person stories of people who are living with cancer, including personal diaries and honest, moving essays. cancerhealth.com/stories
Basics
Whether you’re newly diagnosed RUDORQJWHUP survivor, check out our Basics section on cancer treatment, how to manage side effects and more. cancerhealth.com/basics
Science News
Learn about the latest treatment and prevention advances, cure research and conference news. cancerhealth.com/science-news
Cancer
Health Digital
Scan the QR code (left) with your smartphone to check out the digital issue of Cancer Health online, or go to cancerhealth.com/digital to read past issues and the entire Smart + Strong digital library.
Carolyn Shay takes meds for a blood cancer.
14 THE LIFELINE
A grant to cover the costs of Carolyn Shay’s multiple myeloma medications helped save her budget. BY JENNIFER
18 THE 2026 CANCER HEALTH 25
,QSUDLVHRIƓQDQFLDOKHOSHUVDQGIXQGUDLVHUVHDVLQJWKHHFRQRPLF burden of cancer BY
4 From the Editor Offering Lifelines
6 News
A helpline calls on the 1980s | sun safety myths | disparities | a world record in fundraising | stress update
8 Care & Treatment
Promising news for pancreatic cancer | do fruits and veggies raise cancer risk? | $,LGHQWLƓHV cancer of unknown origin | exercise improves chemo brain
10 Voices
Advocate Kyle DeLeon on pride and survivorship
11 Basics
Immunotherapy 101
CANCER HEALTH STAFF
12 A Stomach Cancer Diary
Javier Florez gets regular infusions and also teaches jujitsu.
28 Can Heal
Prostate cancer survivor John Antonucci helps men speak freely in AnCan support groups.
30 Solutions
Lower your risk for blood clots.
31 Your Team
Meet a cancer rights attorney who’s also the CEO of Triage Cancer.
32 Good Stuff Summer treats that give back
33 Reader Survey
Tell us about your cancer costs.
COOK
Offering Lifelines
WHILE
CONFRONTING
THE SHOCK
and uncertainty of Stage IV prostate cancer, John Antonucci found guidance and comradeship in support groups at AnCan, formerly Answer Cancer. Today, the retired doctor leads such groups. Doing this, he says in our Can Heal interview on page 28, “helps me with my own coping and acceptance, both by being among other men with life-threatening illnesses and by helping others.”
Paying it forward is a common theme in our summer 2026 issue. The seventh annual Cancer Health 25 list KLJKOLJKWVƓQDQFLDOKHOSHUVDQGIXQGraisers. These individuals help others navigate the economic challenges that often accompany a cancer diagnosis. Turn to page 18 to learn more— and to discover possible avenues of ƓQDQFLDODVVLVWDQFH
Our cover subject, Carolyn Shay, who lives with multiple myeloma, NQRZVƓQDQFLDOWR[LFLW\ƓUVWKDQG2Q page 14, the retired counselor from Connecticut shares how grants from the HealthWell Foundation helped pay for her lifesaving medications. Other advocates offer different lifelines. Joanna Fawzy Doran, a
cancer rights attorney and CEO of Triage Cancer (Your Team, page 31), provides free education on the legal issues concerning cancer, which often LQYROYHLQVXUDQFHƓQDQFHVDQGELOOV
Metastatic stomach cancer survivor Javier Florez (Diary, page 12) helps others feel connected and hopeful. And testicular cancer survivor Kyle DeLeon (Voices, page 10) works as an advocacy operations manager at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, where he creates a welcoming environment for everyone.
As always, our issue also rounds up the latest in News (page 6) and Care & Treatment (page 8), including timely sunscreen warnings, important phone numbers you can call for support and a roundup of promising research data about pancreatic cancer.
Thank you for reading. We’ll close with another quote from Antonucci, the AnCan discussion group leader: “There are some precious gems scattered among the wreckage of cancer. Love, marriage, family, beauty, serenity, spirituality, friendships, the present moment and especially gratitude become the foci of life.”
You already know the phone number by heart, so how convenient that it’s now the number to dial for cancer support.
Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309/Jenny” peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. Today, anyone impacted by cancer can dial CSC-867-5309 toll-free to be connected to the Cancer Support Community (CSC) helpline.
“Our helpline receives over 20,000 calls annually from people seeking hope and connection during the times they need it most,” says CSC’s CEO, Sally Werner. “By anchoring CSC-867-5309 into the public consciousness, we’re ensuring that when someone is impacted by cancer, Cancer Support Community and Gilda’s Clubs
DUHWKHƓUVWSODFHWKH\WXUQWRŐ 7KHQRQSURƓW*LOGDōV&OXE
pop hit: “867-5309.”
named after Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of cancer, provides free social and emotional support to cancer patients and their families and friends.
The campaign’s website, csc8675309.com, reads: “When cancer touches your life, everything can feel overwhelming. In that moment, knowing who to call matters. If you or someone you love is facing cancer, call (272) 867-5309 for support.”
1.800.4.CANCER
$QRWKHUUHVRXUFHDW\RXUƓQJHU tips is the Cancer Information Service (CIS), a taxpayer-funded program that acts as a bridge between the National Cancer Institute and the public. Based at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, the free hotline offers help in
Gen Z Gets an F in Sun Safety
English and Spanish. Trained specialists—real human beings not speaking from scripts!—give callers accurate information about cancer, research and clinical trials. Each day, CIS handles about 200 inquiries from across the country. “The public ƓQGVWKLVHVSHFLDOO\KHOSIXODW a time when there is so much questionable information out there on the internet,” Adrianna Gutierrez, CIS’s director, tells Fred Hutch News Service. “It’s important that people have access to science-based information.”
Social media influencers share myths and misinformation.
Over 16 million Americans are at increased risk for skin cancer because of misinformation, according to new survey data from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). Results reveal that nearly half of Americans score a C on the group’s sun safety quiz, despite rating their habits as “good” or “excellent.” A third of Gen Zers (ages 18 to 29) earned a D or F. 6RFLDOPHGLDDPSOLƓHVPLVOHDGLQJ stories. Nearly half of all Americans and 64% of Gen Zers report encountering
sunscreen misinformation online. Millions reported reducing or stopping sunscreen use because of online claims against the effective protection. What’s more, there’s a persistent myth that a tan is harmless or even healthy.
“There is no such thing as a safe tan,” says AAD president Murad Alam, MD. “Every time you tan or burn, you are also damaging the DNA in your skin, and the more damage, the greater your risk of skin cancer.”
DRIVERS OF DISPARITIES
“Cancer is a disease that affects everyone but not equally,” notes Lisa A. Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, about the release of its news report, Cancer Disparities, which examines gaps in prevention, treatment and survivorship. Notably, communities disproportionately affected by cancer include Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian DQG3DFLƓF,VODQGHUSHRSOHIRONV who live in rural areas and people ZLWKGLVDELOLWLHV.H\ƓQGLQJVRI the report include:
• Tobacco use is one of the main drivers of cancer-related health disparities, impacting numerous minority populations.
• The tobacco industry’s “aggressive marketing” intentionally targets these groups and fuels related disparities.
• Among smokers, 82% of Black people (more than other races/ethnicities) smoke menthols, which are harder to quit.
• Individuals who live in rural
areas and are diagnosed with cancer face challenges in accessing cancer care and experience worse outcomes than those living in metropolitan areas.
A World Record in Fundraising!
A nine-day nonstop livestream from Warsaw broke a Guinness World Record by raising over $76 million (276 million zlotys) IRUWKHQRQSURƓW&DQFHU)LJKWHUV Foundation, which helps children with cancer. (The previous world record for a livestream fundraiser was $19.5 million, reports People magazine.)
The Polish event streamed in April and was spearheaded E\LQŴXHQFHU3LRWU+DQFNH aka Latwogang, who rallied sports stars, singers and celebrities, many of whom shaved their heads to show support and garner viewers.
To discover inspiring stateVLGHIXQGUDLVHUVDQGƓQDQFLDO helpers, check out our Cancer +HDOWKIHDWXUHRQSDJH
NO NEED TO STRESS OUT
Despite the common misperception, it turns out that grief, depression, stress, anxiety and other psychological factors don’t raise your cancer risk, according to a large international study funded by the Dutch Cancer Society that followed over 421,799 people in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Norway and Canada for 15 years.
ŏ2XUƓQGLQJVŐWKHDXWKRUVZULWHŏPD\SURYLGHUHDVVXUDQFHWR patients who experience guilt and self-blame” over their cancer diagnosis.
grief, stress, raise the followed 421,799 and
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PROMISING NEWS FOR PANCREATIC CANCER
3DQFUHDWLFFDQFHULVGLIƓFXOWWR treat and has one of the lowest VXUYLYDOUDWHVRIDOOPDOLJQDQFLHV %XWQRYHOWDUJHWHGWKHUDSLHVDQG DYDFFLQHRIIHUUHQHZHGKRSH
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A healthy diet was associated with increased likelihood of lung cancer among younger adults in a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. Some experts, however, are skeptical about the link.
