Research

Cures don’t happen overnight. Research is slow. Step by step, each new discovery builds on all the discoveries that were made before. These might range from identifying a single, potentially cancer-causing genetic mutation to proving a new drug can target and kill cancer cells. Those really exciting research breakthroughs, the kinds that get written about in the news - like…

The end of May each year signals the beginning of summer and the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. The Kidney Cancer Association’s Clinical Advisory Board (CAB) members conducted reviews of the kidney cancer discussions at this year's meeting for the entire kidney cancer clinical team. Read on to learn more! Results Reporting final efficacy and safety data in the intent-to-treat…

Dr. Eric Kauffman received a Kidney Cancer Association Research Award in 2021 for a project called “Biology of spontaneously regressing renal cell carcinoma primary tumors” that looked at how and why some kidney tumors shrink on their own, without treatment. Here, KCA’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Salvatore La Rosa, shares some recent updates and learnings from Dr. Kauffman’s research. A…

Two investigators recently received funding from the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) for research on improved immunotherapy approaches to treating kidney cancer. CRI awarded these investigators in addition to a joint Kidney Cancer Association-CRI award earmarked to fund a kidney cancer project. https://www.kidneycancer.org/qa-david-braun/ Dr. David Braun, a medical oncologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, was…

Sidi Chen, PhD, was named the 2025 Kidney Cancer Association-Cancer Research Institute Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) Investigator to research "Initial development of a CAR-T-drug conjugate against solid tumor and application in kidney cancer." Dr. Chen, Associate Professor of Genetics and of Neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine, plans to pair chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy, which has…

We rounded up a few research highlights from the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, held recently in Chicago, IL. Long-Term Trial Results Ipi/Nivo combo remains superior to sunitinib after a decade of data Dr. Robert Motzer presents final results on ipi/nivo. After an average 9 years of follow-up – the longest reported follow-up data from an immunotherapy combination treatment…

Carrots help you see in the dark. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. Many old health myths were technically rooted in a fact but got changed, generalized, or taken so far out of context that the original information is no longer clear. Today's health myths often follow the same pattern, especially on the…

A significant amount of new, practice-changing information about kidney cancer has been published and presented over the last 18 months. It can be challenging for nurses, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other clinicians to keep up with every update. No worries: a few members of the Kidney Cancer Association’s Clinical Advisory Board (CAB) conducted reviews for you and provided…

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) was created by Congress in 1992 to fund high-impact medical research—especially in areas overlooked by traditional sources—through the Department of Defense. CDMRP began with breast cancer research and has since expanded to support many conditions affecting both Service Members and civilians. https://www.kidneycancer.org/protect-federal-kidney-cancer-research-funding/ The CDMRP’s unique strength lies in backing high-risk, high-reward science: early-stage, innovative ideas that…

Welcome back to our blog series about kidney cancer clinical trials where we break down recent research into key updates for patients and others interested in advances in the field from the major cancer conferences including the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual meeting, the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual meeting, the 2025 ASCO genitourinary…