Posts by tag
patient advocacy
Gloria Okwu: Turning Pain into Purpose
When Gloria Chiniere Okwu discovered a lump in her left breast in 2016, she could not have imagined that the diagnosis would eventually make her one of the most influential patient advocates in Nigeria. Today, Gloria is a cancer survivor,…
Finding Her Voice: How One Little Girl’s Loss Became a Lifelong Lesson in Listening
When Martha Raymond, the Founder and CEO of the GI Cancers Alliance and the Raymond Foundation, was seven years old, she lost her father to colon cancer. Years later, her mother's illness would change the course of her own life.…
CancerWorld #118 (August 2026)
We often describe progress in oncology through the language of discovery. Scientific breakthroughs. Technological innovation. Deeper biological insight. These advances have transformed medicine, helping millions of people live longer and better than ever before. Yet alongside every scientific breakthrough, a…
Finding a Voice Beyond Cancer: How Karen Nakawala transformed a cervical cancer diagnosis into a movement for survivor leadership and better cancer care
Karen Nakawala spent decades telling other people's stories. As one of Zambia's well-known broadcasters, she knew how to command a microphone, connect with audiences and give voice to people whose experiences might otherwise go unheard. Whether presenting a live radio…
Cancer is Universal. Meaning is Not!
She nodded when I said cancer. Only later did I understand that she had heard something else. The consultation unfolded with clinical precision. The translation was accurate. From a professional perspective, nothing was missing. And yet everything was. When I…
“Hope is Constant “: From Isolation and Fear to Connection, Purpose, and Global Impact
Hope as a Guiding Mantra One of my friends, a retired oncology nurse in Scotland, where I live, has become a source of hope for my family and me, and her words have become a mantra: hope is constant. Prior…
Making Sense of a Decade of Progress in Advanced Breast Cancer: ABC8, Lisbon 2025
The 8th ABC International Consensus Conference (ABC8), Lisbon 2025 Over the past decade, the landscape of advanced breast cancer has changed more rapidly than at any time since systemic therapy became standard. New drug classes, more refined biomarkers, and increasingly…
CancerWorld #108 (October 2025)
CancerWorld is a platform for telling human stories that unfold across science, politics, and society, going beyond the investigation of cancer biology and therapy. In our October 2025 issue, we open with one of two cover stories: the profile of…
Equity:The Word That Shaped Her Career From The Lab To The White House:The Story Of Catharine Young
When Catharine Young talks about inequity, she isn’t referring to it in abstract terms. She grew up in South Africa at the end of apartheid, when systemic injustice was not just visible, it was part of daily life. That early…
Europe’s patient advocates skill up to better influence cancer care and research agendas
Patient advocates for a wide range of cancer communities across Europe spent four days at the start of July honing the skills they need to influence the policy, research and healthcare decisions that matter to them. This was the second…