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Marissa Willis and her husband in Negril, Jamaica. Marissa Willis is a member of the Kidney Cancer Association’s Patient & Caregiver Advisory Council. What motivated you to get involved with the KCA? For someone like me getting involved in the Kidney Cancer Association seemed like a perfect thing to do. Bringing awareness to the disease is so very important to…

Last week, the Kidney Cancer Association hosted the 2021 European International Kidney Cancer Symposium virtually to gather top researchers and discuss trends, changes, and new developments in the field. Dr. David McDermott Of note, “cure” was a central part of the keynote address by Dr. David McDermott of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. McDermott posed this question to…

Benjamin Lundin is a member of the Kidney Cancer Association's Patient & Caregiver Advisory Council. What motivated you to get involved with the KCA? Ever since high school, I’ve been a pretty active runner. I’ve run dozens of races over the years including a few half marathons and a full marathon in 2017. Once COVID-19 swept across the world and…

Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council members Bruce Hill and Salima Witt were featured last month on the Urology Care Foundation's Care Blog. Bruce, a stage IV kidney cancer survivor and advocate, shared his tips for others who are recently diagnosed. Stage 4 Kidney Cancer Survivor Shares Tips on Gaining Control After a Devastating Diagnosis Salima, who was diagnosed with stage…

Dr. Brian Rini, chief of Clinical Trials at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and Vice-Chair of the KCA's Medical Steering Committee explained the benefits and nuances of clinical trial participation in a Q & A at Momentum, VICC's digital magazine. Read an excerpt of the conversation below and find the full piece here. Q Why should a cancer patient participate in a…

The Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) is pleased to announce LaRanda Burke joined the organization on March 1, 2021 as Director of Finance. LaRanda Burke “With LaRanda on board, the KCA has the full leadership team we were always meant to have,” said Gretchen E. Vaughan, the KCA’s CEO and President. “LaRanda’s financial expertise will help guide the KCA as we…

Hunter Neubarth and his wife Over the past six months, I have been an intern with the KCA, and over that time, I have learned numerous lessons and built long-term relationships. As a student of the George Washington University - Milken School of Public Health - I have been gifted the opportunity to work with the KCA. This journey has…

The KCA is excited to introduce five new members of the Patient & Caregiver Advisory Council! These individuals bring a variety of backgrounds and many years of experience to this council, which serves as the voice of the patient and provides the vital link between the patient community and the KCA. Stay tuned for more about these new members soon,…

Dr. Walter Stadler, an oncologist at the University of Chicago and a member emeritus of the Kidney Cancer Association's Medical Steering Committee, spoke to Targeted Oncology about updates and changes in how kidney cancer is treated. Read an excerpt: TARGETED ONCOLOGY: How has the setting of kidney cancer changed over the last few years? STADLER: Well, I think that if I zoom…

Bruce Hill, a kidney cancer patient, patient advocate, and member of the KCA's Patient and Caregiver Advisory Council, was featured in the spring issue of Cancer Today, the American Association for Cancer Research's quarterly magazine. Bruce described his long road to an accurate stage IV clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) diagnosis and subsequent treatment with immunotherapy: The first clue ​that…