Jorge Nieva, MD, of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues surveyed 187 people diagnosed with lung cancer at ages 50 or younger who provided details about their diet and smoking habits; most had never smoked. On average, they ate about one more daily serving of fruit, vegetables and whole grains compared with the general population. The researchers suggested that pesticide residue on food might play a role in increased cancer risk in this population, noting that agricultural workers exposed to pesticides have higher rates of lung cancer.
ŏ7KHVHFRXQWHULQWXLWLYHƓQGLQJVUDLVHLPSRUWDQW questions about an unknown environmental risk IDFWRUIRUOXQJFDQFHUUHODWHGWRRWKHUZLVHEHQHƓFLDO food that needs to be addressed,” Nieva said.
But an association does not mean fruits and vegetables cause lung cancer. People who respond to surveys may not be representative, and cancer patients may adopt a healthier diet after their diagnosis. What’s more, larger observational studies have found that people who ate more plants and less meat were at lower risk for lung cancer.
“This is really a signal that more research is needed— not a reason for people to avoid fruits, vegetables and whole grains,” Karla Giboyeaux, a clinical dietitian-nutritionist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told MedPage Today.
AI Identifies Cancer of Unknown Origin
A machine learning model may be able to identify the origin of metastatic cancer, which could help guide treatment decisions, according to a study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in April.
When cancer spreads to the lungs, liver or other parts of the body, it can be hard to determine where it originated and how best to treat it. People with so-called cancer of unknown primary (CUP) tend to have poorer outcomes, in part because they might not receive the right treatment.
“Only between 15% and 20% of patients with CUP show features that allow physicians to treat WKHPZLWKVLWHVSHFLƓFWKHUDSLHVZKLFKDUHDVVRFLated with better outcomes,” said presenter Marco De Velasco, PhD, of Kindai University in Japan. “However, most patients, between 80% and 85%, receive more general chemotherapy, which is often less effective.”
0ROHFXODUSURƓOLQJWKDWDQDO\]HVSDWWHUQVLQ tumor biology may help identify cancer types even after metastasis. De Velasco’s team focused on a FKHPLFDOPRGLƓFDWLRQNQRZQDV&S*'1$PHWK\Oation. Using data from nearly 7,500 patients with known cancer origin, they developed a computational model that could distinguish among 21 different types of cancer. The model correctly
LGHQWLƓHGWKHFDQFHUW\SHLQDERXW RIFDVHV in two patient cohorts.
One limitation of this approach is that some tumors are not easily accessible for genetic testing. The researchers hope to adapt their model to use circulating tumor DNA in blood samples instead of tumor tissue samples from a biopsy.
“The long-term goal is to create a tool that could support physicians in identifying the likely tissue of origin and helping inform more effective treatment decisions,” De Velasco said.
People tend to function better when they’re truly able to embrace themselves, their strengths and their values.
“WE’RE SCHEDULING YOUR SURGERY FOR LATER THIS WEEK” is how I learned I was going to lose my left testicle. I then foolishly asked whether I would ever get it back.
At age 29, I wasn’t a child anymore, but I didn’t feel like an actual adult. I’d lost a job and therefore my health insurance. After joining my now ex-wife’s employment-based health insurance policy, I could “afford” (with the help of a crowdfunded care plan) the lifesaving surgery to remove Stage II testicular cancer from my body.
Three surgeries and nine weeks of chemotherapy later, I was declared cancer-free. Five years after that, my oncology team “released me back into the wild,” as I call the return to general healthcare, outside of cancer surveillance. I am now eight years cancer-free, continuing to live day by day.
Throughout the years, I’ve heard all sorts of terms applied to my experience.
“Survivor” is the best way to put it. Nobody “thrives” through trauma. We survive trauma if we’re lucky, and sometimes, if we’re even luckier, we come out stronger. I grew up in deep east Texas, where being Latino felt alienating and being queer felt unthinkable. I was bullied for being both and never really knew what safety in myself could feel like.
Then, my own body, the space I occupy 100% of the time, betrays me. My own body is not safe. I am forced to part with my left testicle: a key part of my identity as a man. The vulnerabilities of my personhood deepen and crystallize. How can I feel safe as myself when every part of my being has shown me that I can lose anything at any time?
Well, I guess that’s the answer.
Amid loss, I’ve learned that the only way to navigate this life is
through it. “Safety” is such a ƓFNOHJXDUDQWHH6XUYLYLQJOLIH events is how you show yourself and others a pathway, even if that path wasn’t very well lit for you. ,ōPVWLOOƓJXULQJWKLVDOORXWEXW the truth is, I’m grateful for the opportunity to show that survivorship is messy. Survivorship is nonlinear. Survivorship doesn’t always feel like a celebration.
Same goes for pride.
Pride goes beyond parades and rainbow washing. Pride is a state of being, and in a lot of ways, my survivorship and pride in myself evolved concurrently. I realized that my anatomy wasn’t ZKDWGHƓQHGPHDVDPDQDQG I realized there’s nothing gained by hiding who I really am. At the end of the day, my identity is for me alone. However, I can approach my lifesaving work as an advocate at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) with pride as a survivor and trust that authentic folks will want to embrace people like me. I’m proud of the work ACS CAN has done in creating a welcoming space for folks from DOOZDONVRIOLIHWRMRLQLQWKHƓJKW against a common threat: cancer.
People tend to function better when they are truly able to embrace themselves, their strengths and values. I’m proud this organization fosters such a culture. Q
Kyle DeLeon is a senior state and local advocacy operations manager at the American Cancer Society’s QRQSURƓWQRQSDUWLVDQDGYRFDF\ DIƓOLDWH&DQFHU$FWLRQ1HWZRUN
Immunotherapy 101
New types of treatment can help the immune system recognize and fight cancer.
UNLIKE CHEMOTHERAPY AND radiation, which directly kill cancer cells, immunotherapy helps the immune system hunt down and attack malignant cells.
Many types of immunotherapy work by boosting killer T cells, the main soldiers in the immune response against cancer. Some promote the activity of natural killer (NK) cells. Immune cells continuously patrol the body looking for abnormalities, but cancer can sometimes hide from the immune system or disable normal immune responses.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors— the most widely used immunotherapy—are monoclonal antibodies that boost T cells’ ability WRƓJKWPDOLJQDQWFHOOV6HYHUDO approved checkpoint inhibitors block the PD-1 receptor, which acts as a brake on T-cell activity, or its binding partner PD-L1. Drugs that interfere with the interaction between PD-1 and PD-L1 can release the brakes and restore a robust immune response. Other checkpoint inhibitors block CTLA-4 and LAG-3 proteins. Checkpoint inhibitors work best against “hot” tumors, such as melanoma, which attract many immune cells; they don’t work as well against “cold” tumors, like pancreatic and prostate cancer.
Adoptive cell transfer therapies involve direct administration of immune cells. In an autologous transfer, cells are removed from a patient, multiplied and sometimes
PRGLƓHGLQDODEDQGUHWXUQHG to the body. One approach collects immune cells from a patient’s tumor, known as tumorLQƓOWUDWLQJO\PSKRF\WHVWKDW KDYHSURYHQFDQFHUƓJKWLQJ ability. An allogeneic transfer uses immune cells from someone else—for example, a stem cell transplant from a matched donor. Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy—better known as CAR-T—reprograms T cells by LQVHUWLQJDUWLƓFLDOUHFHSWRUV that recognize cancer. T cells are collected from a patient and JHQHWLFDOO\PRGLƓHGWRFUHDWHD customized “living drug.” Current CAR-T therapies work best against blood cancers, but researchers are testing new options to treat solid tumors. CAR-NK therapies are also now in development.
Cancer vaccines are one of the most promising areas of immunotherapy research. Therapeutic vaccines used for cancer treatment work differently than preventive vaccines that protect against cancer-causing hepatitis B virus or human papillomavirus.
Personalized messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines train T cells to recognize mutated proteins called neoantigens collected from a patient’s tumor after surgery. They are showing promise against melanoma, pancreatic cancer and other malignancies. Researchers are also working on off-the shelf vaccines that don’t need to be custom-made for each
Immune cells attack cancer.
patient. Cancer vaccines are often combined with checkpoint inhibitors, which has the effect of releasing the brakes and stepping on the accelerator at the same time.
Other types of immunotherapy include cytokines (chemical messengers that regulate immune response), immunomodulatory drugs (used to treat multiple myeloma), the IL-15 receptor superagonist Anktiva, which activates NK cells and killer T cells (approved for bladder cancer), DQGELVSHFLƓF7FHOOHQJDJHUV dual antibodies that create a bridge to bring T cells close enough to attack cancer cells.
