A Patient Advocate Highlights Kidney Cancer Awareness and Specialized Care

March is Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, according to the American Association for Cancer Research, and the month serves as way to recognize and raise awareness for the disease which has approximately 81,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

To discuss the topic of kidney cancer, patient advocacy and the topic of early screening, Sid Sadler, a patient advocate and survivor of kidney cancer, sat down for an interview with CURE. In the interview, Sadler highlighted some of the biggest challenges for patients with kidney cancer, one of which being access to specialized care. This is important because general oncologists may not be as up to date on kidney cancer treatments and clinical trials compared with genitourinary oncologists, highlighting the need for advocacy and education, according to Sadler.

Additionally, you can catch Sadler’s insights on her experience with kidney cancer, as well as facts and tips, in his recent Instagram Takeover with CURE!

Transcript:

When you look at challenges, besides just the challenges of a cancer diagnosis — I think if somebody's listening to this or reading this, they probably already know what the challenges of a cancer diagnosis entail, whether you're a caregiver or patient or know somebody [who has] a loved one that has a cancer diagnosis. However, for kidney cancer, specifically, it's still on the rare side of things. Eighty thousand plus folks will be diagnosed with kidney cancer this year. That sounds like a lot of people, and it is. But in comparison with other cancers, it's still on the rare side.

You can sometimes face challenges when you're diagnosed, if you were maybe to see a doctor or an oncologist, that maybe is a general medical oncologist, as opposed to a genitourinary oncologist or somebody who specializes in kidney or genitourinary cancers. They are obviously going to be more up to date on standard of care, and they will also know about clinical trials that are happening at their institution or other institutions. I think that's probably one of the biggest challenges now. That's where advocates try to come in and try to educate folks.

I should also say that it does not mean that those general medical oncologists aren't good doctors or don't know about kidney cancer. [You] can very well be treated by a general oncologist, especially if you don't have metastatic disease or if you don't have an aggressive form of kidney cancer. But I think that's one of the challenges. Obviously, there are challenges as well [like] being a young adult with kidney cancer.

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