March is Kidney Cancer Awareness Month

Guest post by Dena Battle, President for KCCureFor some cancers, “awareness” campaigns can save lives. Signs and symptoms or early diagnostic tests can mean catching a cancer earlier – in a more treatable form. But in kidney cancer, signs and symptoms usually don’t occur until a cancer is more advanced and, unfortunately, we still don’t have early screening technology for kidney cancer.What is kidney cancer?

• Kidney cancer is a cancer that starts in the kidneys. The cancer starts when cells in the body begin to grow out of control. The most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, also called RCC.
• RCC is primarily diagnosed in elderly patients with a median age of diagnosis of 64. Kidney cancer is twice as common among men as it is in women and is more common among African Americans.
• Unlike the majority of cancers, RCC incidence is rising. In the United States, the incidence of RCC has increased since the 1970s by an average of 3 percent per year for Caucasians and 4 percent for African Americans.
• RCC is the deadliest urologic malignancy with 30 to 40 percent of patients dying of their cancer.

 These grim statistics and the desperate need for research is precisely why I co-founded the Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure) after losing my husband, Chris, to kidney cancer. During his treatment, it was hard to find information and track down specialists. After his death, I wanted to stay involved in the community to ensure that one day, no one will face the same issues we did. That’s why at KCCure we are focused on connecting patients, caregivers, doctors, and medical researchers who are passionate about kidney cancer research and solving these challenges.In addition to patient outreach, KCCure is dedicated to increasing direct funding for cutting edge research. We raise money to sponsor peer reviewed research grants in kidney cancer. Specifically, we look for projects that explore innovative and unconventional ideas. All grant proposals are peer reviewed by our scientific advisory board, which includes the top specialists in kidney cancer.We’re also focused on increasing the patient voice when it comes to research. Too often, patients are left out of the process when it comes to treatment paradigms. At KCCure, patients are the driving force behind all that we do, which is why our Scientific Advisory Board is matched with a National Patient Advisory Board.To tell the world about this disease, we’ll be profiling stories from patients, caregivers and the doctors who dedicate their lives to combating this disease throughout the month of March. Follow our efforts and learn something new about kidney cancer each day via Facebook and Twitter or learn more at www.kccure.org.Dena Battle is the President for KCCure, a grassroots organization of patients, caregivers, doctors and medical researchers dedicated to eliminating suffering and death due to kidney cancer through increased funding to accelerate research that will lead to a cure for all patients and prevent future kidney cancer diagnoses.