People holding hands

“Kidney cancer is one of the fastest-growing cancers in the UK, yet it remains dangerously under-recognised,” Malcolm Packer, CEO of Kidney Cancer UK, tells me.

He’s right. I had never heard of it, even though it’s the sixth most common cancer in the UK (per Cancer Research UK).

A lack of awareness of and funding to combat the condition, which is often symptomless in its early stages, has “real consequences,” Packer adds.

“Unlike some other cancers, there are no routine screening programmes and symptoms can be vague or easily dismissed,” the charity’s CEO says.

“As a result, many people aren’t diagnosed until stage 2 or 3 – at which point treatment becomes more complex.”

Mortality rates for kidney cancer have soared by 73% since the ’70s in the UK, and

© HuffPost