Kidney Cancer UK were delighted to be invited to be interviewed by Dee Moore for her excellent, Diary of a Kidney Warrior podcast. In our episode, the 60th in the series you can listen to them all HERE, Dee talks to our Healthcare Professional Nurse and former renal CNS, Susan Sireshuk who explains what kidney cancer is, the signs and symptoms of to look for, treatments available and  much more. She also talks to Malcolm Packer, our Head of Charity Affairs and Communications, about the work the charity does. Some may recognise his name from a blog he wrote for Kidney Cancer Awareness Week ..read more

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Susan, I am a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), and I’m the newest member of Kidney Cancer UK’s Health Care Professional team. What made me want to become a Kidney Cancer UK Health Care Professional Nurse? Well, I have been a nurse for over 30 years, working as a Staff Nurse through to being a urology Ward Sister. I specialised in urology oncology, obtaining a Bachelor of Science Degree in Adult Cancer Care. I went on to work as a Urology Research Nurse at the Institute for Cancer Studies at Birmingham University where I worked on Phase 2 and ..read more

My name is Malcolm Packer, I am Head of Charity Affairs and Communications at Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer Scotland and have worked with the charity in various capacities for over 15 years. I hope you may be interested to read a short blog on how this Kidney Cancer Awareness Week comes to life each year, how it fits into the work we do and the many benefits it brings across the whole kidney cancer community. Kidney Cancer Awareness Week (KCAW) has run in the first full week of February for more than seven years now, but planning starts seven months earlier, way back in August of the ..read more

A blog by Arron Jepp Arron and fiancé Dawn I am Arron Jepp and I work for Hampshire & Isle of Weight Fire & Rescue Service. I love running, keep pretty fit, enjoy a great social life, and have a wonderful fiancé, Dawn. I also have kidney cancer. I am writing this brief blog to mark Kidney Cancer awareness Week 2022. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in October 2021, and sadly it has now metastasised. When I was diagnosed, I didn’t show any symptoms or feel unwell…… or so I thought. So, if I can help one person then this post will have been worth it Kidney cancer is the seventh most ..read more

Well, I’ve been on a ride, that’s for sure! It all started for me at Christmas 2020, when as a man of a particular age, 53, who loves cycling, I developed what I thought was prostatitis. So, I stayed off the bike for a while and after six weeks the bike, it was not much better. So, following a GP consultation over the phone, antibiotics were started. Needless to say, it was not much better four-weeks later, and a follow-up call resulted in a longer dose of the same antibiotics. Well, at the end of all this and repeat calls to the GP, I was referred to a urologist at Lister Hospital who promptl ..read more

By Karen Rough Firstly, let me tell you about us – We are Karen, I’m 56 and Philip, known as Pip, is 51. We met in the late 80’s, married early 90’s and will be celebrating 30 Years of marriage in 2022. We have a grown-up son Oliver, who lives with us, and truth told, life was good. Pip, Karen and son Oliver I worked as an English teacher I had started working part time in September 2019. As a family we were enjoying life to the full, in particular some fantastic holidays, which I took great delight in planning and organising. I am a bit of a control freak with things like that, I love ..read more

by Jennifer Vaughan THE START (it’s the best place to begin) April 2018 was the year I first heard the words possible kidney cancer uttered. How did I feel? Numb. It was beyond surreal; me, cancer? I never ever in my life expected to hear these words. When I was invited in for a consultation, I didn’t think I needed anyone to accompany me, I really was not expecting this news.’ So, it was just me, I was alone; just me, the consultant and nurse. I was full of confidence that I would be alright, I didn’t have any symptoms or any of those warning signs like blood in my urine, night sweats, pain ..read more

On 3rd February 2022, NICE approve the use of nivolumab with ipilimumab as a first line treatment for kidney cancer. This is how Kidney Cancer UK, with patient support, helped bring this combination therapy to a wider section of kidney cancer patients. December 2021 at N.I.C.E On the 8th December 2021 the National Institute for Care and Health Excellence (NICE) appraised the combination drug treatment nivolumab with ipilimumab as a first line treatment for intermediate and poor risk advanced renal cancer patients. The treatment was currently only available through the cancer dru ..read more

Kidney cancer screening that’s targeted at people at higher risk shows promise and would be acceptable to the public. Update June 16, 2021 This research briefing describes recent work at the University of Cambridge on kidney cancer screening, led by Dr Juliet Usher-Smith and Professor Grant Stewart. Kidney cancer is the 7th most common cancer in the UK and the incidence is projected to rise by 26% between 2014 and 2035, representing one of the fastest accelerating cancers within that timeframe. The disease is usually curable if identified early. A screening programme for kidney cancer m ..read more

On World Kidney Cancer Day, which this year focuses on wellbeing, we are pleased to present a blog from our Counsellor. The trauma and shock of a kidney cancer diagnosis is undeniable, then Covid-19 struck. Throughout the pandemic the psychosocial wellbeing of kidney cancer patients has been a main focus for us in counselling. Kidney Cancer UK and Scotland set up its counselling service to help patients and carers cope with the uncertainty, the loss of peace of mind about the future and life feeling out of control. The psychosocial aspect of the pandemic has affected the individual experience ..read more