Immunotherapy can lead to long-term remission—and potentially a cure—for some patients, but it doesn’t work for everyone or for all types of cancer. Combining different approaches may yield the best outcomes. Hundreds of immunotherapy clinical trials are underway, and this can be a good way to gain access to promising experimental therapies. Q
A Stomach Cancer Diary
Javier Florez, 47, lives in San Angelo, Texas, with his two dogs. He has had metastatic stomach cancer for nine years.
December 2016
I was living in Midland, Texas, working in gas and oil. I grew up in a small town in West Texas, went to Texas Tech University for mechanical engineering. After college, I worked in Lubbock, Texas, in New Orleans, in Houston and in Angola, Africa. I like to travel, meet new people, learn different cultures. I started training in Brazilian jujitsu in 2002, right after college. I decided to set a new goal for myself: to run a half-marathon in San Antonio in early December. Everything went well. My time was good. I was very proud of myself.
January–March 2017
I rested over the holiday. But about a month later, I couldn’t catch my breath at times. I was like, I’m just out of shape. I’d been eating a lot over the holidays. But it got progressively worse. I went to my primary care doctor, who took X-rays. He saw something in my lungs but couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Neither could a lung specialist, who sent me to have a lung biopsy.
April 2017
I had surgery at Midland Memorial Hospital. After surgery, my surgeon came in with an oncologist and a gastroenterologist. The oncologist told me they found adenocarcinoma in my lungs, but it’s not lung cancer. It’s coming from my pancreas or stomach. They found an ulcerous area in my stomach, which they biopsied.
Stomach cancer had metastasized to my lungs: Stage IV. I went numb. I stayed in the hospital a few more days, doing breathing exercises, which were painful. Because it had spread, surgically removing the stomach wasn’t an option. The treatment would be palliative. I thought I was going to die. I didn’t realize that palliative wasn’t the same thing as end of life; it just meant they would treat it but wouldn’t try to cure it.
There was a saving grace: My cancer was HER2 positive. That’s a biomarker on the cells, an overexpression of a protein that makes cancer cells more aggressive. A targeted therapy can block that protein and starve cancer cells. My oncologist recommended a combo of three chemo drugs called FOLFOX plus the targeted therapy.
Javier Florez teaches jujitsu and still gets infusions.
He’s a general oncologist, not a specialist, and he told me, “If you want a second opinion, go for it.” I called the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, eight hours away, and made an appointment with a gastric cancer specialist.
May–July 2017
At MD Anderson, they said the same thing: palliative care. Same regimen. I decided to have it done in Midland, 10 minutes away. I asked him, “What caused this?” There was no cancer in my family, and I hadn’t had stomach problems, just some heartburn. His answer was telling: “Bad luck.”
I started infusion treatment at Midland in late May, every two weeks. I was in the infusion center IRUƓYHRUVL[KRXUVDQGWKHQZHQWKRPHZLWKDOLWWOH pump connected to my port for two days. Then ,ōGJRLQDQGJHWWKHSXPSŴXVKHGRXWDQGWKDW was it until the next one.
I took short-term disability leave. That was bleak— May, June and July. It did drain me. For a couple of days after the infusion, I was just sluggish, weak. I took anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea medicine. But that only lasted a couple of days, so after that I was able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted.
One of the chemo drugs made me really sensitive WRFROGLQP\H[WUHPLWLHVOLNHƓQJHUVQRVHWRHV It also made things taste metallic. At the infusion, I would drink room temperature water, but one day, I took a sip of cold water. Big mistake. I had pins
and needles from my tongue all the way to my esophagus. To this day, I can’t withstand as PXFKFROGRQP\ƓQJHUV as before. But I always tried to stay positive.
August 2017
At three months, CT scans showed my lungs were almost entirely cleared up. The stuff in my stomach was shrinking too. Bottom line: It was working.
But it was a battle. My parents were always there to support me, and I maintained constant communication with my two brothers. Another thing that really helped was a book by an ESPN sportscaster, Stuart Scott, Every Day I Fight. Just knowing that other people have gone through this helped.
December 2017
Around the sixth or seventh month, another scan. My lungs had already cleared, and now, nothing was visible in my stomach. So we stopped the chemo drugs and continued with the targeted therapy, an infusion every two weeks, about a half hour after getting hooked up to the machine. The main side effect is that it can affect your heart, so I get an echocardiogram every three months.
March–September 2018
I went back to work—80 hours over nine days with every other Friday off, when I‘d get my infusion. Unfortunately, I was looked at a little bit different because of my diagnosis and having been out. I’m good at my job, but my career was kind of capped. I went for walks to recover my endurance. I had gained weight. There’s something about walking outside, especially here in West Texas in this dry air. I went to the gym, did some weights but mostly the treadmill. I started going back to jujitsu. Everybody at the gym knew my situation. It’s not like they took it easy on me, but they didn’t kill me. Eventually, I was walking about three miles a day too.
2020
In July, with COVID, there was a restructuring going
on at work, so I took it. I wanted to mainly focus on my health. Even though I’m doing well, it does take a toll on you. I feel like I live from scan to scan. In 1RYHPEHU,JRWDKLJKVFKRROWHDFKLQJFHUWLƓFDWH
August 2021
I started teaching sixth grade math and science. By November 2023, though, I semiretired. I had saved up quite a bit from my job, and not being married and having no kids helps. I live a pretty simple life.
2022–2023
I started conversing with stomach cancer support groups on Facebook. They were involved in an organization called Hope For Stomach Cancer. They knew Aki Smith, the founder. Next thing I knew, she contacted me. I started talking with her and reading up. They have so many resources and such community. In November 2023, Smith invited PHWRWKHƓUVW+RSH)RU6WRPDFK&DQFHU3DWLHQW Empowerment Summit, in Long Beach, California. Meeting face-to-face is really a connection. I share my story to see if it’ll give someone hope.
April 2026
It’s now nine years for me. I still get an infusion every two weeks and an echocardiogram every three PRQWKV6RIDUP\KHDUWLVƓQH)LQGLQJ+RSH)RU 6WRPDFK&DQFHUKDVEHHQDJRGVHQG0\ƓUVW treatment is still working, so I haven’t had to deal with options, but now, I know what’s coming up next, what clinical trials there are. And that community! You’re not going through it alone.
I’ve gotten to know the infusion nurses and always joke with them. I think a positive mind really translates to your body reacting more positively to treatments. Knock on wood, I’m doing well. My scans are annual now instead of every six months.
I’m teaching jujitsu, two nights a week. I still do a lot of walking with my two dogs, a Chihuahua and an Australian shepherd/dachshund mix. They’re both awesome. I’m doing advocacy with Hope For Stomach Cancer and looking to volunteer with a local cancer support group. And I’m focused on helping my parents—my dad has Parkinson’s. I’ll go over there every day and see if they need anything. It’s almost like returning the favor.
Shay hopes her new drug regimen puts her cancer in remission.
Carolyn
The Lifeline
A grant to cover the cost of Carolyn Shay’s multiple myeloma medications helped save her budget—and her peace of mind.
BY JENNIFER COOK
LAST YEAR, THE OTHER SHOE DROPPED FOR CAROLYN
Shay, 74, and her family. In 2019, the retired licensed clinical social worker was diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a condition characterized by altered plasma cells, a type of white blood cell arising in bone marrow. At the time, she had no symptoms,
but having MGUS raises the risk of developing cancer. For the next four years, she was tested every six months to make sure the condition hadn’t progressed; because it remained stable and she felt fine, the testing frequency dropped to once a year for the next two years. But at her January 2025 checkup, “things had drastically changed,” Shay says. A key blood marker was elevated, and after multiple bone marrow biopsies, a 24-hour urine test and a PET scan, she learned she had multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer.
Before she received this unwelcome news, Shay’s routine had revolved around her six grandchildren—“the delight of my life,” she says—who all live near her home in Woodbury, Connecticut. She retired in 2015 from a decades-long career counseling elementary school children and their families in the Naugatuck school system, a
job she loved, to devote time to helping babysit her grandkids. ey often slept over, and on weekends, she and her husband attended all their sporting events—soccer, lacrosse, basketball and swimming. Her days were also happily spent singing in her church choir, walking outdoors and being in nature, volunteering for hospice, reading, sewing and, during warm weather, gardening. With her new diagnosis, Shay had to shift a lot of her energy to medical consultations, cancer treatments and learning to cope with her illness.
A CLINICAL TRIAL…AND A GRANT
When Shay was diagnosed with MGUS, her doctor referred her to an oncologist/hematologist at the Harold Leever Regional Cancer Center in Waterbury, which is
affiliated with Yale New Haven Health’s Smilow Cancer Center. e multiple myeloma diagnosis required three bone marrow biopsies: two at Waterbury Hospital and a third at Yale. “ ey weren’t getting as definitive a diagnosis as they wanted, based on genetic markers,” Shay explains. Her case was then presented before the multiple myeloma board at Yale, and she was offered the opportunity to participate in a 16-week clinical trial of targeted therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration. She would also be on two other cancer-fighting drugs and a potent steroid.
