Cancer Nation

In 1991, doctors told a Pennsylvania mother her 3-year-old would not be here much longer. Desa-Rhea Jefferson is still here, and now she is a two-time cancer survivor with something to say about what happens after treatment ends.

She grew up without a survivorship care plan, without navigation, and without anyone explaining the long-term effects of childhood cancer treatment. At 19, a doctor felt a nodule in her neck and said nothing about what it could mean. Years later it was thyroid cancer.

Read Desa-Rhea's full story: https://canceradvocacy.org/ringing-the-bell-is-not-the-finish-line-desa-rhea-jefferson-on-what-cancer-survivors-need-next/

Cancer care won’t change unless the people shaped by it are at the table.

Cancer Nation Advocates—formerly CPAT—brings together survivors, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and everyone touched by cancer to turn lived experience into action.

We share what’s real.
We speak up.
We push for care that works in real life.

Join us. https://canceradvocacy.org/get-involved/advocates/
We are .

Last Chance to Register!

Want to know what clinicians think about survivorship care?

Join us Sept. 10 at 1 PM ET for a live briefing on our new Survivorship Survey: Clinician Perspective and what the findings mean for the 18 million+ people living with, through, and beyond cancer.

🔗 Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2317858591407/WN_6Vcb_vPORhqD4N4SWkDT5A

🎉 40 YEARS. MILLIONS STRONG.
For four decades, survivors and caregivers have raised their voices, challenged what wasn’t working, and pushed cancer care forward. Now, we’re coming together to celebrate how far we’ve come—and the people who are helping shape what comes next.
Join us for the Cancer Nation 40th Anniversary Gala on November 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. as we celebrate 40 years of advocacy, survivorship, and change and honor leaders whose work is moving cancer care forward.
Come celebrate with us and help power the next 40 years!
📅 November 13, 2026
📍 Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream | Washington, D.C.
🎟️ Get your tickets: https://tinyurl.com/5fhmzwvk

Want to know what clinicians think about survivorship care?

Join us Sept. 10 at 1 PM ET for a live briefing on our new Survivorship Survey: Clinician Perspective and what the findings mean for the 18 million+ people living with, through, and beyond cancer.

🔗 Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2317858591407/WN_6Vcb_vPORhqD4N4SWkDT5A

Last chance to register for the free Cancer Nation Virtual Summit on Friday, September 4.

One afternoon, built around what survivors and families actually need: sleep, mental health, intimacy, and movement for life after diagnosis. All from the comfort of home.

Your seat is waiting. Register now: https://canceradvocacy.org/get-involved/advocates/2026-virtual-summit/

We’re proud to announce Michael Milken as the recipient of Cancer Nation’s 2026 March Forward Award, recognizing individuals whose leadership, investment, or advocacy has fundamentally changed how our nation researches, treats, or cares for people with cancer.

Milken played an important role in organizing The March in 1998, when survivors, advocates, and policymakers came together in Washington to demand more. In the decades since, he has continued to advance cancer research and innovation and help move cancer care forward.

This November, we’ll honor his survivorship and decades of leadership at Cancer Nation’s 40th Anniversary Gala in Washington, D.C.

Progress in cancer care has never been handed down. It has always been marched forward.

🔗 Join us as we honor Michael Milken: https://canceradvocacy.org/michael-milken-to-receive-inaugural-march-forward-award-cancer-nation/
Milken Institute

Register now for the free Cancer Nation Virtual Summit on Friday, September 4.

Join us this Friday for an afternoon built around what survivors and families actually need: sleep, mental health, intimacy, and movement for life after diagnosis. All from the comfort of home.

Your seat is waiting. Register now: https://canceradvocacy.org/get-involved/advocates/2026-virtual-summit/