Laurence Klotz, MD, FRCS(C)

About

Dr. Klotz is Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and the Sunnybrook Chair of Prostate Cancer Research.  He trained at the University of Toronto, McGill, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.  Dr. Klotz’s work has had a major impact on the management of every stage of prostate cancer, with a consistent emphasis on reducing treatment-related morbidity and improving quality of life without compromising survival. Most notably, he led the team that established active surveillance (a term he coined) for low-risk prostate cancer.   He has published about 600 peer reviewed articles and eight books. He was the Associate Editor (Prostate Cancer) for Journal of Urology, and the founding editor of both the Canadian Journal of Urology and the Canadian Urology Association Journal. He founded the Canadian Urologic Research Consortium and the World Urologic Oncology Federation.

He started the University of Toronto Uro-Oncology Fellowship and has mentored hundreds of residents and fellows. He has received the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, the Huggins Medal, the Harold Warwick Award from the Canadian Cancer Society, lifetime achievement awards from the Canadian Urological Association and the University of Toronto, and the Keyes Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons Medal (their highest award).  He is an honorary member of the AUA and many other societies.

Dr. Klotz teamed up with Dr. Rajiv Chopra, an imaging research scientist at Sunnybrook, to develop and evaluate the initial prototype of TULSA beginning in 2002.  This led to a series of animal experiments and the first-in-human TULSA treatments, initially in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.   He then led the pivotal registration trial, the TACT study, which led to regulatory approval of TULSA around the world.  More recently he has been a leader of  the CAPTAIN trial, randomizing patients between TULSA and surgery.  This has been the first randomized trial, comparing surgery to a non-invasive intervention, to successfully complete accrual.  The preliminary results of this trial have demonstrated an improved functional outcome with TULSA.  Dr. Klotz leads the TULSA team at Sunnybrook.  Their clinical program at Sunnybrook was launched in 2022, shortly after Health Canada approved the TULSA technology.