Amid the flurry of tests and treatment decision-making, Shay didn’t recognize a looming problem: How would she pay for her medications? She participates in a Medicare Advantage plan, and as retirees, she and her husband, a former music teacher, live on a fixed income.
Fortunately, a nurse in charge of medications at the Leever Center anticipated Shay’s need for financial help. She connected Shay with the HealthWell Foundation, which provides grants for medications for underinsured people who have cancer and other chronic or life-altering illnesses. In 2025, HealthWell awarded close to 124,000 grants to oncology patients, according to its CEO and president, Michael Heimall.
(See “How HealthWell Can Help,” page 17.)
A couple of weeks after applying, she learned that she had been approved for a drug co-pay grant of $8,000.
THE GRANT KICKS IN
HealthWell, which assured her that her 12-month grant was still current. While in the clinical trial, she had paid only a little over $2,000 for her drugs, so she hadn’t yet accessed any of the grant funds. “It has been such a godsend,” she says, “because my insurance only covers $200 a month of the cost.” Instead of stressing about money, she has been able to focus on her health and spending time with her family.
HARVESTING STEM CELLS
e next hurdle was undergoing apheresis to harvest Shay’s stem cells in case she needs a stem cell transplant in the future. Her son Wesley, a registered radiologist assistant at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, has helped his mother navigate the complexities of her care. For example, he recommended that she request a Quinton catheter to facilitate the harvesting. It can take several days, but “I was so fortunate,” Shay says. “ ey were able to get—I believe it was 40 million stem cells in one day over five or six hours.” Afterward, the cells were frozen and stored for later use.
Shay aims to balance joys and health.
On August 8, 2025, Shay’s participation in the study ended. A PET scan and blood work showed she was in partial remission. “I still had some myeloma cells present in my bone marrow,” she says. To address this, she was to start a new treatment regimen, this time swapping in “a triedand-true” immunomodulatory drug, Shay says, along with two of the same drugs she’d already been on, plus the powerful steroid. She would undergo three cycles between September and early November.
When she learned that the replacement drug can cost thousands of dollars per cycle, Shay again contacted
Shay went off her meds for a few weeks before and after the apheresis and then resumed the same drug cocktail. In February, the Yale multiple myeloma board considered her case again and recommended that a stem cell transplant be put off and another adjustment be made in her drug regimen, this time to replace one med with another one designed to treat refractory (treatmentresistant) multiple myeloma. In early spring, she started on two cycles of the new regimen, which she found debilitating. One of the drugs, which she took orally at night, caused terrible insomnia. She switched to taking the drug during the day, which solved the problem.
Shay’s grant expired in March, but she was able to apply to HealthWell for a new grant for $8,000, this time over the phone, and was approved during the call. It covers co-pays for the same drug. e grants are saving her up to $16,000 for two years of treatment. “We struggled as teachers,” she says. “We didn’t make huge salaries. And knowing that I don’t have that financial pressure—because I know what it’s done to people who haven’t had a financial
JANE SHAUCK
backup—has been a great relief and lessened a tremendous stress. I’m just so grateful for that.”
ADJUSTING TO A NEW NORMAL
If her current drug regimen puts her into remission, Shay says, she is likely to stay on it. “If it does not, a stem cell transplant certainly still looms in my future.” roughout this period, Shay has found it hard to find a balance in her life so that she has some normalcy and is still able to protect her health. So she incorporates the activities she loves—walking outdoors every day, exercising and eating organic food. Her garden and the promise of peonies, her favorite flower, bring her joy. She has returned to singing in the choir and wears a mask to church to reduce her risk of infection. “Prayer is very important to me. My prayers and those of many in my church and my circle of friends have really sustained me,” she says. She rises early, between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., has breakfast and then reads scripture and prays for up to an hour every day.
Shay sees her grandkids every week, getting two of them off the school bus on ursdays and staying with them until their mother, her daughter-in-law, arrives home from work. She still attends all her grandkids’ sports events.
Another challenge has been learning to receive. “I was a social worker for all those years, and I volunteered at my church—we’d take meals to people who are ill or had a death in the family,” Shay says. When she hasn’t felt like cooking, members of her church have brought over dinners. “Learning to be on the receiving end, graciously, has been a life lesson for me.” Friends from college and even one from high school have sent flowers, cards and gifts. “ at just lifts your spirits, really, when you’re feeling like, Sigh, another day of this.”
When Shay was first diagnosed, her son Wesley said to her, “Mom, two of the things I see that make the biggest difference are a positive attitude and a support system.”
“I feel very blessed that, for the most part, I have had a positive attitude,” she says. “I have had my dark days. But I have a wonderful support system. at has helped to sustain me through this—that and knowing that I don’t have the financial stress.
“My hope is that in sharing my journey, that it will help someone else, take away some of their fear or maybe spark questions for them to ask,” she adds. “None of us want this, but if we can help each other through it, that would make me very happy.” Q
HOW HEALTHWELL CAN HELP
Since its founding in 2003, the HealthWell Foundation has provided more than $5.2 billion LQƓQDQFLDOVXSSRUWWRPRUHWKDQPLOOLRQ people with life-threatening diseases. In 2025 alone, the foundation awarded more than 440,000 grants. The grants primarily cover drug treatment costs for a wide range of cancers and other illnesses. There are also funds for a limited number of other needs. For example, anyone who already has a grant and needs money for rides to and from medical appointments can apply for help from the foundation’s general travel fund. In addition, “we have special initiative funds to assist oncology patients with behavioral health services that help cover prescriptions and counseling psychotherapy,” says Michael Heimall, HealthWell’s president and CEO. As a pharmaceutical co-pay program, “we don’t cover hospital bills, radiation therapy, those types of things.”
$VRIVSULQJ+HDOWK:HOOKDV RSHQ oncology funds with money available for grants. Maximum oncology grants range from $2,000 WRDQGDUHDYDLODEOHIRUPRQWKV7R qualify for assistance, an applicant must have:
• Some form of health insurance;
• A disease that’s covered by the fund they DUHDSSO\LQJIRU WKLVUHTXLUHVDGLDJQRVLVYHULƓcation signed by their healthcare provider);
• A household income that doesn’t exceed 500% of the federal poverty limit.
“If all the eligibility criteria are met at the time of enrollment, they can receive instant approval and begin using their grant,” Heimall says. The only other reason someone might not qualify for a grant is if a drug being prescribed isn’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration or listed in the United States Pharmacopeia (a drug compendium) or if their insurance company refuses to cover that particular treatment.
HealthWell receives hundreds of letters and emails from patients every month, “and what we hear all the time is that without our assisWDQFHWKH\ZRXOGHLWKHUQRWƓOOSUHVFULSWLRQV or not take them as prescribed, or they might forgo treatment, or they would have to move out of the apartment they were living in and ƓQGDPRUHDIIRUGDEOHSODFHŐ+HLPDOOVD\V To apply, go to HealthWellFoundation.org RUFDOOEHWZHHQ DPDQG 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
In Praise of Financial Helpers and Fundraisers CANCER HEALTH 25:
BY THE CANCER HEALTH STAFF
ACANCER DIAGNOSIS COMES WITH A HEFTY PRICE TAG.
Of course, there’s the literal bill for surgeries, meds, doctor visits, scans and tests. But then you also have to add transportation costs, childcare, the potential loss of income and the snowballing challenge of meeting basic needs—like food, housing and utilities—all while dealing with increasing anxiety and emotional stress. e list goes on. is economic and psychological burden is known as financial toxicity.
A common side effect of cancer, financial toxicity can lead people to postpone appointments and even skip treatments. No wonder it’s associated with poorer health outcomes and lower quality of life.
Factor in today’s chaotic political climate, marked by rising insurance costs and massive cuts to health departments and social programs, like Medicaid and Medicare, and, well, it can feel like everything’s in crisis.
at’s why we’re devoting our seventh annual Cancer Health 25 feature to financial helpers and fundraisers. We want to amplify the lifesaving work of the countless experts, advocates and everyday angels out there who help people with cancer afford their care—and who ensure that cancer researchers and service providers remain funded.
Our Cancer Health 25 feature is not meant to be a “best of” or “the most important” list. at would be impossible. Instead, we aim to highlight exemplary work in a wide range of fields. You’ll meet compassionate patient navigators who answer phone calls and ease patients through financial worries; CEOs who steward hundreds of millions in funds; a cancer dad and a duo of doctors who help patients manage medical debt; event planners who put together star-studded galas; gracious cancer survivors—and a Star Trek team!— who are paying it forward; and much more. e 2026 Cancer Health 25 showcases eclectic and inspiring talents, all united in their devotion to helping cancer patients and fighting health inequities.
