Kidney Cancer Patient Ruben Narvaez Supports California Proposition 38 for Medical Research

Eight years after a terminal diagnosis, Ruben Narvaez says breakthrough immunotherapy gave him more time with his children and grandchildren

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Ruben Narvaez, a Southern California kidney cancer patient treated with immunotherapy, is sharing why he supports YES on Proposition 38 with California voters both on the airwaves and in print.

After being told in 2018 to get his affairs in order with only days to months left to live, a breakthrough immunotherapy clinical trial changed the course of Narvaez’s life following a terminal stage IV kidney cancer diagnosis. After seeking a second opinion, he was given an opportunity he did not know existed: participation in an immunotherapy clinical trial designed to help his own immune system recognize and fight the cancer. Those years have allowed him to enjoy more birthdays, holidays, trips, and everyday moments with his family — time he once believed cancer would take away.

As a supporter of YES on Prop 38, Narvaez is sharing his support in an opinion piece in La Opinión and on the airwaves across California, where he describes how immunotherapy gave him a second chance at life and why he believes continued investment in medical research is important for patients and families facing cancer and other serious diseases.

“Today, eight years later, I’m still here: not just surviving, but thriving,” said Narvaez. “I am living evidence that medical breakthroughs can change what it means to receive a diagnosis.”



Narvaez also writes about family members he has lost to ALS, heart attacks, dementia and AIDS, and the uncertainty every family faces about what medical breakthrough a child or grandchild may someday need.

“My support for Proposition 38 is also about my children and grandchildren,” Narvaez said. “We don’t know what medical breakthrough they may need someday. But the research has to begin before they need it.”

Prop 38 will provide $8.4 billion to accelerate immunology research to help cure and prevent cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and other persistent diseases. Immunotherapies harness the body's own immune system to prevent and treat diseases, and they are already successfully treating patients with melanoma, lung cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Prop 38 will fund the next generation of this research for other devastating diseases, like Parkinson’s, diabetes, ALS, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.

The timing is urgent. Cuts to federal research funding are shutting down clinical trials and delaying discoveries at the exact moment immunology science has gained momentum. At least 160 active clinical trials nationwide have been affected by the termination of National Institutes of Health grants in 2025. In California, universities began curtailing biomedical research and delaying hiring as federal grants were terminated or withheld.

Prop 38 is designed to pay for itself. Ten percent of all proceeds from the licensing of immunotherapies developed under Prop 38 must be returned to California to offset the measure's total costs, including interest. Additionally, any cure or immunotherapy developed will be provided to California patients at a 20 percent discount below the national average. Prop 38 also includes strict accountability requirements, including:
- Two percent cap on state administrative expenses
- Public disclosure of spending
- Independent financial audits
- For-profit corporations are not eligible for grant funding

Learn more at YESon38.com, including a coalition list and what supporters are saying.

Robin Swanson
YES on Prop 38
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