Newswise — FORT WASHINGTON, PA —Kidney Cancer is among the 10 most diagnosed cancers in both men and women in the United States, and it is estimated that more than 60,000 new cases of kidney cancer will be diagnosed in 2015.[1]

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients® and NCCN Quick Guide™ for Kidney Cancer, the newest addition to the library of NCCN patient education resources. Made available through support of the NCCN Foundation® and, in part, through general sponsorship from the Kidney Cancer Association, the NCCN Guidelines for Patients and the NCCN Quick Guide™ for Kidney Cancer are available to download free of charge on NCCN.org/patients; for information about print copies, visit NCCN.org/patients.

“It is our hope that NCCN’s new patient education resources for kidney cancer will help ease the burden following diagnosis by offering patients and their caregivers an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to cancer treatment,” said Marcie R. Reeder, MPH, Executive Director, NCCN Foundation. “The NCCN Foundation is grateful to Kidney Cancer Association for their generous support of these resources.”

The NCCN Guidelines for Patients, translations of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), are designed to provide people with cancer and their caregivers state-of-the-art treatment information in easy-to-understand language. The NCCN Guidelines® are developed by multidisciplinary panels of experts from NCCN Member Institutions and feature algorithms that address appropriate management options from initial work-up through the course of the disease.

NCCN Guidelines for Patients and the NCCN Quick Guide™ series, abbreviated references outlining key points of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients, are written according to plain language principles to improve health literacy, and the design and format feature patient-friendly elements, such as medical illustrations alongside descriptions of body parts, tests, and treatments. NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Kidney Cancer also features an expansive glossary of terms and acronyms. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients and the NCCN Quick Guide™ series do not replace the expertise and clinical judgment of the physician.

NCCN currently offers NCCN Guidelines for Patients for the following: Breast, Colon, Esophageal, Kidney, Non-Small Cell Lung, Ovarian, Pancreatic, and Prostate Cancers; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA); Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Lung Cancer Screening; Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma; Melanoma; Multiple Myeloma; and Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Through philanthropy, the NCCN Foundation empowers people through knowledge and advances the mission of NCCN to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care, so that patients can live better lives.

To download or order the NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Kidney Cancer, visit NCCN.org/patients.

[1] "Cancer Facts & Figures 2015." American Cancer Society. Web. 25 June 2015.

###

About the National Comprehensive Cancer NetworkThe National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 26 of the world’s leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients.

About Kidney Cancer Association (KCA)KCA is a charitable organization made up of patients, family members, physicians, researchers, and other health professionals globally. It is the world’s first international charity dedicated specifically to the eradication of death and suffering from renal cancers. It is also by far the largest organization of its kind, with members in more than 100 countries. It funds, promotes, and collaborates with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Urological Association (AUA), and other institutions on research projects. It educates families and physicians, and serve as an advocate on behalf of patients at the state and federal levels in the United States and globally.

KCA was founded in 1990 by a small group of patients, including Eugene P. Schonfeld, Ph.D., and medical doctors in Chicago, Illinois. It is a nonprofit charity incorporated in the State of Illinois. It has also been designated as a tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service code.