We owe these financial helpers a debt of gratitude.
ALAN BALCH AND KEVIN HAGAN Hampton, Virginia and Athens, Georgia
We kick off our Cancer Health 25 list with breaking news: Patient Advocate Foundation and the PAN Foundation—two leading nonprofits dedicated to helping patients access and afford healthcare—are merging. ey’ll operate as Patient Advocate Foundation. Last year alone, they awarded $640 million in financial assistance to nearly 200,000 people. Effective July 1, Alan Balch, PhD, the CEO of the original Patient Advocate Foundation, will serve as executive chairman of the board of directors; Kevin L. Hagan, president and CEO of the PAN Foundation, will be the group’s new CEO. “By joining forces,” Hagan says, “we are creating a single, trusted destination for patients who need financial help, guidance and a clear path through a complex healthcare system.” Adds Balch: “We are expanding access to affordable, equitable healthcare at a time when the safety net is under tremendous strain.”
EUCHARIA BORDEN
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A person’s income, ZIP code and language can create financial barriers to cancer prevention, care and survival. Eucharia Borden, MSW, LCSW, the vice president of programs and health equity at Family Reach, is a thought leader in efforts to better serve financially vulnerable populations; she’s also a past president of the Association of Oncology Social Work. A national nonprofit headquartered in Boston, Family Reach launched the Financial Resource Center to offer one-on-one support to cancer patients and help them afford basic needs— such as food and utilities— while FamilyReach.org offers educational resources, personal navigation tools and more. With Borden’s guidance, Family Reach’s impact—it supports over 50,000 people each year—will help lessen financial stress for those who feel it the most.
COURTNEY BUGLER
Atlanta, Georgia
As ZERO Prostate Cancer ’s president and CEO, Courtney Bugler continues her legacy of leading national health nonprofits in program development, advocacy and fundraising, including previously spearheading Susan G. Komen’s signature fundraising events, Race for the Cure and the More an Pink Walk. She is a caregiver to her father, who has prostate cancer, and she’s a 20-year cancer survivor herself. Under her leadership, ZERO launched Blitz the Barriers, a $20 million initiative to close gaps in prostate cancer and survival for those at increased risk, including Black men and veterans. Up next, Bugler is helping launch ZACH (ZERO’s Access to Community Health), the first AIpowered 24/7 text support tool for prostate cancer patients and families.
CARLO CABALLERO
Aurora, Colorado
A cancer diagnosis can be especially daunting when you can’t afford care and have limited English proficiency. Carlo Caballero, LPC, a bilingual patient navigator and counselor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Cancer Center who works with community members, including underserved Hispanic populations, knows how to help. He connects patients to financial assistance programs, co-pay support resources, transportation services, lodging grants and community resources for basic needs, such as rent or food. He and his team can then help patients receive uninterrupted cancer screening and treatment, learn about possible clinical trials and also access supportive care throughout the entire care continuum.
Balch (top) and Hagan (left)
TOM DUROVSIK
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tom Durovsik, founder and CEO of FreedomPay, is helping reimagine how everyday transactions can support meaningful causes. rough its Gateway to Giving platform, FreedomPay enables consumers to contribute to charitable organizations via a simple tap-to-give option when they make a purchase. In partnership with Cancer Support Community (CSC), this innovation helps generate critical funding, with small acts of generosity adding up to meaningful impact. “Gateway to Giving makes it easy for people to support causes they care about in the moments they’re already engaged,” Durovsik says. Adds Sally Werner, RN, CSC’s CEO, “Innovative partnerships like this create new pathways to support Cancer Support Community’s mission. e funds generated help ensure we can continue providing essential programs and services to individuals and families impacted by cancer.”
HALEY GOLD Austin, Texas
ADRIÁN FRANCO
Jersey City, New Jersey
When Adrián Franco’s son was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in 2022, the family witnessed the financial toxicity of childhood cancer. But this cancer dad has a master’s and PhD along with high-level work experience in the economic sector, including as a director at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He’s also the executive director at the Guarini Institute for International Education and Economic Mobility at New Jersey City University, which helps boost the economic stability of families facing financial hardships. Inspired by his own experience, Franco launched brokenNotbroke, a database that provides quick information on over 450 organizations offering access to financial support for pediatric cancer patients. Users at brokenNotbroke.org simply enter their location, cancer type and the support they need, and they’ll receive a list of helpful groups and links to applications. Franco also hosts e brokenNotbroke Interview, a monthly podcast.
As operations director at the National Cancer Information Center (NCIC), a service of the American Cancer Society, Haley Gold coordinates the organization’s key partnerships with other groups. Last year, Gold collaborated with the Patient Advocate Foundation to distribute direct financial assistance—through the society’s Cancer Care Continuity Fund—to patients experiencing unexpected challenges. She facilitated the distribution of $65,000 to support cancer patients affected by wildfires in Southern California and $300,000 to those facing food insecurity when their SNAP (also known as food stamps) benefits were frozen. Gold coordinated the training and referral processes for NCIC staff that connected patients with navigators. “ e financial burden of cancer is high,” Gold says, “and is only exacerbated by unexpected circumstances, like natural disasters and changes to benefits.”
“We are expanding access to affordable, equitable healthcare at a time when the safety net is under tremendous strain.”
Alan Balch, PhD, of Patient Advocate Foundation
ANNE GUTCH AND GWEN NICHOLS Washington, DC
Nearly half of cancer patients and survivors report being burdened by medical debt, and many forgo needed treatment. At Blood Cancer United, senior vice president Anne Gutch and chief medical officer Gwen Nichols, MD, decided to do something about it. ey championed and launched the nonprofit’s Medical Debt Case Management Program, which provides patients with one-on-one, personalized support to settle their medical debt. Case managers identify ways to reduce current and future medical debt by helping patients apply for charity care, obtain affordable insurance, negotiate medical bills and appeal insurance denials. Since the program’s launch in September 2024, Blood Cancer United has helped resolve or prevent more than $8.2 million in patient medical debt.
JENNIFER HUGHES San Carlos, California
Jennifer Hughes joined GO2 for Lung Cancer, the nation’s leading lung cancer advocacy group founded by patients and survivors, more than 15 years ago. Her childhood friends, daughters of founder Bonnie J. Addario, had helped her through her father’s cancer. As senior director for national events, she appreciates how the annual Simply the Best gala celebrates the strength and resilience of the lung cancer community. Its awards recognize pioneers in lung cancer research, innovators in expanding treatment options and caregivers, whose vital role is often overlooked. e $17 million the gala has raised over two decades supports the organization’s patient-centric mission, which includes oneon-one patient services, screening and treatment navigation, and research funding to accelerate cures.
“We understand how vital routine cancer screenings are to improving health outcomes.”
Jody Hoyos, CEO of Prevent Cancer Foundation
JODY HOYOS
Alexandria, Virginia
e Prevent Cancer Foundation aims to reduce cancer deaths by 40% by 2035. To achieve this bold goal, it funds research as well as community organizations that support cancer prevention, early detection, vaccinations and screenings. Since 2007, it has awarded over 130 grants to projects in 38 states, including the Midwest Asian Health Association and Canoncito Band of Navajos Health Center. Its upcoming grant cycle supports organizations serving residents of rural areas, another underserved population. At the helm of this vital nonprofit is CEO Jody Hoyos, MHA, who bridges philanthropy, policy and community impact. “We understand how vital routine cancer screenings are to improving health outcomes,” Hoyos says. “At a time when research funding is increasingly limited, we are more committed than ever to supporting the work—and the people—that move us toward better outcomes for all.”
Nichols (top) and Gutch (right)
MICHAEL KING
Washington, DC/ Baltimore Area
As a nonprofit that offers financial grants to help underinsured patients cover medication and treatment costs, the HealthWell Foundation handled over 45,000 calls a month last year. at’s a lot of important conversations. Luckily, the patients, caregivers and pharmacies on the line are in good hands. Michael King is the program director of HWF Direct, a subsidiary of HealthWell. He oversees operations and customer experience to ensure that each caller receives compassionate, compliant and completely satisfactory assistance. “Our compassionate contact center team is ready to ease the worry about how to pay for critical treatments,” King says, “so patients can focus on what matters most: their care.”
anks to King and the HealthWell team, in 2025 the foundation awarded more than 123,000 grants to over 117,000 cancer patients.
