Research

Dr. Niki Zacharias Millward, PhD,  received a 2023 KCA Chromophobe RCC Focus Award for research on “Leveraging patient-derived xenograft models to identify and therapeutically target metabolic hallmarks of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.” Dr. Millward is an assistant professor in the Department of Urology - Research, Division of Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. We spoke with Dr.…

Dr. Shinji Ohtake received a 2023 Unclassified/Papillary RCC Focus Award for research on the "Development of Models of NF2 loss in papillary and unclassified variant of kidney cancer." This award was supported by a gift from Brandon Butera and Maggie Valdes. Dr. Ohtake is a project scientist at the UCLA School of Meidicine. We spoke with Dr. Ohtake about his…

Dr. Prateek Khanna received a 2023 KCA Translocation RCC Focus Award for research on "Therapeutic targeting of cell surface antigens in translocation renal cell carcinoma." This award was given in partnership with Joey's Wings Foundation, a KCA Affiliate Partner. Dr. Khanna is a Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. We spoke with Dr. Khanna about his…

Dr. Rana McKay received a 2023 KCA Trailblazer Award for research on “Dissecting predictors of response to immunotherapy in patients with renal cell carcinoma.” Dr. McKay is a medical oncologist at UC San Diego Health and Associate Professor of Medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. We spoke with Dr. McKay about her research and the impact it…

Dr. Maria Carlo received a 2023 KCA Trailblazer Award for research on the “Role of germline and somatic variants in NRF2 pathway genes in renal cell carcinoma.” Dr. Carlo is a genitourinary oncologist and clinical geneticist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. We spoke with Dr. Carlo about her research and the impact it can have on…

This is a guest post by Katie Coleman, a patient, advocate, and the founder of the Chromophobe and Oncocytic Tumor Alliance, a KCA Affiliate Partner. "ChRCC research, therefore, appears to be at an inflection point, with the potential for the first specific therapeutic strategies on the near horizon." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQJQVCUNW5c This exciting excerpt from a recently published paper on chromophobe renal…

What makes some cancers metastasize and spread or become resistant to treatment? Researchers at MD Anderson developed a model to predict when renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of kidney cancer, might become metastatic and stop responding to treatment based on the loss of a specific cluster of genes in the cancer cell chromosomes. The study was published…

By D’Ann George, PhD, Medical Writer This year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June featured the first-ever symposium devoted to microbiome research in cancer. The “Role of the Microbiome in Immune CheckPoint Inhibitor Response and Resistance” session featured two speakers of particular interest to people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).  Dr. Hedyeh Ebrahimi Mixed Phase 2 Results…

Below are some highlights from research presented at the 2023 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which took place in Chicago, Illinois from June 2-6. Cabozantinib plus nivolumab is a promising treatment for advanced papillary kidney cancer Dr. Chung-Han Lee, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and member of the KCA’s Medical…

Dr. Tian Zhang Clinical trials are a treatment option for people with cancer and are both a powerful tool to understand disease and develop new treatments. While participating in a clinical trial does carry legitimate risks, people can also have misconceptions about the purpose and process of participation. Dr. Tian Zhang, a medical oncologist and kidney cancer expert at UT…