Brian Krogh
(SBA) - March is recognized nationwide as Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about kidney cancer, supporting patients and families, and advancing research for a disease that continues to affect thousands of Americans each year.
For many in Northwest Iowa, the observance carries a deeply personal meaning following the battle fought by Sergeant Bluff area native Brian Krogh. His fight with an aggressive form of kidney cancer has inspired a new effort to help researchers find better treatments for patients facing the disease.
Cancer remains a growing concern in Iowa. The state currently has the second-highest age-adjusted rate of new cancers in the United States and is one of only two states where those rates continue to rise. According to the 2025 Cancer in Iowa report, 21,200 new cancer cases were predicted statewide in 2025. Woodbury County is among the counties expected to see the highest number of diagnoses, with an estimated 640 new cases in 2025. Of those statewide cases, four percent — approximately 860 — were projected to be kidney and renal pelvis cancers.
Nationally, the American Cancer Society estimates that more than 80,000 Americans are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year and more than 14,000 die from the disease annually. Kidney cancer accounts for roughly four percent of all cancers in the United States and is more common in men than women.
Kidney cancer includes several different types of disease, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC), Wilms tumor, and renal sarcoma. Approximately nine out of ten kidney cancer diagnoses are a form of RCC, with the most common subtype being clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Like many cancers, ccRCC can be hereditary or non-hereditary. While treatments for this disease have improved significantly over the past two decades, advanced stages remain difficult to cure.
Risk factors for kidney cancer include smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, long-term dialysis, and certain inherited genetic conditions. However, many patients are diagnosed without any clear risk factors. In many cases, kidney cancer does not cause symptoms in its early stages, which can allow the disease to spread before it is detected.
Over the past decade, treatment breakthroughs involving immune and targeted therapies have changed how advanced kidney cancer is treated. Unlike traditional chemotherapy, targeted therapies focus on specific pathways that cancer cells use to grow. Immunotherapy drugs work by helping the body’s immune system recognize and attack cancer cells by regulating proteins known as immune checkpoints.
Combinations of immune and targeted therapies are now commonly used in the treatment of advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma. One example is the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and axitinib (Inlyta). An open-label phase three clinical trial studying this combination reported a median progression-free survival of approximately 15 months in patients with advanced ccRCC. While many patients initially respond to treatment, others do not, and some eventually see their disease progress again.
Kasey Krogh, Amiee Krogh, Stephanie Krogh (middle), Brian Krogh, Justin Krogh.
For Krogh and his family, the reality of the disease began on May 24, 2024.
That was the day the Sergeant Bluff area native Brian Krogh was diagnosed with stage IV clear cell renal cell carcinoma after seeking medical attention for severe pain that initially appeared similar to the symptoms of a kidney stone. Further testing revealed a far more serious diagnosis.
Brian sought care at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center in Iowa City, Iowa’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. The designation is held by only 53 institutions nationwide and recognizes centers that combine advanced patient care with leading research and clinical trials.
Brian Krogh
Shortly after meeting with a urologist in Iowa City, doctors determined the cancer had spread too extensively for surgery to be a viable option.
Like many patients with advanced ccRCC, Brian began combination therapy using pembrolizumab and axitinib. At the same time, he enrolled in a clinical trial studying whether oral selenium could enhance the effectiveness of the treatment.
The therapy came with significant side effects, including extremely high blood pressure, a known complication of some targeted cancer therapies. As with many patients undergoing similar treatments, those side effects were managed while Brian continued forward with the hope that the treatment would slow the cancer’s progression.
In October 2024, follow-up scans showed the disease had continued to advance. Doctors discovered a large tumor on Brian’s T11 thoracic vertebra that was compressing his spinal cord.
Treatment changed again. Brian underwent targeted radiation therapy to the spinal tumor. While radiation provided some relief from pain, the damage ultimately required surgeons to remove the T11 vertebra and perform spinal fusion surgery.
After recovering from surgery, Brian and his family explored additional treatment options, including potential participation in clinical trials.
In December 2024, he was approached about enrolling in a phase one clinical trial involving CAR T-cell therapy.
CAR T-cell therapy works by collecting a patient’s own T cells — a key component of the immune system — and genetically engineering them to recognize and attack cancer cells. The treatment was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017 for certain pediatric blood cancers and has produced dramatic results in some patients. Since then, it has been approved for several additional blood cancers in both children and adults.
While CAR T-cell therapy has been a major breakthrough for blood cancers, researchers are still working to adapt the technology to effectively treat solid tumors such as kidney cancer. The clinical trial Krogh was considered for involved a modified version of CAR T-cell therapy designed to penetrate and attack solid tumors more effectively.
Before joining the trial, Brian underwent extensive testing, including blood work, an echocardiogram, and magnetic resonance imaging. Those MRI scans revealed that the cancer had spread to the brain, making him ineligible to participate in the trial.
Krogh then underwent targeted radiation treatment for the brain tumors and began stronger combination therapies.
After several rounds of radiation, doctors believed the treatment may have slowed the progression of the disease in the brain. However, new symptoms later developed as fluid began accumulating around his lungs — a sign that the cancer had continued to spread. Additional scans also showed that the brain lesions previously thought to have stabilized had begun growing again.
After months of treatments, surgeries, and clinical therapies, Brian passed away on May 9, 2025.
His family describes the end of his battle not as defeat, but as the moment he was finally free from the pain caused by the disease.
During Kidney Cancer Awareness Month, his story now stands as both a reminder of the challenges patients face and a call to continue supporting the research needed to improve treatment options.
In Brian’s memory, his family has established the Brian Krogh Kidney Cancer Research Fund at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. The fund is dedicated to supporting research focused on treatment-resistant kidney cancer and advancing new therapies for patients whose disease does not respond to currently available treatments.
National Kidney Cancer Awareness Month
The effort reflects Brian’s family's belief in the importance of clinical trials and scientific research, and the hope that new discoveries will lead to better treatments for future patients.
The family has set an initial fundraising goal of $10,000. Those who wish to contribute to the
Brian Krogh Kidney Cancer Research Fund can do so by visiting:
https://uigoldrush.org/krogh or by scanning the provided QR code.
Kidney Cancer Awareness Month serves as a time to remember those who have faced the disease, support families currently fighting it, and strengthen the research efforts that may one day lead to more effective treatments — and ultimately, a cure.