KELLY LEACH Chatham, New Jersey
A rare cancer isn’t rare for the person who has one. But funding research can be challenging. In 2014, Kelly Leach, a mom of two who had lost her own mom to cervical cancer, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer, and treated successfully at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York City. In 2016, on the last day of radiation, she and her husband, David, registered their team, Pedaling Sunshine, in Cycle for Survival, MSK’s fundraising program, which holds team stationary-cycling events in Equinox gyms. Pedaling Sunshine, for which Leach recruits family and friends nationwide, has since raised $3.7 million. Since 2007, Cycle for Survival has raised $450 million to support groundbreaking research on rare cancers at MSK.
NATI MCWILLIAMS Houston, Texas
As the vice president and chief philanthropy officer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Nati McWilliams leads the institution’s fundraising efforts and philanthropic strategy. Of note, she oversees UT MD Anderson’s historic $2.5 billion philanthropic initiative, Only Possible
Here, e Campaign to End Cancer, which launched last November as the largest fundraising effort in the center’s history. anks to McWilliams’s leadership and her team’s enduring alliances with donors, corporations and foundations, UT MD Anderson is better funded to deliver groundbreaking research and world-class cancer care.
TRENA MITCHELL
Little Rock, Arkansas
e Arkansas Cancer Coalition partners with organizations and programs throughout the state “to reduce the human suffering and burden from cancer.” It raises awareness, holds summits, connects and educates advocates and, importantly, provides funding to groups doing the on-the-ground work. e coalition
offers competitive community grants of up to $55,000 for local groups and mini grants of up to $4,000 for evidence-based projects geared toward prevention, detection and care (including transportation for cancer patients). Plus, its website includes a financial assistance directory of 44 organizations. Leading all these efforts is executive director Trena Mitchell, CNP, who melds public health leadership with community philanthropy at this lifesaving, cancer-fighting coalition.
JODI OMEAR Arlington, Virginia
Triage Cancer ’s chief operating officer, Jodi Omear, ensures that people nationwide can access the trusted resources and tools they need to navigate the legal and financial effects of a cancer diagnosis, including those concerning health insurance, employment rights, disability insurance and medical bills. Omear also helps obtain funding so Triage Cancer can continue to offer its services free of charge. rough strategic partnerships, donor engagement and development efforts, she helps sustain and grow programs that empower cancer patients to understand their rights and reduce their financial burden.
CHARLES R. ROGERS
Atlanta, Georgia
VILMARIE RODRIGUEZ New York, New York
An oncology social worker and the vice president of patient assistance and community engagement at CancerCare, Vilmarie Rodriguez has overseen the organization’s financial assistance department for nearly a decade. (Of note, CancerCare is a leading member of the Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition, cancerfac.org, a one-stop resource for patients facing economic challenges.) When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, Rodriguez helped lead CancerCare ’s response, providing emergency financial assistance to ensure that people with cancer could continue receiving treatment. “We were able to raise $665,000 for direct financial assistance to 809 patients, and we facilitated over 1,000 rides for patients on the island,” Rodriguez recalls. “We’re not just looking at the person and the cancer diagnosis but every aspect of how that diagnosis has affected their life and how we can help them improve it.”
e tragic death in 2020 of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman confirmed what behavioral scientist and health inequities expert Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH, already knew: Younger adults, particularly Black men, are being diagnosed with and dying of advanced colorectal cancer at higher rates. To promote screening, prevention and open dialogue, Rogers launched the Colorectal Cancer Equity Foundation, now based in Atlanta. As countless nonprofit leaders can attest, the job comes with financial challenges. “Learning to step into the role of fundraiser required a mindset shift. I had to see it not as asking for support but as inviting others into lifesaving work,” Rogers, the foundation’s president, told VoyageATL magazine. “Entrepreneurship in this space looks different from traditional start-ups. e product is prevention. e currency is trust. e return on investment is measured in lives saved and families preserved.”
RUTH SCHLESINGER Dallas, Texas
Navigating healthcare systems can be daunting under the best of circumstances; a cancer diagnosis and financial upheaval only compound the anxiety. ankfully, the team of patient navigators at Susan G. Komen, a nonprofit focused on breast cancer, offers a host of free services and resources, including help with emotional support, access to clinical trials and, yes, financial issues, such as insurance denials. Led by Ruth Schlesinger, MPH, senior director of the Komen Patient Care Center, navigators help patients cut through the chaos and overcome barriers and fears. Of note, these bilingual experts can direct clients to Komen’s financial assistance program, available to those who meet the income requirement or are currently in active treatment or living with metastatic breast cancer.
Members of the Komen Patient Care Center
BILLY STARR
Needham, Massachusetts
In 1974, when he was 23, Billy Starr lost his mom to melanoma, a skin cancer. She was 49. In 1980, her athletic son rallied 36 buddies for a ragtag two-day Massachusetts bike ride, getting lost but raising $10,200 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1980, the Pan-Mass Challenge, the world’s most successful athletic fundraiser, has raised more than a billion dollars. What’s more, 100% of every rider-raised dollar benefits cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber. Last year, 6,600 riders, 3,400 volunteers and 300,000 donors participated. Many riders, often motivated by personal cancer stories, do the ride every year, some for decades. One of them is founder and director Starr, now 75.
JOEL STERN
Kildeer, Illinois
RITA TAYLOR AND THE STAYIN’ ALIVE DIVAS
Portland, Tennessee
When he was diagnosed with Stage IV clear cell renal cell carcinoma in November 2020, Joel Stern wasn’t sure he’d live to see the next year. But he vowed to turn his experience into action. He connected with the Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) to establish the Joel Stern Endowment for Patient Resources, which provides education programs, in-person events and expanded access to critical information. Today, Stern continues to raise funds as he actively undergoes kidney cancer treatment. A board member emeritus for KCA, he remains passionate about investing in community-building, education and research. “I couldn’t find a better way of enhancing my legacy,” he says, “than to help advocate for other renal cell carcinoma patients.”
“I had to see fundraising not as asking for support but as inviting others into lifesaving work.”
Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH,
founder and president of Colorectal
Cancer Equity Foundation
Rita Taylor is a two-time cancer survivor and a decades-long activist who has spent the last 30 years fundraising with American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. She’s also the founder of the Stayin’ Alive Divas, a group of women who have raised over $100,000 for the American Cancer Society via entertaining and educational musicals. In addition to ticket sales, funds are raised through auctions held the weekend of the show, with one-of-a-kind items, like quilts, table runners and cakes, donated by community members. is year’s musical parodied Beatles songs to promote screening and prevention. “Our shows are educational because I feel strongly that people need to get their screenings,” Taylor says. eir trip down Abbey Road paid off: e ninth annual performance raised over $45,000.
Rita (far right) and the diva fundraisers
BRIDGETTE THOM
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Financial toxicity entails more than mounting medical bills. What are the best ways to identify such issues, screen for people at risk and then help patients with cancer navigate these challenges?
Bridgette om, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has made understanding and answering these questions the focus of her work. Also a member of the Association of Oncology Social Work, om says: “In trying to develop solutions, my work centers the patient with cancer but considers all of the systems at play that may contribute to financial toxicity.”
LUKE TIMMERMAN
Seattle, Washington
Biotech journalist and podcaster Luke Timmerman knows about overcoming uphill battles. An avid outdoorsman and climber, he has summited Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Since 2017, his Timmerman Traverse fundraising campaigns have trained biotech executives and investors to climb various mountains across the globe. ey’ve raised over $15 million for cancer research, anti-poverty initiatives and screening for sickle cell disease. Several treks have supported the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. In February, a Timmerman Traverse team reached the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, raising $1.2 million for Damon Runyon, which itself has been funding bold scientific minds in cancer research for over 75 years.
“We are not just funding hope— we are taking action.”
Robin Toft, CEO of Curebound
ROBIN TOFT San
Diego, California
Curebound is a community-powered cancer research nonprofit based in San Diego. It launched in 2021 when two cancer groups—Padres Pedal the Cause and the Immunotherapy Foundation—joined forces. To date, Curebound has awarded $51.5 million in cancer research grants to interdisciplinary, cross-institutional teams. January 1 marked a new era for Curebound: After two years on the group’s board, Robin Toft stepped up as the new CEO. For Toft, a philanthropist and investor with over two decades of experience in life sciences and oncology organizations, the fight is also personal: She’s a 20-year colon cancer survivor. “We are not just funding hope,” she says, “we are taking action.”
TREK AGAINST PANCREATIC CANCER
Los Angeles, California “No one believes in science and hope for the future more than Star Trek fans,” writes the Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer team on its fundraising webpage for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network ’s annual PurpleStride walk. Yes, team members are involved in various Star Trek franchises. Led by team captain Kitty Swink (Deep Space Nine), herself a 22-year pancreatic cancer survivor, and including actors Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, John Billingsley and Juan Carlos Coto, the Star Trek team has boldly raised funds for six consecutive years, bringing in nearly $173,000 this year alone. With the support of financial helpers and fundraisers like these and others on our Cancer Health 25 list, everyone affected by cancer has a better chance to live long and prosper.
