We start with trusted sources
Cancer Explained is built around public, authoritative sources such as NCI, NIH, CDC, MedlinePlus, WHO, and professional or nonprofit resources when appropriate.
Why this exists
Cancer information already exists. Understanding it is the hard part.
Cancer Explained does not replace NCI, CDC, WHO, MedlinePlus, cancer nonprofits, hospitals, clinicians, or patient navigators. It helps readers use those sources more calmly by turning dense information into plain-language pathways, questions, and source-linked explanations.
What makes the site different
We explain what the source means
Our job is to slow the language down: define terms, show context, name uncertainty, and help readers prepare better questions for their care team.
We label review honestly
Source checks, AI safety checks, editorial review, and human medical review are different things. We do not call a page medically reviewed unless a named qualified reviewer is documented.
We keep access simple
The site is free, ad-free, and designed for quick starts, printables, low-bandwidth access, multilingual routing, and readers who are tired or overwhelmed.
What the landscape is missing
The point is not to out-authority the sources that already do serious public-health work. The point is to help real people move through those sources when the moment is confusing, emotional, or too dense to parse.
What established sources do well
National agencies, medical libraries, hospitals, and oncology organizations are the authority layer. They publish broad, reviewed information, datasets, treatment overviews, screening guidance, and support directories.
Where readers still get stuck
Trusted pages can still feel dense when someone is newly diagnosed, tired, grieving, translating for family, comparing news claims, or trying to work out what to ask next.
Where Cancer Explained fits
This site is the navigation and explanation layer: short paths, plain words, source links, definitions, tools, checklists, and honest labels about what has and has not been reviewed.
Our role is navigation, not authority theater
A reader may arrive with a pathology word, a side effect, a screening question, a caregiver worry, or a news claim. The goal is to help them find a safe next page, understand what is known, and know what still belongs with a qualified professional.
- plain-language roadmaps instead of only topic indexes
- source links and correction paths near educational content
- educational tools that run with clear limits
- no ads, no paywall, and no selling medical attention
- donation and funding disclosures kept separate from editorial decisions
What needs protecting
This is not legal advice, but it is an operating rule: as the nonprofit grows, the project should protect its own original work while respecting the rights, names, logos, stories, and materials of everyone else.
Brand and name
The name, domain, visual identity, and public fundraising language should receive trademark clearance before major scale, partnerships, merchandise, or licensing.
Original work
Original explanations, layouts, taxonomies, tools, review systems, and educational designs should be tracked as Cancer Explained assets while clearly separating third-party source material.
Source and media rights
Source pages should be cited and linked, not copied wholesale. Images, diagrams, fonts, icons, research figures, logos, and public stories need license or permission records.
Inventions and tools
A patent review would only make sense for genuinely novel technical systems. Most website content, navigation, and educational writing is better protected through copyright, trademark, contracts, and provenance records.
How to check our work
Questions about the project? Email [email protected].