A Mission of Worldwide Importance

Dr. Richard J. Kahnoski is a man on an important quest – a quest that could affect all of humanity. Besides his active practice with MMPC Urology, Dr. Kahnoski has served for five years as Co-Investigator on the team at the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) that has embarked on a path of significant discovery in cancer treatment. Thanks to him and his fellow researchers, today the VARI leads the world in kidney cancer research.

As a specialist in urology, Dr. Kahnoski has seen the pain and anguish associated with many forms of cancer, most notably testicular and kidney (renal) cancers. And he’s taken a very active role in the fight against them.

 

Organs and tissues of the body are made up of small building blocks called cells. As these cells become old and die, our bodies produce new ones to replace them. Normally, the division and growth of cells is orderly and controlled. It’s when this process gets out of control – for reasons not completely understood – that the cells will continue to divide and develop into a lump which is called a tumor. Tumors can either be benign or malignant…cancer is the name given to a malignant tumor.

The most common type of kidney cancer is called renal cell carcinoma. The American Cancer Society predicts that there will be more than 35,700 new cases of kidney cancer in the United States this year, with almost 12,500 people dying from the disease. Dr. Kahnoski would like to see those numbers drop dramatically. Working with world-renown cancer researcher Bin Tean Teh, M.D., Ph.D., the Senior Scientific Investigator in the VARI Laboratory of Cancer Genetics, he coordinates the clinical element of research efforts with patients selected for the institute’s studies. Besides kidney cancer, Dr. Kahnoski is also currently tracking clinical results on studies directed at prostate and testicular cancers.

By using DNA markers to categorize different forms of cancer, this precise research identifies tumors by their genetic code.  Dr. Kahnoski’s role in this groundbreaking research is to help determine clinical follow up and whether certain pharmaceutical compounds that have proven effective in the treatment of other cancers might also have treatment benefit to cancers of the kidney.

Furthermore, there is good news coming from this focused research.

Thanks to the application of technologies not available at every research site, Dr. Kahnoski reports that we can expect significant breakthroughs in the treatment of kidney cancers to come out of the Van Andel Research Institute within the next five years.

Needless to say, we are all very proud of the contributions Dr. Richard Kahnoski is making in the field of cancer research. He helps all of us at MMPC set new standards for Putting Patients First.

Dr. Kahnoski received his M.D. Degree from Michigan State College of Human Medicine and his B.S. Degree in Medical Technology from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Michigan Cancer Consortium and past Chair of the Department of Surgery at Spectrum Health.   He is the Medical Director of the West Michigan Stone Center and Director of the Warren Reynolds Prostate Cancer Screening Committee.  Dr. Kahnoski has served as Co- or Principal Investigator on more than 20 research projects since 1990 and is the author of several professional presentations and abstracts. He holds certification from the American Board of Urology.