Featured News

William Kaelin, from Dana Farber Institute in Boston, and two other scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine today for their work on the body’s awareness and response to the level of oxygen available to its cells, especially low levels of oxygen, hypoxia, and its effect of the pathogenesis of kidney cancer, as well as other diseases. This led him to study the transcription factor HIF-2 and to work with others on a HIF-2… More →

AUA to Host Informational Webinar on DoD Kidney Cancer Research Program Funding! In FY2017, when ACKC was successful in having Congress approve the Kidney Cancer Research Program for the first time, we asked the American Urological Association (AUA) to run a webinar for new applicants to the program to introduce them to the awards that were available and the application requirements. They did so and are continuing this service for the current FY2019 program. Following… More →

The Washington Post reported last Wednesday, August 7th, that Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), announced that Medicare will cover CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia, where it has shown remarkable complete responses of up to 80% in trials for these diseases. The therapy can cost up to $475,000 for  a one-time treatment, not including hospital stay costs. It is not… More →

As reported in Kaiser Health News, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced bipartisan legislation yesterday to raise the minimum age for buying any tobacco products from 18 to 21. Fourteen states and 470 municipalities have enacted laws raising the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21. Smoking is the leading risk factor for contracting kidney cancer. The law would apply to all tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vapor products and was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim… More →

The FDA approved the combination of avelumab (Bavencio), an anti-PD-1 antibody, and axitinib (Inlyta) for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma last week. The approval is based on results from the 886-patient, Phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 trial for which avelumab/axitinib demonstrated a 31% reduction in disease progression or death as compared with sunitinib (Sutent) in treatment-naïve, clear cell patients with metastatic disease. Specifically, patients on the avelumab/axitinib arm had a… More →

In the continuing battle over high drug prices, Canada, which has the third highest drug prices in the world (but not exceeding the U.S.), is set to curtail prices through a little known agency, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB). According to Reuters, the PMPRB would cap the cost of patented drugs in accordance with the cost of these drugs in other countries, excluding the U.S., as well as the cost effectiveness of these… More →

Merlinda Chelette passed away on April 17th after a seven-year battle with metastatic kidney cancer. She was born in New Orleans in 1963 but had moved with her husband Rev. Ricky Chelette outside of Dallas where Ricky is the Executive Director of Living Hope Ministries. Merlinda was an exceptional woman. She worked over 25 years as a nurse, first in Louisiana as an ICU nurse and an organ procurement coordinator, then in Texas as an… More →

On April 19, the Food and Drug Administration approved the combination therapy of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an immunotherapy, and axitinib (Inlyta), a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for first-line treatment (those patients who have received no prior treatment for metastatic RCC). Approval was based on a trial of pembrolizumab and axitinib (pembro/axi) versus sunitinib (Sutent), which has been the standard first-line treatment for metastatic kidney cancer patients. Approval by the FDA was based on the results of the… More →

The NYT noted an article in JAMA Internal Medicine about an Israeli study of 2.6 million 16 to 19 year-old candidates for military service from 1967-2013. Nearly 8,000 suffered from hypertension, half of whom were overweight or obese. After a 20-year follow-up, 2,189 developed renal disease requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant. The JAMA study stated that hypertension in adolescence doubled the risk for end-stage renal disease. The conclusion: treat teenagers with hypertension when they’re… More →

Action to Cure Kidney Cancer was proud to present our fourth in a series of afternoons of extraordinarily beautiful piano music to benefit ACKC. Our programs feature James Carrabino and Anthony Ratinov, Yale University School of Music, performing selections from Bach, Bartók, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, and more. Suggested donation: $40 per person, Friend $100, Patron $500, and Sponsor $1,000. If you aren’t able to attend our fundraisers, you can support ACKC and… More →

CAR-T cell (chimeric antigen receptor) therapy has proven to be very successful in hematological cancers such as leukemia. CAR-T therapy consists of drawing the patient’s own T-cells, implanting them with an artificial receptor that recognizes an antigen on the surface of the tumor, multiplying the T-cells in the lab, and re-introducing them into the patient. The T-cells then seek out the tumor using the artificial receptor to bind to and destroy the tumor cell. However,… More →

President Trump signed the 2019 Defense Appropriations bill on September 28th. This bill contains $20 million for the Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP), a $5 million increase over last year’s bill. This is the culmination of advocacy that ACKC initiated 14 years ago to fund the programs necessary to seek a cure for this disease. Our work was supported by kidney cancer patients and caregivers throughout the country who joined our annual campaigns. We thank… More →

ACKC pays tribute to Robert Todd, who died unexpectedly at age 54 on August 17, 2018. Rob was the Associate Director of Visual & Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston where he taught for 18 years. But first and foremost, he was a prolific and award-winning filmmaker, having created over 200 films, many of them shown at film festivals throughout the world. He took time to serve as ACKC’s videographer, traveling to Washington, DC… More →

ACKC thanks the Senate for passing the Defense Appropriations Bill on September 18th. It contains $20 million for the Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP). The next step is for the House to vote on the bill. Once the House passes it, which we expect them to do, and the President signs the bill, which he will, KCRP will be funded with $20 million for fiscal year 2019, an increase of $5 million over this year’s… More →

Action to Cure Kidney Cancer recently awarded a $30,000 grant to the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) to support the work of a young scientist, Sarah Huen, for a year in kidney cancer research, specifically in cachexia. Our intention is to interest young researchers in initiating work in kidney cancer and hopefully continuing their future work in RCC. We chose UTSW since it is the home to one of the two kidney cancer SPORES (Specialized… More →

This Thursday, September 20th is the deadline for applying for a Department of Defense grant from the $15 million Kidney Cancer Research Program. There are four award mechanisms: Idea Development maximum 2 years and $400,000 Technology Development maximum 3 years and $300,000 Translational Research Partnership maximum 3 years and $600,000 Physician Research maximum 2 years and $200,000 Go to http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/kcrp to apply. Your Letter of Intent is due on the 20th and the full application is due on… More →

The United States Army Medical Command has released the FY18 Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) Program Announcements for its second year of existence. KCRP is the $15 million program that Action to Cure Kidney Cancer lobbied successfully for last year, and which has just announced the awardees for its first year. If you want to see who won the awards, click on the link below. We encourage kidney cancer researchers to apply for the program… More →

In 2017, Congress appropriated $10 million to establish the Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP), managed by the Department of Defense. A 12-member panel composed of 10 researchers and two patient advocates made its final recommendations for funding on April 9th. Jay Bitkower, the President of ACKC, served on this panel in recognition of the fact that ACKC was the advocacy organization that lobbied for the $10 million funding. After a lengthy review process, the money… More →

President Trump signed the Fiscal Year 2018 $1.3 trillion Omnibus Appropriation Bill, which contains 2nd year funding for the Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) in the amount of $15 million, a $5 million increase over last year’s spending bill. KCRP is part of the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs and was originally the result of intensive advocacy efforts by Action to Cure Kidney Cancer. This increase is great news for kidney cancer… More →

Fred Atkin, a charter member and Vice President of ACKC since 2002, passed away unexpectedly on October 30th. He was 79 years old. He is survived by his wife, Joyce, sons, Todd and Billy, sister, Joyce, and grandson, Alex. As a leader in ACKC’s effort to obtain DoD funding for kidney cancer research, Fred traveled to Washington, D.C. each year to meet with Congressional legislators and staff and organized our yearly Lobbying Days each spring…. More →