Nick Pannoni, 62, renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), Forestdale, with Dr. Toni
Choueiri, Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber
? Six years ago, Nick, a father of four, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but it was
caught early enough where doctors only needed to remove his prostate for him to be
declared cancer-free.
? Unfortunately, three years later, cancer had returned, but this time it was a
completely different type of cancer: kidney cancer. Specifically known as renal cell
carcinoma, Nick’s left kidney was removed as it had been encased in the cancer.
? Once Nick recovered, his oncologist Dr. Steven Chang mentioned that he may want
to see Dr. Toni Choueiri, the lead author of the KEYTRUDA study.
? Nick entered the clinical trial as a double-blind participant, meaning he would not
know if he received the medication or a placebo. Though there isn’t a way to know

for sure, Nick believes he received the drug as he experienced several of the
common side effects.
? Once high-risk, there is now no evidence of disease. Nick continues to move forward
and live his everyday life. He gets blood work and scans every four months, but only
to make sure that cancer has not come back.

Kidney cancer facts
? Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the kidney. Cancer starts when cells in
the body begin to grow out of control.
? About 79,000 new cases of kidney cancer (50,290 in men and 28,710 in women) will
be diagnosed in 2022.
? Kidney cancer is about twice as common in men than in women.
? Most people with kidney cancer are older. The average age of people when they are
diagnosed is 64 with most people being diagnosed between ages 65 and 74. Kidney
cancer is very uncommon in people younger than age 45.

Dr. Toni Choueiri
? Dr. Toni Choueiri is the Director of our Genitourinary (GU) Oncology Disease Center
and the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology.
? Dr. Choueiri can speak about the challenges of treating kidney cancers and the
importance of clinical trials.
? He is the lead investigator of multiple national and international phase one, two and
three trials in GU cancers.
? Dr. Choueiri is interested in developing novel therapies (including immunotherapies)
and biomarkers in GU malignancies, including kidney cancer. His research also
focuses on epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment outcomes of GU cancers using
large scale approaches such as meta-analyses from available published trials or
national databases.