
Survivorship Champions: A New NCCS Initiative for Clinicians and Researchers
How one survivor’s journey led to her realization of what survivorship care is lacking and the importance of advocating for yourself during survivorship. Note: This post originally appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of HEAL, a survivorship magazine from CURE Today. Shelley Fuld Nasso, MPP By NCCS CEO Shelley Fuld ...

Advocating for Women Who Choose to Go Flat After Mastectomy
By Kim Bowles Founder Not Putting On a Shirt When I woke up from surgery and realized my surgeon had overridden my wishes, I was angry. I thought that because I had been clear with him, that I was safe. But as I began speaking with other women, I discovered ...

Radiation Oncology Care During COVID-19: How Are Cancer Patients Getting Life-Saving Radiation Treatment?
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) has been collecting questions from covid-19 patients and survivors on the coronavirus crisis and is addressing these questions through a series of webinars and podcasts. Leading experts from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Ronald D. Ennis, MD and Louis Potters, MD ...

Health Care Roundup: Medicaid Work Requirement Studies; Care Coordination/Planning; Financial & Emotional Distress; Cancer in Firefighters; More
New ACA Replacement Plan? – This week, President Trump hinted at his intention to introduce a new health care plan. Health care remains a very popular political issue among most voters. With widespread reports saying that many Republicans in Congress would rather not make health care or Affordable Care Act ...

Health Care Roundup: Texas Court Hears ACA Lawsuit; House, Senate Advance Pharmacy “Gag Clause” Bans; Long-Distance Caregiving; and More
In order to bring you the latest cancer-related health care policy and news, we at NCCS combined our ACA Updates and What Caught Our Eye (WCOE) content into a weekly email and blog post. We aim to make this a concise, one-stop summary of what you need to know as we continue working together ...

A Medical School Perspective: Beyond the Science, We Must Learn to Communicate with Patients
By Nainika Nanda, MD — Survivorship. What does this mean? Oncology highlights patients currently battling cancer. However, survivorship encompasses a longer timeline. Cancer requires lifelong care, which is achieved through proper doctor-patient communication. In fact, this relationship is a keystone of medicine. Unfortunately, it can lose focus in the sea ...

Reps. DeSaulnier and Poe Introduce Bipartisan “Cancer Care Planning and Communications Act”
Advocated for by NCCS, the bill would increase comprehensive cancer care planning for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) and Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), both cancer survivors and co-chairs of the Congressional Cancer Survivors Caucus, introduced H.R. 5160, the Cancer Care Planning and Communications ...

NCCS’ Paper on Oncologist-Patient Communication Published in Evidence-Based Oncology Journal
Earlier this year, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) conducted focus groups with patients and oncologists to gain insight into this critical relationship, hear what patients and physicians consider good communication, and determine what strategies could improve effective communication. An article describing the learnings from the focus groups was ...

Guest Blog: Example of a Case Impacted by the Help-Hurt Tool
Ms. M is an 81-year-old woman with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer. She had remained in great health until her recent diagnosis, after which her energy had plummeted and she was spending over half the day in bed. Overwhelmed with the sight of their loved one losing her strength with each ...

Guest Blog: Improving How Doctors and Patients Have Difficult Conversations
Having cancer is terrifying. Period. Often, well-intended doctors find themselves unable to mitigate this panic. As humans we are challenged with this disease as old as our chromosomes, struck at the core of our identity, of our body, of our sense of self. We are removed from work, from a ...