Loyola Named a VHL Clinical Care Center for Patients with Hereditary Kidney Cancers
March 28, 2022
Categories: cancer, Loyola University Medical Center, Nephrology
MAYWOOD, IL – Living with a genetic disorder that calls for regular monitoring, appropriate treatment and emotional support requires a multidisciplinary team that works together to coordinate patient care. Those diagnosed with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease have a resource for that complete and coordinated care at Loyola University Medical Center, which was recently named a VHL Clinical Care Center by the VHL Alliance.
"The VHL Alliance is proud to recognize Loyola Medicine as a VHL Clinical Care Center. The team at Loyola is well positioned to provide coordinated expert care and support to the VHL community of Greater Chicagoland and beyond," says Chandra Clark, MEd, VHL Alliance Executive Director. "We are excited to continue to work with some of the best medical professionals in the world and look forward to a fruitful partnership."
A rare hereditary condition, VHL occurs as tumors that can appear in up to 10 areas in the body. While all people are born with two copies of the VHL gene, an altered copy can lead to the growth of cysts and tumors. The disease appears differently in each person — tumors can grow unpredictably over time and cause life-changing problems due to location and size. Though most tumors are noncancerous, patients with VHL have a high risk of developing kidney cancer as well as tumors of the adrenal gland and pancreas.
Because VHL can affect so many different organ systems, it takes numerous experts across multiple disease sites and disciplines to keep track of a patient’s care plan. Loyola Medicine takes this comprehensive and personalized approach. A patient navigator helps guide patients through the steps needed for attentive surveillance to monitor any new or changing tumors, ensuring that those patients are seen by the necessary specialists.
"Patients with VHL have complex medical needs, as the condition affects various organs," says Gopal Gupta, MD, FACS. "Loyola Medicine has a multidisciplinary team of fellowship-trained physicians who are experienced in treating this condition in order to provide the best possible care."
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).