Courage. Hope. Love. Faith. Strength. Wisdom. These are a few of the gifts that our cancer survivors shared with us on Cancerwise this past...

How do you explain cancer — or the effects of cancer treatment — to a young child? How do manage everyday life when one of your own children...

It hasn’t stopped being fun yet – and that applies both to their science and their marriage.

Nancy Jenkins, Ph.D., and Neal Copeland...

The holiday season can be stressful. That’s often even more true for cancer patients and their loved ones, who may be struggling to get in...

In 2006, I didn’t have any of the typical signs of melanoma: just a small bump on the top of my head behind my hairline. After a biopsy determined...

Even though several of Kelly Andersen’s relatives had faced prostate cancer, his own diagnosis in September 2013 came unexpectedly. He’d never...

Six months after Emily Augenstein’s acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis, a doctor in Pittsburgh told her that her allogeneic stem cell transplant...

Before I was diagnosed with stage III melanoma in August 2017, I used sunscreen the way I think a lot of people do: I applied it once whenever...

I am thankful for MD Anderson for so many reasons. After I had anal cancer surgery in November 2017, I went to MD Anderson The Woodlands...

Michael Kupferman, M.D., first came to MD Anderson in 2004 as a young head and neck surgeon. Today, he continues to perform surgeries, while...

Seeing all the color leave my wife’s face when she was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2011 is a hard memory to think about...

On Oct. 28, Mary Lindimore crossed the finish line of the IRONMAN Waco 70.3 triathlon. Alongside her was Cheryl Pfennig, the MD Anderson advanced...

As a gynecologic oncologist, I see women with every type of cancer related to the female reproductive system, except breast cancer. I treat...

Abdominal radical hysterectomies (also called “open” hysterectomies) typically are thought of as more difficult for patients to recover from...

My dad’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was in her 60s. But that was considered pretty normal at the time, so she didn’t...

As a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Puerto Rico, I always tell my patients that in any situation, no matter how hard or difficult it...

As a pediatrician, I’m not sure if my familiarity with disease has made my fight against colorectal cancer easier or harder. What I can tell...

Last updated Aug. 23, 2021

Because standard treatments have failed for so many patients, our goal at MD Anderson is to have a clinical...

After graduating from Purdue University in December 2016, I had no idea what I wanted to do professionally. But the “real world” was fast...

An immunotherapy clinical trial at MD Anderson helped me beat stage IV melanoma almost five years ago. But the side effects I experienced...

Because I treat patients in MD Anderson’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and I have a special interest in pancreatic cancer, I often get asked...

Frances Arnoult had a double mastectomy, but she never had to see what she would have looked like without breasts. That’s because her MD Anderson...

As a nurse navigator at MD Anderson in The Woodlands, I get to connect with breast cancer patients just as they’re contacting MD Anderson...

Before my liposarcoma diagnosis in November 2017, I was spending a lot of time at the gym. My focus was on improving my physical strength...

When I heard that Farrah Fawcett had died of anal cancer in June 2009, I remember saying out loud to myself, “Anal cancer? There is such a...

At MD Anderson, we don’t just practice medicine by the textbook — we are the ones writing those textbooks. That’s why it’s so important for...

I don’t get sick very often. And no one in my family has ever had cancer, so when I was diagnosed with leukemia in January 2012, I didn’t...

Before scaling Mt. Kilimanjaro in June 2018, I’d never climbed a real mountain. I live in Beaumont, Texas, which is only around 30 feet above...

I was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive granular cell cancer in May 2017. Because the disease is so unusual, I sought treatment at MD Anderson...

The first time I went to the myCancerConnection Cancer Survivorship Conference after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I remember feeling...

After being greeted by the breast cancer survivors who volunteer in MD Anderson’s Breast Center on my first day as a patient, I always knew...

Sometimes our surgeons must perform life-altering surgeries to remove cancer. And, in many cases, cancer surgeries have the potential to dramatically...

MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program™ is designed to reduce the time it takes to move promising cancer discoveries into the clinic, where they...

Every year, the number of cancer survivors grows. That’s why it’s becoming increasingly important for doctors to make sure cancer treatments...

Over the last two decades, I’ve learned a lot about MD Anderson as a caregiver, an employee, and most recently, a triple-negative breast cancer...

Looking back, I wish I’d asked more questions when I was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in July 2010.

I have plasmacytoid urothelial...

A nagging pain at the end of Sam Markota’s digestive tract suddenly became unbearable during a business trip to Thailand. The then-55-year-old...

During one of my first visits to MD Anderson, I went to The Learning Center and read about the type of skin cancer that’d been discovered...

Giulio Draetta, M.D., Ph.D., is a true global citizen whose passion for discovery put his career on a winding path with universities and pharmaceutical...

I was preparing for heart surgery when I received a lung cancer diagnosis. The two health problems could have had dire results, but fortunately...

Some days, I look back at my rectal cancer treatment, and I honestly can’t believe how far I’ve come. The fact that I’m not only alive but...

When I was diagnosed with my primary mediastinal large b-cell lymphoma diagnosis in November 2017, I was in the second trimester of my pregnancy...

As a registered nurse, Asha Bhandari was familiar with cancer – even less common cancer types, like oral cancer. But she never believed...

