Cancer, Disability, and the Gaps in Care

This book looks closely at where cancer and disability meet, and what that means in real terms for people living through and beyond the disease. A cancer diagnosis and its treatment can leave lasting effects, whether physical, cognitive, or emotional, that do not simply disappear when treatment ends. As survival rates improve, these longer-term consequences are becoming harder to ignore, exposing gaps in rehabilitation, follow-up care, and the wider systems meant to support recovery. The chapters bring together perspectives from oncology, rehabilitation, psychology, public health, law, and global health to explore this space with some care. Cancer-related disability is considered not only as a direct outcome of disease, but also as something shaped by treatment, by access to care, and by the social conditions in which people live. The book moves through the different dimensions of this experience, from neurocognitive and psychological effects to questions of work, identity, and social participation.

It is structured in nine chapters. It begins by setting out the clinical and conceptual foundations of cancer as a disability experience, then turns to the neurological and psychological aftereffects of treatment. From there, it considers rehabilitation, the challenges of returning to work, and the ways disability intersects with broader social and economic factors. Later chapters look outward, examining cancer and disability in low-resource and humanitarian settings, as well as the legal and policy frameworks that shape access to care and rights. The final section reflects on where the field is heading, with attention to new approaches in service delivery and policy.

The overall aim is to offer a clearer way of thinking about cancer-related disability, and in doing so, to support more thoughtful care for those living with cancer and for those who continue to live with its consequences.