What do esophageal cancer, testicular cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer have in common? Each carries some type of stigma or taboo—whether because they’re linked to behavioral causes or because they affect portions of the anatomy traditionally deemed private. The impact of these stigmas can be detrimental: In some cases, stigmatized cancers receive less research funding, resulting in fewer treatment innovations for patients. Moreover, stigmas often result in patients hesitating to seek critical diagnostic care, increasing the risk that their cancer won’t be caught until it ..read more

Imagine receiving a cancer diagnosis, only to immediately learn that not only has it spread to other parts of your body, but it’s also incredibly rare for it do so—so rare, in fact, that little to no research exists to inform your treatment. Katie Coleman doesn’t need to imagine this: She’s lived it. In December 2020, at just 29 years old, Katie was diagnosed with metastatic oncocytoma, a type of kidney cancer so rare that fewer than 10 cases have been recorded in history. Consequently, it’s also remained largely understudied, underfunded, and overlooked in cancer research. Luckily, Katie foun ..read more

Henrietta Lacks: Her name is forever intertwined with Black history and medicine. Her cells are the source of the world’s first immortalized human cell line. Without her consent, her biological material was used to make groundbreaking advancements in research in a wide range of conditions and diseases, including AIDS and polio to radiation treatment and cancer care. More than 70 years have gone by since Henrietta Lacks passed away from ovarian cancer at age 31. And yet, today, the Lacks story remains just as relevant for Black patients in the U.S. and around the globe. In this episode of Your ..read more

Long before he was a world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa was a 5-year-old boy selling food at gas stations in his native Mexico. But he wanted to dream bigger: At 19, he left his native Mexico in hopes of a better future. Despite speaking little English and having no money, he felt it was his chance at better supporting his loved ones. He was right. After two years of working manual labor, he decided to build a better future for himself, ultimately earning a scholarship to the University of California Berkeley. Next, he applied and was accepted to Harvard Medical School ..read more

Athlete, professional climber, reality show participant, competitor, physician, and cancer survivor: Favia Dubyk embodies the definition of conqueror. But facing advanced-stage lymphoma during her second year of medical school caused a major setback in Favia’s athletic life. Surgical treatment and chemotherapy had devastating effects on her identity as an expert rock climber: She had gone from ascending boulders to struggling just to open her fridge. It took Favia years of dedicated training to reach and surpass her baseline level of fitness. Even today, as an alum of extreme sports competitio ..read more

You’ve seen them: the pink ribbons pinned to your senator’s suit jacket. Runners dressed in head-to-toe pink athletic gear, racing for a cure. Football players streaking down the field in pink cleats. It wasn’t always like this. Long before people began thinking pink, breast cancer remained fairly stigmatized, a taboo subject only discussed behind the closed doors of a doctor’s office. Today, though, the conversation around breast cancer has reached a level of nearly unrivaled ubiquity, thanks in large part to a huge collective of philanthropists, advocates, physicians, scientists and patients ..read more

As a little girl, Kenedi loves eating ice cream, drawing stories about her family’s chickens, and playing with her sister. But at age 7, after feeling sick for some time, a cancer diagnosis upended Kenedi’s life. Despite being the top disease-related cause of death for children, pediatric cancers are still considered rare. As with most rare diseases, childhood cancer receives far less research funding compared with more common cancers. The consequence? Fewer breakthroughs or treatment options for patients. Even so, elevated investment in childhood cancer research has provided a lifeline for ki ..read more

Imagine you—or a loved one—receives a cancer diagnosis. Overnight, you find yourself trying to become an oncology expert, desperately looking for information about options. You stumble across a research paper that looks promising—if you could make sense of all the science-speak. Then you find Cancer.Net, the patient information website of Conquer Cancer and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This doctor-approved resource makes cancer terminology easier to digest and offers the latest guidelines on research and treatment. In this episode of Your Stories, host and cancer survivor ..read more

For patients with oral cancers, treatment is often just the beginning of their journey. Even after they emerge cancer-free, many still face a long journey to recovery and restored quality of life As a maxillofacial surgeon and oncologist, Dr. Chi Viet concentrates heavily on helping her patients to not only conquer this rare cancer, but to more easily and effectively manage their pain along their road to recovery. Using a Conquer Cancer grant, Dr. Viet worked to find epigenetic biomarkers –– or hereditary indicators –– of oral cancer survival, with the goal of personalizing patient care In thi ..read more

NBC journalist Craig Melvin’s 43-year-old brother, Lawrence Meadows, passed away from colorectal cancer in 2020. Since then, Craig has made it his mission to increase public awareness and raise support for colorectal cancer research. Along with two-time Conquer Cancer grant recipient and colorectal oncologist Dr. Kimmie Ng, Craig joins this episode of our Your Stories podcast to emphasize the critical role donors play in advancing colorectal cancer research. Hosted by Dr. Don Dizon, Craig and Dr. Ng share a candid conversation about the stigmas and misconceptions around colorectal cancer, alon ..read more