Abstract LB-61: Trends in Kidney Cancer.

Abstract Kidney cancer_one of only four cancer types that have experienced greater than a 2 percent increase in incidence per year_has not had a significant decline in the mortality rate. According to the National Cancer Institute, kidney cancer incidence has been steadily increasing for the last 65 years. Meanwhile, although Federal funding for the disease has increased, it still lags behind the major cancers, especially when analysed with respect to research dollars per mortality. A group of kidney cancer survivors and caregivers formed the organization Action to Cure Kidney Cancer (ACKC) out of concerns about the inadequate government and private funding for kidney cancer research. ACKC's primary mission is to advocate specifically for kidney cancer research, and through our advocacy efforts, ACKC has reached out to thousands of kidney cancer survivors throughout the country. With their support, ACKC has met with members of Congress and local political leaders, has mounted letter writing campaigns, conducted briefings on kidney cancer for both the U.S. Senate and House health aides, and initiated a request by the House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHSE) sub-committee asking the National Cancer Institute to develop a strategic plan to combat kidney cancer. A another major focus of ACKC's efforts is to convince the U.S. Congress to appropriate kidney cancer research money for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense. In addition to the organization's efforts at the federal level, ACKC raises funds in order to grant awards to researchers developing innovative studies in the field of kidney cancer. ACKC has enabled grants supporting the work to develop an early screening test for kidney cancer based on methylated genes, to investigate the effects of the activation of a human endogenous retrovirus in the pathogenesis of kidney cancer, and to develop a therapy using a cytotoxic agent that destroys cancer cells based on the principle of synthetic lethality, to name a few. ACKC communicates with its constituency via its website www.ackc.org, Facebook (actiontocurekidneycancer), listservs like ACOR (Association of On-line Cancer Resources), and personal emails. Mr. Bitkower's poster will describe his organization's efforts and accomplishments in increasing research funding for this deadly disease. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-61. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-LB-61