Exercise and stay educated, advises John Antonucci.
Speaking Freely
A prostate cancer survivor and AnCan support group leader, John Antonucci shares insights covering grief to gratitude.
MEN DON’T TALK ABOUT their feelings—or their cancer diagnoses. That’s the stereotype. John Antonucci, 76, a married retired doctor from Connecticut, is an exception. And he’s helping other men open up as well. After his own experiences with metastatic prostate cancer, Antonucci began leading virtual support groups through AnCan, formerly known as Answer Cancer.
We spoke with Antonucci for the latest installment of our Can Heal column—that empowering phrase is right there in our title, Cancer Heal th. The column discusses the myriad nonmedical strategies and insights that help many folks with cancer. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you summarize your cancer situation from diagnosis to today? I had a precancerous condition in my prostate, so I was being moniWRUHGWZLFHD\HDUDQGP\36$>SURVWDWHVSHFLƓFDQWLJHQ@FOLPEHGLQ DQGWRDQDEQRUPDOOHYHO$ELRSV\LQHDUO\FRQƓUPHG high-risk metastatic prostate cancer, which led to a radical prostatectomy. The surgical pathology was very high-risk metastatic prostate cancer. The surgery failed to cure the cancer, and doublet anti-androgen
therapy, plus radiation therapy, followed. Two years later, my treatments were stopped due to non-detectable blood tests for PSA. I have been in remission since, albeit with adverse effects from both the surgery and antihormone treatments. I’m followed with quarterly blood tests.
How did you become involved in AnCan?
I think I was about six months into all this when I tried an AnCan group. Once I settled down emotionally, I started helping out with science questions and a year later began leading groups. Leading the “feelings” group and writing invitations for it helps me with my own coping and acceptance, both by being among other men with lifethreatening illnesses and by helping others.
In a post online, you explore the topic of grief in the context of male cancer care. Can you elaborate on this and how you deal with the grief?
The post you mention was from an invitation to our group Men Speaking Freely. Grief and loss come up in every group, because the losses from cancer keep coming. To name a few: There is the loss of the illusion of immortality, the loss of safety and security, the loss of being LQFRQWURORUEHLQJDEOHWRƓ[ anything, the loss of sexuality, the loss of strength, of independence, of being pain-free, of looking good and of vitality. How we cancer survivors deal ZLWKLWLVƓUVWO\WRJHWKHUŋZLWK
my wife, with other people with cancer and with my groups. People with cancer understand each other. Comradeship can help so much with grief. Within the support group, we listen and talk each other through loss, anger, despair and acceptance. We watch out for depression and encourage each other to get professional help when it appears. Knowledge seems to help with grief, so we stay educated and educate each other.
The AnCan group discusses spiritual support, men’s genderUROHFRQŴLFWIHDURIG\LQJPXVLF awe, gratitude, men’s issues, transformation, suicide, selfimage and many other topics.
During your cancer experience, what helped you stay healthy, aside from treatments and medications? Some lifestyle patterns are associated with longer survival. Exercise may be the most important thing we can do DIWHUWUHDWPHQW,WLVGLIƓFXOWWR exercise when you are fatigued and anemic and your muscles have atrophied, but I try my best to do so.
Fortunately, I don’t smoke or drink. If you do, do what you can to quit.
Moving away from animal products and processed foods in the diet is a lifestyle habit that I believe increases my chances of staying in remission. I like the AntiCancerLifestyle.org site for this kind of information. Religious practice has been an active point of discussion in our
group. Beliefs in the afterlife, the community of a church, the sense of being cared for by a God and the sense of universality bring comfort. Non-deistic traditions, such as Buddhism, offer comfort in the form of universality, community, mindfulness, living in the moment, meditation and wisdom as well. Personally, I draw from Buddhism and mindfulness, but all spiritual practices are on tap in our discussions.
What advice would you offer someone newly diagnosed? It is shocking to get that news. Marshal all your strengths and resources right away. Your
COMRADESHIP CAN HELP SO MUCH.
spouse, mental health provider, exercise buddies—all your strengths. My immediate reaction was to seek out others with cancer. You can come and see us at AnCan.org or go to another good support organization. Get enough sleep, even if it
PHDQV>KDYLQJWRWDNH@VKRUWWHUP medications. Find a guide through the health system—it’s big and complicated. Get the very best doctors. They are more accessible than ever due to video appointments. If you’re a man, start the process of overcoming your resistance to opening up to others and your need to always be in control.
Similarly, what advice would you give a caregiver of someone with cancer?
The spouse or caregiver is also hit with an immediate emotional burden. Come to our caregiver JURXSRUƓQGRWKHUFDUHJLYHUV to share that burden. Love and UHVSRQVLELOLW\FRQŴLFWZLWKUHsentment and feeling trapped or cheated; everything comes into play. Cancer can be a family disease in that way. Fortunately, it also brings out intense gratitude and appreciation for loved ones and family life and some freedom from petty irritations that we once took seriously. My wife recommends that a couple ƓQGWKLQJVWRGRWKDWWKH\ both enjoy and to focus on spending valuable time together.
On that note, as our time together wraps up, what insight would you like to leave with our readers?
There are some precious gems scattered among the wreckage of cancer. We learn to rearrange our priorities and not waste time on valueless things, like anger, ruminations, busyZRUNVHHNLQJPRQH\SXIƓQJ up our egos or postponing OLIHDIƓUPLQJDFWLYLWLHV Love, marriage, family, beauty, serenity, spirituality, friendships, the present moment and especially gratitude become the foci of life. I am a happier, better person for my cancer. I can get two or three years’ worth of living in each year that is remaining just by eliminating the chaff in life. Q
Lower Your Risk for Blood Clots
Cancer can lead to pulmonary embolisms, dangerous blood clots in the lungs. Here’s how to help prevent this life-threatening situation.
WHEN BELOVED COMEDIC ACTRESS CATHERINE O’HARA (Home Alone, Schitt’s Creek) died earlier this year of a pulmonary embolism, doctors cited her rectal cancer as an underlying cause of death. O’Hara’s cancer caused a blood clot that traveled to a pulmonary DUWHU\LQRQHRIKHUOXQJVEORFNLQJEORRGŴRZDQGR[\JHQWRWKH RUJDQ7KHQHZVIRFXVHGDWWHQWLRQRQEORRGFORWVDVDOLIHWKUHDWHQLQJ ULVNDVVRFLDWHGZLWKFHUWDLQW\SHVRIFDQFHUVXFKDVUHFWDOFRORQ OXQJSDQFUHDWLFVWRPDFKNLGQH\DQGPXOWLSOHP\HORPDDVZHOODV some cancer treatments.
• Talk with your healthcare providers. Ask about your risk fac tors for blood clots based on your cancer type and treatment, the PHGLFLQHV\RXWDNHŋSUHVFULSWLRQDQGRYHUWKHFRXQWHUGUXJVDQG VXSSOHPHQWVŋDQGRWKHUKHDOWKFRQGLWLRQVVXFKDVEHLQJRYHUZHLJKW ZKLFKFDQLQFUHDVHSUHVVXUHRQWKHYHLQV,I\RXDUHDWULVNDVN about the common signs of a pulmonary embolism, such as FKHVWSDLQVDQGVKRUWQHVVRIEUHDWKDVNQRZLQJWKLVLVNH\ to getting diagnosed early and starting treatment.
• Stay physically active and sleep smart. Regular PRYHPHQWNHHSVEORRGŴRZLQJQRUPDOO\,I\RXōOOEH VLWWLQJIRUORQJSHULRGVŋIRUH[DPSOHZKLOH WUDYHOLQJE\FDURUSODQHŋWU\WRJHWXSDQGZDON
or at least gently stretch and bend your legs, knees and ankles
HYHU\RQHWRWZRKRXUV7KLV ORZHUV\RXUULVNIRUGHHSYHLQ thrombosis—the formation of clots in a deep vein, usually in the legs. Also, avoid crossing your OHJVZKLOHVLWWLQJRUO\LQJGRZQ as blood clots can form during sleep. If possible, lie on your back and slightly elevate your legs—the best sleep position for preventing clots. Don’t curl up in a tight fetal position, as this can UHVWULFWEORRGŴRZ+\GUDWHDQG stretch a bit before hitting the sack to further reduce clot risks.
• Say no to smoking or vaping. These addictive habits introduce nicotine into the body. A psychoactive chemical, nicotine constricts blood vessels and causes components in blood to become sticky, thickening it DQGVORZLQJLWVŴRZWKXVERRVW ing its tendency to form clots. Similarly, frequently smoking FDQQDELVRUZHHGLVOLQNHGZLWK an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, including poor artery health, heart attack and stroke.
