Press Release Source: 3rd Canadian Kidney Cancer Forum on Wednesday January 19, 2011, 11:03 am EST

KING CITY, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – 01/19/11) – Kingbridge Conference Center, Jan 20-22, 2011: a future where kidney cancer treatment is individualized defines the legacy of the 3rd Canadian Kidney Cancer Forum. The conference is organized by the national steering committee of Kidney Research Network of Canada (KCRNC) and led by Princess Margaret Hospital’s Dr. Michael Jewett. It aims at bridging the gap and combining health-care and survivor worlds to provide personalized treatment for kidney cancer patients in Canada. The symposium will host over 60 Canadian professionals including clinicians, researchers, care givers and survivors. a small international presence will provide an enriching element and a chance to learn about initiatives elsewhere. The main objective is providing a roadmap to better patient care at all levels and goals are as follows:

 – Updating KCRNC 2009 consensus on management of localized and metastatic kidney cancer in Canada to increase patient survival while providing better quality of life.– Progress on the successfully launched Canadian Kidney Cancer Information system (CKCis) which allows tracking of individual patients, as well as exchange and study of information in real-time among institutions.– Validation of newly identified quality indicators for kidney cancer care in Canada. this will greatly benefit from CKCis which will allow the measure of changes in these indicators with time to continue offering the best treatments to patients.– Determining response to therapy through genomic research, toxicity and imaging studies to provide personalized patient care.– Establishing the value of blood and tissue banking with emphasis on a successful blood banking initiative at the University Health Network all aiming towards a future where personalized medicine prevails.– Promoting advocacy to provide equal drug access for all kidney cancer patients in Canada.

Kidney cancer is the most lethal genitourinary cancer with over 33% mortality rate in Canada. Symptoms usually develop at advanced stages of the disease, when it is difficult to cure. Overall there is an urgency to improve the treatment options available for kidney cancer patients to provide a better quality of life and a great need to identify new therapeutic targets that could provide cure.