“At the age of 27, I was diagnosed with a very rare subtype of kidney cancer. So rare that most of the oncologists I met did not even know about its existence and treatment options. Fortunately, I was really lucky, and immunotherapy helped me get into remission. After that, I started developing patient communities in kidney cancer and urothelial carcinoma. Why is this necessary?

A patient is an active participant in the treatment process, but, unfortunately, they do not always have enough information to make a decision. Although there is a lot of relevant information about the most prevalent tumor types, still for some, especially rare forms of cancer, it is difficult to find information, or it may have not be updated for years.

It is important that every patient should have a chance to live. It is important that the information is up-to-date, reliable, and accessible, both for specialists in oncology and for patients. Therefore, I think it is important to develop clinical studies, in particular local ones, which give many patients a second chance to live. And one of the important tasks that I see before me is the involvement of patient communities to conquer cancer.

I am sure that the joint work of the medical and patient communities will help us bring closer the day when cancer is defeated.”

Daria graduated from St. Petersburg University of Economics and has more than five years of experience in marketing and event management.