WASHINGTON – Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure) President Dena Battle has been elected to represent patients on the National Cancer Institute’s Genitourinary Steering Committee(GUSC). The primary focus of the committee is to address design prioritization and evaluation of concepts for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in GU cancers. Her term is effective May 25, 2018 and will last through May 2021.
“I’m grateful to the committee for putting their faith in me. This is the first time that a kidney cancer advocate has been selected to represent all GU patients. I look forward to magnifying the voice of kidney cancer patients while also speaking out for the bladder and prostate cancer communities.”
The GUSC is one of seventeen steering committees formed in response to the recommendations of the Clinical Trials Working Group mandated by the National Cancer Advisory Board. These committees leverage current NCI-supported NCTN Groups, SPORE and Consortia and involve the broad oncology community to address the design and prioritization of phase 2 and phase 3 trials.
Battle previously was elected to serve on the Renal Task Force, a subgroup of the GUSC. Her election to the steering committee will open a new opportunity for a renal cell advocate to join the Renal Task Force.
KCCure is a grassroots organization of patients, caregivers, and doctors committed to advancing research in the field of kidney cancer by increasing private funding for basic research, promoting collaboration among stakeholders, and magnifying the voice of patients and caregivers.
The organization was launched in 2015 by Dena Battle, who lost her husband to kidney cancer and Dr. Hans Hammers, the medical oncologist who treated him. In less than two years, they have raised over a quarter of a million dollars and have funded $100,000 directly to research.
###
