
Alique Topalian: Childhood Cancer and the Frightening Realities of the Survivorship Journey
Alique was first diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) at the age of four. Her mother, Michele, knew something was wrong because “the light in her eyes was gone”. After being told by doctors that there was nothing wrong, her family was relentless until new blood work uncovered blast cells ...

NCCS Joins Cancer Leadership Council in Urging Congress to Include Priorities in Year-End Package
NCCS joined with other member organizations of the Cancer Leadership Council (CLC) in a letter urging Congress to include several key provisions in an end-of-year legislative package. In the letter, NCCS and 14 other cancer organizations, representing cancer patients, health care professionals, researchers, and caregivers, stressed that action on these ...

Amanda Helms: Care Planning, Mental Health, and Palliative Care are Essential to Quality Cancer Care
Amanda Helms was enjoying a bubble bath while reading a book when she looked down and noticed a lump on the side of her breast in January of 2020. She had a bad feeling about it instantly, even though she had no family history or risk factors. She went to ...

NCCS Presents The State of Cancer Survivorship: 2022 Survey Results
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) conducts an annual State of Survivorship Survey, in partnership with Edge Research, to delve into the cancer patient and survivor journey. This study captures a range of perspectives to better understand how NCCS can support its mission to advocate for quality cancer care ...

Webinar – Exercise Is Medicine in Oncology: Implementation Based on Solid Evidence
NCCS hosted a webinar featuring Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, a leading researcher in exercise oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Schmitz's research focuses on people living with and beyond cancer and investigates the role exercise in improving physiologic and psychosocial outcomes including symptoms, treatment tolerance, and other ...

Michael Holtz: Everyone Has a Place in the Advocacy Community
"Everyone has a place in the advocacy continuum: Your lived experience is important." Michael Holtz didn’t know that the “funky” digestive symptoms in December of 2011 would be the first signs of his cancer diagnosis. These rectal spasms would leave Michael rushing to the bathroom, and either nothing would happen ...

Nicole C. Bullock: Faith, Family, and Friends Along the Path of Survivorship
As Nicole C. Bullock, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, watched the news of hospital lockdowns during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, she couldn’t help but think of the cancer patients who faced the harsh reality that they would now have to receive treatment for their illness alone, without the ...

Kara Kenan: Helping Others is the Greatest Reward of Advocacy
“Nobody wins afraid of losing” rings true for Kara Kenan, a breast cancer survivor. It’s her favorite line from Chris Stapleton’s song, “Starting Over,” which, for her, is symbolic of overcoming the fear of a cancer diagnosis and coming out on the other side. Kara recognizes that winning looks different ...

Webinar – Care and Career Support: From Health Systems to Employers
NCCS hosted a webinar about the unique demands of caregiving in cancer and strategies that employers and health systems might engage to support caregivers. Webinar Speakers Margaret L. Longacre, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of Public Health, Arcadia University Michele Cygan, Director of Compensation and Benefits, Arcadia University Christina Sisti, ...

Bethany Ross: Advocating for Quality Cancer Care Through Storytelling
Advocate Spotlight July 2022 - Bethany Ross Bethany Ross is a four-year neuroendocrine cancer survivor, or “cancer badass,” as she prefers to be called. She attended NCCS’s in-person Cancer Policy and Advocacy Team (CPAT) Symposium for the first time in June as a CPAT steering committee member. “It was amazing ...