Mission Statement

The mission of the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program is to provide state-of-the-art medical, surgical, and mindful care to our patients with kidney cancer in a convenient and coordinated multidisciplinary setting, while working to advance and discover more effective treatments and an ultimate cure for kidney cancer.

History of the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program

The University of California, Los Angeles Kidney Cancer Program is a unique, comprehensive, multidisciplinary program developed by the UCLA Departments of Urology, Division of Urologic Oncology and the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology. The UCLA Kidney Cancer Program Team is committed to providing first-class patient treatment and care; along with unparalleled research, education, and training for kidney cancer.

The UCLA Kidney Cancer Program was established in 1989 by the joint efforts of Jean deKernion, MD, Professor of Urology and Chairman of the UCLA Department of Urology, Robert Figlin, MD, Professor of Medicine and Urology, and Arie Belldegrun, MD, FACS, Professor of Urology and Chief of the Division of Urologic Oncology, upon his arrival to UCLA from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In 2002, Allan Pantuck, MD, Associate Professor of Urology and Urologic Oncology, joined the faculty of the Department of Urology after completing a three-year post-doctoral fellowship in the Kidney Cancer Research Program under the auspices of the Society of Urologic Oncology. With Funding from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Pantuck’s research focus has been focused on evaluating genetic and molecular predictors of prognosis and survival in advanced kidney cancer. In Spring 2007, Dr. Pantuck was appointed as the Director of the GU Oncology Program at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (See: UCLA' s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center).

In 2006, in conjunction with Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, (Director of Clinical/Translational Research at the UCLA' s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Executive Vice Chair for Research for UCLA's Department of Medicine), the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program announced the appointment of Fairooz Kabbinavar, MD, as it's new Medical Director. Dr. Kabbinavar brings to the Program his extensive experience in medical oncology clinical research including kidney and prostate cancers. After completing his internship and residency at Harvard University’s Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Dr. Kabbinavar moved to UCLA as a fellow in medical oncology under Dr. Slamon. In 1994, he became a fulltime faculty member in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at UCLA. Over the last 15 years, Dr. Kabbinavar has devoted much of his work on targeted therapies for cancer with particular focus on anti-angiogenic drugs, both in the laboratory and the clinic. His work has been published in leading peer reviewed journals and his efforts were recognized with the FDA approval of Avastin ® for use in cancer patients.

In 2001, Nazy Zomorodian, RNC, MSN, CUNP, CCRC, joined the Department of Urology and was appointed Director of the Genitourinary Clinical Trials office at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Ms. Zomorodian has extensive experience in managing and conducting cancer research. Prior joining UCLA, Ms. Zomorodian’s positions included Director, Hematology Oncology Clinical Trials at DuPont Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware; where she conducted clinical trials in pediatric hematology/oncology for the Children Oncology Group (COG) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She was also Senior Study Coordinator/Data Manager for Allegheny University of Health Sciences, Clinical Research Center, Norristown, PA. Ms. Zomorodian works closely with Urologic and Medical Oncology Principal Investigators in basic research with laboratory and animal studies that result in “bench to bedside” translational research and therapies for kidney, prostate, and bladder cancer patients. As a faculty member in the Department of Urology at UCLA, Ms. Zomorodian regularly instructs physicians, fellows, residents, and nurses on all aspects of clinical trials for kidney, prostate and bladder cancers. As a faculty member, Ms. Zomorodian earned her Masters in Nursing (MSN) and Nursing Practitioner (NP) degrees from MCP/Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; where she graduated with honors. She was the recipient of the McFarlane’s Award after receiving a perfect score on the Urology Board Exam. In addition to her very demanding work schedule, Ms. Zomorodian is currently working on her PhD in Research Nursing at the UCLA School of Nursing.

Each year the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program evaluates hundreds of people with various forms and stages of kidney cancer. The Program consists of a team of internationally recognized medical and research experts in the management of kidney cancer who are dedicated to providing our patients with the highest quality of care and state-of-the-art surgical, medical treatment and personal care for this disease.

Since it’s inception in 1989, the philosophy of UCLA Kidney Cancer Program has been to build a unique program using a multidisciplinary approach, with all patients’ wellbeing managed by both a urologic oncologist and a medical oncologist. We have found that it is critical to integrate cancer treatments, especially when treating a disease where the coordinated efforts of both the medical and urologic oncologists work side-by-side in the care of our patients.

For over a decade, the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program Team has worked alongside scientists and clinical researchers at UCLA and UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) to provide the most current and state-of-the-art treatment options for our patients; and we have made tremendous advances in the treatment and understanding the biology and nature of kidney cancer. (See 18-yr Program Highlights )

In addition, the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program offers professional, highly experienced and dedicated nursing, patient education and administrative support who have been carefully trained and educated to meet the needs of our cancer patients and their families. All of the members of the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program Team are active in publishing scientific articles, invited to present lectures about kidney cancer at national and international conferences, and conduct monthly seminars on kidney cancer to physicians, pharmaceutical representatives and national nursing organizations.

Members of the UCLA Kidney Cancer Program Team have served on the Medical Advisory Boards of many kidney cancer organizations and support groups, including the American Urological Association (AUA) (In 2007 Arie Beldegrun, MD was appointed to the AUA’s Kidney Cancer Guidelines Committee), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) and the American College of Physicians (ACP).