, but the compassion and care Dr. Velcheti provided to our family is just as uncommon. If given the chance, seek out his care.

I became a patient of Dr. Vamsidhar Velcheti when I was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in March 2016 at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Dr. Velcheti immediately ordered a DNA test and was extremely happy that I qualified for a certain drug that I took orally. I flew to Ohio about every 4 months for an evaluation and in August 2018 Dr. Velcheti believed that it was time to change and put me on another drug. Dr. Velcheti is a research physician and used his extensive knowledge to provide the best medication to control my cancer. I also have always found Dr. Velcheti to be genuinely concerned about me as a human being, extremely personable, spending as much time as necessary to answer any questions and to discuss the current research, always with a positive slant which contributes to my positive outlook on life. When Dr. Velcheti relocated to Langone Hospital in New York I followed him there and am receiving the same caring, and knowledgeable treatment as before. I also found that his staff and that of the hospital was both courteous and responsive to my needs. My disease has no cure, but under Dr. Velcheti’s care I have a positive attitude towards my future. I believe the fact that I am alive and with an excellent quality of life is because Doctor Vamisdhar Velcheti is my oncologist. I am fortunate to have him as my doctor and if necessary, you would be to.