• Consider wearables. These range from simple compression stockings to intermittent pneu matic compression (IPC) devices. An IPC device is a cuff, or sleeve, that encloses just the calf or the entire leg. It’s connected to an electric pump that triggers
DUHSHDWHGF\FOHRILQŴDWLRQ DQGGHŴDWLRQŋPXFKOLNH a blood pressure cuff— that massages the ORZHUOLPEVWRLQFUHDVH EORRGŴRZWKURXJKWKH OHJYHLQVZKLFKKHOSV prevent clots. Q
Catherine O’Hara
Meet a Legal Expert for People With Cancer
Joanna Fawzy Doran is a cancer rights attorney and the CEO of Triage Cancer, a national nonprofit providing free education on legal issues for people with cancer.
What are some of the issues that you help patients navigate?
Triage Cancer is a national nonSURƓWRUJDQL]DWLRQWKDWSURYLGHV IUHHHGXFDWLRQRQDOOWKHOHJDO DQGSUDFWLFDOLVVXHVWKDWPD\ FRPHXSIRUSDWLHQWVDQGFDUHJLYHUV0DQ\RIWKHFKDOOHQJHV WKDWSHRSOHH[SHULHQFHQDYLJDWing WKHKHDOWKFDUHV\VWHPDQG WKHLUPHGLFDOFRQGLWLRQDUHDFWXDOO\URRWHGLQWKHODZ)RUH[DPSOHXQGHUVWDQGLQJ\RXUKHDOWK LQVXUDQFHRSWLRQVDQGZKDW\RX TXDOLI\IRUEDVHGRQZKHUH\RX OLYHDQGZRUNXQGHUVWDQGLQJ ZKDWKDSSHQVZKHQLQVXUDQFH GRHVQōWFRYHUWKHFDUHWKDW\RXU KHDOWKFDUHWHDPLVSUHVFULELQJ XQGHUVWDQGLQJ\RXURSWLRQVIRU ZRUNLQJWKURXJKWUHDWPHQWRU WDNLQJWLPHRIIRUTXDOLI\LQJIRU GLVDELOLW\EHQHƓWVŋWKRVHDUHWKH W\SHVRIWKLQJVWKDWZHKHOS SHRSOHXQGHUVWDQG
What are other common topics your team encounters?
:HH[SODLQWRSHRSOHZKDWWKH ODZVD\VDQGKRZLWDSSOLHV RUPD\EHGRHVQōWDSSO\WRWKHLU VLWXDWLRQ:HKHOSWKHPXQGHUVWDQGZKDWWKHLURSWLRQVDUHXQGHU WKHODZDQGWDONWKHPWKURXJK the practical aspects of getting DFFHVVWRZKDWWKH\QHHGXQGHU WKHODZ$QGZHKHOSWKHPXQGHUVWDQGKRZWRHIIHFWLYHO\QDYLJDWH PDQ\RIWKRVHV\VWHPVVRWKDW WKH\FDQZHLJKWKHSURVDQGFRQV RIHDFKRIWKHLURSWLRQVDQGSLFN WKHRQHWKDWLVEHVWIRUWKHP
What would you like patients and their loved ones to know
Joanna Fawzy Doran helps with financial and legal issues.
7KHOHJDOODQGVFDSHLVFRQVWDQWO\ FKDQJLQJŋDQGWKDWōVWUXHDW WKHIHGHUDOVWDWHDQGHYHQORFDO OHYHO6WD\LQJRQWRSRIWKRVH FKDQJHVDQGXQGHUVWDQGLQJ KRZWKH\DSSO\WRSHRSOHōV GDLO\OLYHVLVSDUWRIZKDWZHGR DW7ULDJH:HSD\DWWHQWLRQWR ZKDWōVKDSSHQLQJDFURVVWKH FRXQWU\DQGKRZWKRVHODZVDQG SURSRVHGOHJLVODWLRQFDQKDYH an impact on the cancer comPXQLW\DQGWKHQZHWUDQVODWH WKDWIRUSHRSOHVRWKDWWKH\ XQGHUVWDQGDQGNQRZZKDWWR GREDVHGRQKRZWKRVHODZV DSSO\WRWKHPQ
TREATS THAT GIVE BACK
Get ready for sun-safe summertime fun with brands that support cancer research, prevention and awareness.
Kick off the summer with a new beach towel! Towel Specialties offers a huge range of terry cloth products—not just towels but robes and blankets too. The best part: A portion RIHYHU\SXUFKDVHEHQHƓWVWKH Melanoma Research Foundation, ZKLFKƓJKWVVNLQFDQFHU
Sun protection is essential anytime you’re outdoors. Built for adventure, travel and every day, Wallaroo Hats provide UPF 50+ protection. In fact, the brand’s UPF 50+ fabric earned the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation. Not only that, RI:DOODURR+DWVōSURƓWV goes to the Melanoma Research Foundation and the SHADE Foundation to support skin cancer research, education and prevention.
While SPF (sun protection factor) measures protection of exposed skin from the sun, UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) rates clothing’s ability to block the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB radiation. With a UPF swimsuit from Line in the Sand , your sun protection is built into your swimwear. Founded by water lover and cancer survivor Lynne Fletcher O’Brien, Line in the Sand supports ocean and cancer organizations (Blood Cancer United, Prevent Cancer Foundation and Cancer Support Community)
ZLWKRISURƓWVIURP its sales of women’s swimwear, apparel and more.
Developed by Chris Birchby after both his parents were diagnosed with melanoma, COOLA organic sunscreen feels, smells and looks good on the skin while protecting against the sun. COOLA is a proud sponsor of the Melanoma Research Foundation and its efforts to research, prevent and treat
The bra brand Wacoal donates $5 to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation for every person who buys a bra at a Fit For the Cure event. Additionally, Wacoal will donate $2 for every purchase of its limitededition Power of Pink bras throughout 2026. Invest in a new bra from Wacoal to support breast cancer.
Find more products to make life easier: cancerhealth.com/good-stuff
CANCER COSTS
Cancer treatment and related expenses can pose DQXQH[SHFWHGƓQDQFLDOEXUGHQ7DNHRXUVXUYH\ DQGOHW&DQFHU+HDOWKNQRZKRZ\RXUFDQFHU H[SHULHQFHKDVDIIHFWHG\RXUƓQDQFLDOZHOOEHLQJ
How long have you been living with cancer?
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How much do you worry about the cost of your cancer care?
T 9HU\PXFKT 6RPHZKDW T Not at all
Have you ever avoided or delayed treatment because of cost?
T Yes T No
Did your employment status change as a result of your cancer diagnosis?
T Yes T No
Did you experience a loss of income as a result of your cancer diagnosis?
T Yes T No
Did you receive guidance or counseling about PDQDJLQJWKHƓQDQFLDODVSHFWVRI your cancer care?
+DYH\RXHYHUUHFHLYHGDQ\ƓQDQFLDODVVLVWDQFH for your cancer care?
T Yes T No
Have you incurred debt (e.g., credit cards, loans) to pay for your cancer-related costs?
T Yes T No
,I\HVKRZVLJQLƓFDQWLVWKHGHEW"
T /RZ T Moderate
T +LJK T 9HU\KLJK
+RZZRXOG\RXGHVFULEHWKHRYHUDOOƓQDQFLDO impact of your cancer experience?
T 1RLPSDFW T 0LQRULPSDFW
T 0RGHUDWHLPSDFW T 0DMRULPSDFW
What year were you born?
What is your gender?
T Male T Female
T 7UDQVJHQGHU T Other
What is your current level of education?
T 6RPHKLJKVFKRRO T +LJKVFKRROJUDGXDWH
T 6RPHFROOHJH T %DFKHORUōVGHJUHHRUKLJKHU
What is your annual household income?
T Less than $15,000 T $15,000–$34,999
T $35,000–$49,999 T $50,000–$74,999
T $75,000–$99,999 T $100,000 or more
What is your ethnicity? (Check all that apply.)
T $PHULFDQ,QGLDQ$ODVND1DWLYH
T $UDE0LGGOH(DVWHUQ T $VLDQ
T %ODFN$IULFDQ$PHULFDQ T +LVSDQLF/DWLQR
T 1DWLYH+DZDLLDQ3DFLƓF,VODQGHUT :KLWH
T Other ___________________________
What is your ZIP code?
Scan this QR code with your smartphone to take this survey at cancerhealth.com/surveys. Or email a photo of your completed survey to website@cancerhealth.com.
THE PROBLEM WITH CANCER RESEARCH THAT FOLLOWS CONVENTIONAL WISDOM IS THAT THERE’S NOTHING CONVENTIONAL ABOUT CANCER.
At the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, our research focus is singular: High-risk, high-reward. We believe that only by pursuing and investing in the most audacious and ambitious ideas, and the young scientists who have those ideas, will we achieve real and lasting victory over humankind’s deadliest enemy. To learn more, visit damonrunyon.org
