Program Director: Brian Shuch, MD
Medical Director: Sandy Liu, MD
Being diagnosed with kidney cancer is often the beginning of a stressful and confusing time in a person's life. Obtaining information about the disease and treatment options can often help reduce this stress and aid in the personal decision-making process.
The UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology (the "IUO") and its multidisciplinary team of world-renown physicians and scientists are working together as a team to personalize patient care and to develop revolutionary treatments for those diagnosed with kidney cancer.
Learn more about our history and accomplishments >
According to the American Cancer Society, this year approximately 62,700 people in the United States will be diagnosed with kidney cancer and about 14,240 people will die from this disease. Kidney cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in both men and women, and the risk for developing kidney cancer is higher in men than in women.
As the world’s first, UCLA’s multidisciplinary Kidney Cancer Program has evaluated and treated more than 4,000 patients over 20 years, and offers the latest treatments and compassionate, individualized care. Patients of the UCLA IUO Kidney Cancer Program have the benefit of our long-held team approach to the treatment and management of kidney cancer that includes world-class urologic oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists and our clinical trial's team of physicians and nurses.
Meet our expert team >
The UCLA IUO Kidney Cancer Program offers a variety of innovative treatment options to patients who have been diagnosed with all stages of kidney cancer. By trusting the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program with their care, patients are selecting our team rather than a particular provider. Besides offering minimally invasive and robotic-assisted kidney-sparing surgery like many academic centers, our unique collaborative program allows various members of the team to provide access to state-of-the-art imaging, expert genitourinary pathologists, novel methods of genomic characterization, and emerging medical therapies. UCLA has been a pioneer in the multidisciplinary approach to kidney cancer care. Our treatment portfolio consists of:
Treatment plans are individualized to each patient’s disease and current state of health. The UCLA IUO Kidney Cancer team has a weekly multi-disciplinary clinic and hold bi-weekly conferences with all team members that provides a forum with diverse, specialized perspectives for deciding upon the best option for each individual patient.
Learn more about how we diagnose and treat kidney cancer >
The UCLA Kidney Cancer Program launched in 1989 and has spent the past 30 years leading ground-breaking clinical trials and translational research. UCLA was an early innovator in treatments that bring the patient’s immune system to bear against cancer, stemming from laboratory research. The team has led the development of biomarkers for recurrence after surgery and pushed the envelope for the elective partial nephrectomy. Defining the role of genetic testing and the characterizing of the genomic mechanisms of sarcomatoid differentiation are recent programmatic highlights.
At the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology, clinical trials are no longer limited to metastatic cancers or patients who have failed other therapies. Our UCLA IUO doctors are able to provide access to new therapies at earlier stages of the disease. Using our research discoveries in the field of immunotherapy, work is currently under way on a targeted vaccine for kidney cancer that has been in development for the past decade.
Join a kidney cancer clinical trial >
For an appointment with a UCLA kidney cancer specialist, call (310) 794-7700.
