public-figure
No description yet: the sentence for this tag has not been written. 13 records carry it: 13 people.
13 records
| Cancers | Other tags | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Angelina Jolie Patient whose public account of BRCA1 testing and risk-reducing surgery changed testing uptake Her 2013 New York Times essay about carrying a BRCA1 mutation and choosing preventive mastectomy roughly doubled referrals for hereditary cancer testing in several countries: the "Angelina Jolie effect". | Ovarian cancer, Triple-negative breast cancer | none | patient, advocate | ||
Betty Ford First Lady who spoke openly about her mastectomy in 1974 Weeks after becoming First Lady in 1974 she had a mastectomy and, unusually for the time, said so publicly. Clinics recorded a surge of women coming for breast examinations. | none | none | patient, advocate | ||
Chadwick Boseman Actor whose death brought early-onset colorectal cancer into public view He made Black Panther and other films while being treated for colon cancer, which he kept private. His death at 43 in 2020 forced attention on rising colorectal cancer in young adults and its heavier toll on Black Americans. | Colorectal cancer | none | patient | ||
Gilda Radner Comedian whose ovarian cancer inspired Gilda's Club and a hereditary cancer registry The Saturday Night Live star wrote about her ovarian cancer in It's Always Something and died at 42 in 1989. Her name lives on in Gilda's Club and the familial ovarian cancer registry at Roswell Park. | Ovarian cancer | none | patient | ||
Jade Goody Patient whose public illness lifted cervical screening attendance in Britain A reality-television star whose cervical cancer and death at 27 in 2009 were followed by hundreds of thousands of extra cervical screening tests in England: the "Jade Goody effect". | Cervical cancer | none | patient | ||
Jim Valvano Basketball coach whose ESPY speech founded the V Foundation for Cancer Research Dying of metastatic cancer, he told an audience in 1993, "Don't give up, don't ever give up," and announced a foundation that has since granted hundreds of millions of dollars to cancer research. | Cancer of unknown primary | none | patient, advocate | ||
Katie Couric Widow, journalist and later patient; the on-air colonoscopy that lifted screening rates After her husband died of colon cancer at 42, she had a colonoscopy live on national television in 2000. Screening rates rose measurably afterwards: the "Couric effect". | Colorectal cancer | none | carer, advocate, patient | ||
Lance Armstrong Survivor who built the Livestrong survivorship movement; later disgraced in sport Treated in 1996 for testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain, he founded the foundation that made survivorship a public cause and sold 80 million yellow wristbands. His doping and its exposure in 2012 complicate the legacy. | Testicular germ cell tumours | none | patient, advocate | ||
Sherry Lansing Film executive who co-founded Stand Up To Cancer in 2008 The former Paramount chief co-founded Stand Up To Cancer, whose televised specials and Dream Teams have pledged over $800 million to collaborative research that fed into several approved cancer drugs. | none | none | donor | ||
Sir Chris Hoy Olympic cyclist living with stage 4 prostate cancer; founder of the Tour de 4 charity ride Britain's most decorated Olympic cyclist made his stage 4 prostate cancer public in 2024 and founded Tour de 4, a mass ride that shows people can live well with advanced cancer and has raised more than £2.7 million for cancer charities. | Prostate cancer | none | donor, patient | ||
Steve Jobs Patient whose delay of surgery for a neuroendocrine tumour became a public debate Diagnosed in 2003 with a rare, slow-growing pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour, he put off surgery for about nine months while trying diet and alternative approaches. His case is the standard example in discussions of delay and unproven therapies. | Neuroendocrine tumours | none | patient | ||
Ted Williams Boston Red Sox star who was the Jimmy Fund's public champion for half a century From the 1940s until his last clinic visit in 1999 the greatest hitter in baseball raised money for Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund and visited children on the wards on condition that no one wrote about it. | none | none | donor | ||
Walter Winchell Broadcaster whose 1946 radio appeal founded the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation When his friend Damon Runyon died of throat cancer in 1946 he asked his radio audience for a penny, a nickel, a dime or a dollar; the fund he started has invested over $490 million and backed more than 4,000 scientists. | Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma | none | donor |
