Dr. Thomas Noji, a 70-year-old retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) marine biologist who worked served as the director of NOAA’s James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory at Sandy Hook, said he was very impressed with the level of advanced surgical expertise offered at MMC. He is pictured during a recent trip to Japan.
Medical Director of Robotic Surgery
Pierre J. Mendoza, MD
Long Branch, NJ, March 25, 2025 – March is National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, an observance dedicated to help spread awareness of this 10th most common cancer in both men and women in the United States.
The diagnosis of kidney cancer is on the rise, with experts attributing this to the fact that imaging techniques such as CT scans are being used more often, leading to the incidental discovery of a cancer that usually doesn’t produce symptoms in its earlier stages. For Oceanport resident Thomas Noji, Ph.D., a 2023 visit to Monmouth Medical Center urologist Pierre Mendoza, M.D., for a second opinion on treatment for his benign enlarged prostate led to the discovery of a large right kidney tumor that was later determined to be cancerous.
“I wasn’t happy with the urologist that I was seeing and was recommended to get a second opinion from Dr. Mendoza,” Dr. Noji said. “I was really impressed with him – his examination was so much more thorough, and it was through the follow-up imaging he ordered that the mass was discovered.”
To learn more about oncology services at Monmouth Medical Center, call 844-CANCERNJ or 844-226-2376.
About Monmouth Medical Center
Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, along with The Unterberg Children’s Hospital, is a regional teaching campus for Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. As the first hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties, Monmouth Medical Center offers the most experienced surgeons in robotics and other minimally invasive procedures as well as bariatric and joint and spine surgery. Delivering more babies annually than all other hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean counties combined, Monmouth Medical Center was recently one of nine New Jersey hospitals recognized by Newsweek magazine as a top maternity hospital. The hospital offers access to the region’s top cardiologists and the award-winning, nationally recognized RWJBarnabas Health heart centers. It was the first hospital in New Jersey and the 11th in the country to earn Magnet Recognition with Distinction® from the American Nurses Credentialing as a reflection of its nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care. It is the only hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties to consistently receive an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit organization. RWJBarnabas Health and Monmouth Medical Center, in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute — the state’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center — brings a world class team of researchers and specialists to fight alongside patients, providing close-to-home access to the latest treatment and clinical trials.