People are getting cancer earlier and living longer, meaning they’re having to figure out how to navigate various aspects of life after diagnosis.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
There are more than 18 million cancer survivors in the United States today. That’s a huge increase over a generation, and they live with various aftereffects of cancer and its treatments. NPR’s Yuki Noguchi’s series Life After Diagnosis explores how patients are getting on with their lives. Yuki, thanks so much for being with us.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: Why are there so many more cancer survivors?
NOGUCHI: Yeah. I mean, a generation ago, cancer survivorship was rare. You know, survivors made up 1% of the population. And today they make up 5.4% and growing and there’s two reasons for that. One of them is very good – technology is driving medical breakthroughs to make cancer much more survivable. AI, for example, can spot tumors in images that we couldn’t see before. And genetic tools allow us to design better drugs that kill the cancer better. So even patients with advanced disease today can live for many years.
SIMON: But what’s the second reason?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, so the second reason is not a good one. There are more survivors because cancer is becoming much more common, and especially among young adults. Cancer is affecting more young people, which before was rare.
SIMON: Do we know what’s behind this increase in young adults getting cancer?
NOGUCHI: You know, it’s not clear what’s driving it, and it could be many things. Obesity, for example, increases risk of cancer like breast or liver. And pollutants like microplastics and forever chemicals in our water may be carcinogenic. But then, you know, other carcinogens like cigarettes have been on the decline. So, you know, science hasn’t quite pinned down all the causes.
But being young with cancer also changes survivorship. You know, these are patients in the prime of their lives. They’re building careers and families and trying to save money, and cancer complicates all of that. And, of course, emotionally, confronting mortality is difficult and isolating. And the younger you are, you know, the less likely you are to have peers who can relate to living with illness. But I will tell you, I also hear how facing this disease clarifies so much about life. And I hear powerful wisdom from people like Lourdes Monje, a 29-year-old who’s lived with metastatic breast cancer for four years. And recently, Monje’s parents ordered their native Peruvian food for lunch.
LOURDES MONJE: And I was, like, what’s the special occasion? They were, like, you’re here. And I was, like, oh, thank you. Like, there’s just so much more celebrating little moments like that. It makes me savor those good moments – those good little moments so much more. “On paper,” quote-unquote, I have less than I used to, but, like, the value of my life feels so much more.
SIMON: That sounds so intense and wise. But how do – how do people find the support they need?
NOGUCHI: Yeah, that’s just it. I mean, there can be so much going on in a young adult’s life, you know, all of which can be affected by cancer. So their needs are different and more complex often than, you know, a generation ago. And that’s something cancer support groups have started realizing. But I don’t think society as a whole has recognized or understood how to meet those needs. Those who are able to find the support and tap into that grit and tenacity to make it through, they do recognize that need. And I think of EJ Beck. She was 10 when she got thyroid cancer, and now she’s 23 and a medical student at the very hospital where she received treatments.
EJ BECK: It was extremely identity-forming to me. It helped me understand people’s pain more and gave me a mission that I’ve carried with me in life to become a physician who gives back to a field that’s given me so much.
NOGUCHI: You know, it’s given me so much to talk to people like Beck and Monje, and I’m excited to share other stories of people who show similar and remarkable grace and resilience.
SIMON: Well, thank you for bringing us those voices. NPR’s Yuki Noguchi. And we look forward to hearing more stories in your series, Life After Diagnosis. Thank you.
NOGUCHI: Thank you.
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