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Jennifer Christensen, LCSW, OSW-C is a clinical social worker in the Patient and Family Support Program at Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Cancer Center in Los Angeles, California. KCA Ambassador Annamarya Scaccia, who was diagnosed with chromophobe renal cell carcinoma in 2020, spoke with Christensen about navigating caregiving—from what it means to support someone with cancer to the importance of practicing self-care.…

The Kidney Cancer Association presented the inaugural “Kidney Cancer Association Nicholas J. Vogelzang Humanitarian Award” to the KCA’s late co-founder and long-serving board member, Dr. Nicholas J. Vogelzang. Vogelzang, a world-renowned genitourinary oncologist specializing in rare cancer types, died on September 20, 2022 at age 72 following an illness that led him to retire from medical practice and seek hospice…

Dr. Yufei Wang received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for her research on "Design of CAIX Targeted Fine-Tuned Immune Restoring Safe (FIS) CAR-T Cell Therapy for Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC)". Dr. Wang is a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We spoke with Dr. Wang about her work and the impact it can have on people…

Dr. Sheldon Holder received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for his research on the "Exploration of the causes and effects of increased PIM1 kinase activity in renal cell carcinoma". Dr. Holder is a physician-scientist at The Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University. We spoke with Dr. Holder about his work and the impact it can have on people with kidney…

Dr. Erin Tagai received a 2022 KCA Psychosocial Focus Award for her research on "Improving patient-reported outcomes for renal cancer patients on active surveillance." Dr. Tagai is an Assistant Research Professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a health services researcher focused on the development and implementation of clinic-based strategies to improve patient-reported outcomes across the cancer…

Dr. David Braun received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for his research on “Dissecting the immunobiology of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma using single-cell transcriptomics." Dr. Braun is a medical oncologist and an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Urology, and the Goodman and Gilman Yale Scholar at the Yale School of Medicine. We spoke with Dr. Braun about his work…

Dr. Srinivas Viswanathan received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for his research on "Advancing a Cell Surface Therapeutic Target in Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma. Dr. Viswanathan is a medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We spoke with Dr. Viswanathan about his work and the impact it can have on people with kidney cancer. Can you summarize your research study?…

Dr. Pooja Ghatalia received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for her research on "Comparison of immune microenvironment between patients of African and European ancestry with renal cell carcinoma." Dr. Ghatalia is a medical oncologist and researcher at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She previously received a KCA research grant in 2017. We spoke with Dr. Ghatalia about her…

Dr. Nazli Dizman received a 2022 KCA Trailblazer Award for her research on the "Impact of CBM588 on metabolomic profile in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC)". Dr. Dizman is an internal medicine resident at the Yale University School of Medicine. We spoke with her about her work and the impact it can have on people with kidney cancer. What…

By D’Ann George, PhD, Medical Writer https://www.kidneycancer.org/explore-your-treatment-options/ Three separate phase III clinical trials showed that people with kidney cancer who had undergone nephrectomy (kidney removal) but whose cancer had not yet metastasized, or spread, did not benefit from adjuvant immunotherapy.  The trials were testing the theory that adjuvant immunotherapy, which is given after surgery to prevent cancer from returning, might…