When Ewing’s sarcoma survivor Erica Nowell learned that her older brother, Chris Plummer, had cancer earlier this year, she was shocked. But when she found out he’d been diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma — a subtype of sarcoma — she was stunned.

“As a nurse practitioner at MD Anderson West Houston, I went through the motions of being empathetic and guiding him through next steps,” says Erica. “But as a sister, it took me several...