Cancer support groups are meetings that offer a safe space for people affected by cancer to share their experiences and emotions with other people who have cancer. People in stressful situations benefit from having a good social support system, and a cancer support group can be part of a support system.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1949, is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer in the world. The LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
The Livestrong Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer. The foundation, based in Austin, Texas, was established in 1997 by cancer survivor and former professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, as the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The Livestrong brand was launched by the foundation in 2003. Armstrong resigned from the foundation in 2012 after his admission of doping, leading to the rebranding of the entire organization as Livestrong Foundation.
Gilda's Club is a community organization for people with cancer, their families and friends. Local chapters provide meeting places where those who have cancer, their families, and friends can join with others to build emotional and social support as a supplement to medical care. Free of charge and nonprofit, Gilda's Club chapters offer support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events in a nonresidential, homelike setting. The club was named in honor of the original Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
The Canadian Cancer Society is Canada's largest national cancer charity and the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada.
Susan G. Komen is a breast cancer organization in the United States.
The American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA), founded in 1973, was the first and is now the only national nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to providing support services and programs to brain tumor patients and their families, as well as the funding of brain tumor research.
City of Hope is a private, non-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate school located in Duarte, California, United States. The center's main campus resides on 110 acres (45 ha) of land adjacent to the boundaries of Duarte and Irwindale, with a network of clinical practice locations throughout Southern California, satellite offices in Monrovia and Irwindale, and regional fundraising offices throughout the United States.
A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commonly assist with impairments related to old age, disability, a disease, or a mental disorder.
Colorectal Cancer Alliance is the largest and oldest colorectal cancer non-profit organization in the US.
Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. LBBC works with women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and their caregivers throughout their experience of diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Their goal to be a "high-touch organization" that provides people with information and support of relevance to their personal experience of breast cancer. The organization supports studies of health care that are sensitive to issues of ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and diagnosis.
Sharsheret is a nonprofit organization with the goal of supporting Jewish women diagnosed with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Through its work and research efforts, Sharsheret provides healthcare resources, financial assistance, communal support, and educational programs to thousands of women and their families in the United States. Sharsheret has offices in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. They are headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. Sharsheret primarily works with young women and Jewish families as Ashkenazi Jews are at higher risk of carrying a BRCA gene mutation, but also aids men and women from other backgrounds.
An informal or primary caregiver is an individual in a cancer patient's life that provides unpaid assistance and cancer-related care. Due to the typically late onset of cancer, caregivers are often the spouses and/or children of patients, but may also be parents, other family members, or close friends. Informal caregivers are a major form of support for the cancer patient because they provide most care outside of the hospital environment. This support includes:
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is a United States-based 501(c)(3) charity that funds research, provides patient/caregiver support, conducts community outreach and advocates for increased federal research funding for those affected by pancreatic cancer.
The Cancer Support Community (CSC) focuses on three areas of support: direct service delivery, research, and advocacy.
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on ovarian cancer research, advocacy and patient support. The organization was formed in January 2016 when the former not-for-profit organization Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, which focused primarily on ovarian cancer research, combined with Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, which focused primarily on ovarian cancer advocacy and support programs, to form one organization.
Cycle for Survival is a nationwide (US) movement to beat rare cancers, owned and operated by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). Since its inception in 2007, Cycle for Survival—with support from its founding partner Equinox Fitness—has raised more than $208 million as of 2019. Cycle for Survival directly allocates 100% of all donations to rare cancer research led by MSK within six months of the events.
Inspire is an Arlington, Virginia-based healthcare social network. It builds and manages online health communities for patients and caregivers, and connects patients to life science companies for the purpose of research.
The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is a U.S. breast cancer organization that promotes breast cancer awareness and education, provides free screening services, and supports breast cancer patients and survivors.