Cancer can have a lasting effect on a patient.

That’s why rehabilitation is often so important after cancer treatment or...

Clinical trials enable us to discover new and better cancer treatments. They offer patients access to cutting-edge treatments years before...

Many cancer patients will receive chemotherapy infusions as a part of their cancer treatment.

Sometimes, chemotherapy is delivered...

One gene can tell you a lot about your risk for developing cancer and how well you’re likely to respond to cancer treatment. But there’s only...

Each day nearly 200 pharmacists around MD Anderson dispense an average of 23,000 drug doses. That’s 8.4 million doses a year, one of the highest...

After I was diagnosed with stage IV bladder cancer in September 2014, I experienced many of the stages of grief.

My doctor initially...

Cancer is not uncommon in my family, but I was still totally unprepared for my own diagnosis.

In June 2015, I was a healthy 43-year-old...

During my 50-plus years as a nurse, I’ve witnessed some pretty amazing advances in medicine, and I’m convinced that they are due to research...

You may know that a pulmonologist specializes in treating diseases like pneumonia and asthma, but these specialized doctors also play a key...

Cancer is a really big deal, but I never thought about it like that because no one in my family had ever had it before. Then my twin sister...

I was raised believing that everything happens for a reason, and that’s exactly how I’ve chosen to approach my treatment for colorectal cancer...

A cancer support group is a safe place to share your experiences and connect with others facing the same challenges. It gives you the space...

It was the real-life scenario physicians and pharmacists had feared.

A woman entered the ICU with a high fever and low white blood...

Around 5,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with anal cancer each year, which is often treated using radiation therapy.

...

Imagine being able to talk to your doctors during brain tumor surgery without pain and give them immediate feedback while they operate...

When my daughter Aaliyah was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in November 2016 at age 9, I was shattered, vacillating hourly between two nearly...

I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre disease in 2012 and chronic inflammatory demyelating polyneuropathy (CIDP) in 2013. But I learned that...

I don’t like change. But sometimes you have to be willing to make one in order to survive.

That’s what I did. I’m a small town girl...

In November 2016, when I was 9 years old, I was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma. My parents took me to MD Anderson, where I had chemotherapy...

Hepatitis C is one of the leading causes of liver cancer. It’s also linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cancer in the bile ducts, and possibly...

Peter WT Pisters, M.D., MD Anderson’s fifth full-time president, began his role Dec. 1, with a renewed spirit of unity and excitement. Like...

When I was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (a precursor of acute myeloid leukemia) in July 2015, I don’t know what shocked me more...

Opioids are medications that can help manage pain caused by cancer and its treatment by blocking pain signals from injured nerves to the brain...

Angelina was Shamsha Damani’s best friend for three years. A constant in the MD Anderson program director’s daily life, well-known to her...

I started finding blood in my stool in the fall of 2013, but at the time, it didn’t seem that strange to me. Constipation runs in my family...

In the last five years, I’ve competed in 10 professional outrigger canoeing competitions across North and South America. I’ve also had stereotactic...

I resisted getting a feeding tube for as long as I could. I knew I’d have to use one eventually, but I didn’t feel ready for a long time....

My late husband, Josh, was diagnosed with stage IV synovial sarcoma — a rare type of soft tissue cancer — in November 2014. He fought the...

Sometimes knowledge is not all it’s cracked up to be. So, when I was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in July 2016, I told Dr. Robert...

It had been two years since Billa Woollam’s last mammogram, and she knew she was long overdue for one. But it was a strange sensation in her...

CAR T-cell therapy is a new type of cancer treatment offered at MD Anderson through clinical trials and FDA-approved standard of care cell...

I’ve been struggling to make myself understood ever since I was a senior in high school. In April 1985, I was diagnosed with stage III nasopharyngeal...

As a cancer caregiver, you’ve probably been told it’s important to take care of your own physical and mental health, too. But sometimes that...

During one of breast cancer survivor Margaret Looper’s early visits to MD Anderson some 15 years ago, a volunteer who escorted her to her...

Jan de Chambrier had always envisioned herself as a mother to several children. In 1990, she and her husband were on their way to fulfilling...

In high school, I didn’t have much of a social life. I had trouble with insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, depression and apathy. As time went on...

As a cancer survivor, you know that exercise is one of the key factors in lowering your risk of cancer recurrence. But how do you know if...

Dana MacFarlane may have been the one who received a leukemia diagnosis, but she’s certain every one of her family members suffered just as...

My late wife, Melissa, was diagnosed with stage IV synovial sarcoma — a rare type of soft tissue cancer — in January 2016. She died from complications...

When he was 15, my husband Jesse underwent a colectomy, a procedure that removed his colon. Jesse opted to do this after learning that he...

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer or have completed one treatment and are preparing yourself for the next, the thought of radiation...

Everyone is dealt a card or two in life that will pose their greatest challenges. For me, that card was being diagnosed with stage III lung...

Before I was on a clinical trial, I felt sorry for patients participating in them. I considered clinical trials a last-ditch effort, and felt...

When I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in January 2017, my biggest fear was how my kids would be affected.

My husband and...

Ten years ago, I completed my first shift as an inpatient volunteer at MD Anderson’s Texas Medical Center Campus. For the past six years I...