Who’s behind this, and how we review

Our content is built on trusted public sources

Cancer Explained does not invent medical information. Almost everything here is a plain-language summary of trusted, publicly available sources — especially U.S. government health agencies like the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH, along with organizations such as the American Cancer Society. Much of this material is public information created for patients and the public. We summarize and link to it — we don’t copy it — and we work to keep our wording careful and accurate.

Every article lists its main source and shows when it was last reviewed. You can read our full content creation & review process, which covers how we plan topics, check facts, and handle higher-risk subjects with extra care.

An honest word about review

We’re a small nonprofit. It isn’t possible for a licensed clinician to personally review every page on a library this large — and we’d rather be honest about that than pretend otherwise. So we protect quality a different way: we keep our content closely anchored to trusted public sources, we don’t add new or risky claims of our own, and we use careful wording like “may help,” “is linked with,” and “talk with your care team.”

Higher-risk topics — such as treatments, medications, prognosis, and urgent symptoms — stick to summarizing trusted sources, always point you back to your care team, and include emergency guidance where appropriate. We never provide a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.

Who leads Cancer Explained

Cancer Explained is led by a founder with a background in health promotion, psychology, and cancer-focused nonprofit work — not a practicing physician. That experience includes:

• Bachelor's degree in Health Promotion, and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Work on NCI-funded public-health research projects over the years, including tobacco cessation and studies of youth access to tobacco in stores and online
• Experience working in a hospital setting (Duke / Durham Regional)
• A year of graduate study in a Physician Assistant program
• Five years at the American Cancer Society, working in technology and e-commerce

This background shapes how we choose topics, write in plain language, and care about doing this responsibly. It is not a substitute for professional medical review, and we don’t present it as clinical authority — which is exactly why we anchor everything to trusted public sources and point you to your own care team.

Are you a clinician? Help us review

We welcome doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, and other health professionals who would like to volunteer to review content in their area of expertise. If that’s you, we’d be grateful to hear from you at [email protected].

Found something off? Tell us

If anything here is confusing, outdated, or possibly incorrect, please let us know so we can review it. We read every message and use it to make our guides better.

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