Dr. John P. Stein, a professor at the USC Keck School of Medicine and an internationally known specialist in urologic cancers and bladder reconstruction, died Friday at a hospital in Naples, Fla. He was 45.
A research scientist and unusually skillful surgeon beloved for his compassionate bedside manner, Stein was a star in his field, who was, according to Keck Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, "what every dean of a medical school wants in a faculty member. He was a dedicated clinician, a state-of-the-art surgeon. He was a great innovator, a scientist . . . a terrific role model," who touched the lives of thousands and saved many lives.
Athletic and robust, Stein became seriously ill while attending a meeting of the American Assn. of Genitourinary Surgeons in Naples and was taken to a local hospital. Although doctors worked furiously to combat what appeared to be a massive infection, he died the next day.
Preliminary signs suggest a form of toxic shock syndrome, but the cause of death awaits the completion of autopsy studies, said Dr. Donald Skinner, a renowned USC urologic cancer surgeon, who trained Stein and helped guide his care at the Florida hospital.
Along with colleagues and patients, Skinner mourned Stein's death as a tragic end to a brilliant career on the cusp of advancement.
"I consider him the finest surgeon I trained, an extension of my own hands, a member of my own family, like a son," said Skinner, who established Keck's prestigious urology department 30 years ago.
Stein, who was born in San Francisco in 1962 and grew up in Walnut Creek, Calif., was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago. He completed his residency under Skinner at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and became a professor of urology and co-director of the center's Genitourinary Cancers Program.
Early in his career, he and three colleagues published a landmark study that helped to identify which patients had more aggressive forms of bladder cancer. Published in 1994 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study found that an alteration in the DNA of bladder cancer cells, called a molecular marker, could help predict who would most benefit from continuing treatment after surgery and who would be more likely to face a relapse.
