Hope Heals Annual Tri-Community Cancer Awareness WalkExplore the event A GRAVES FAMILY PROJECT FOR HOPE AND CLARITY
Practical cancer resources, research in plain language, and a community that remembers and celebrates. A Graves family project, beginning in South Carolina and welcoming everyone.
Reviewed monthly · Last reviewed September 6, 2026 · Research and resource links connect to their sources
SUPPORT THAT MEETS REAL LIFE
Choose the situation closest to yours. Eligibility changes by program, location, income, diagnosis, and available funds, but asking early can open more options.
No insurance or high out-of-pocket costs
Check whether you can enroll in a Marketplace plan now or qualify for Medicaid. HRSA-funded health centers provide primary care with fees adjusted for income and family size; ask what services and referrals are available. For bills from a tax-exempt hospital, request its written financial assistance policy and ask which hospital and clinician charges it covers.
Recently unemployed
Losing qualifying job-based coverage may give you a Marketplace Special Enrollment Period; you can generally select a plan within 60 days before or 60 days after that coverage ends. If federal COBRA applies, you have at least 60 days to elect it, measured from the later of the date the election notice is provided or the date coverage would otherwise end. Compare premiums, deductibles, prescriptions, and the cancer-care network; do not end existing coverage until replacement coverage is confirmed. Voluntarily ending COBRA early generally does not create a Marketplace Special Enrollment Period unless another qualifying event applies.
Retired or on Medicare
SHIP provides free personalized Medicare counseling about coverage, costs, rights, and appeals. If eligible, a Medicare Savings Program can help with Part A or Part B costs; Extra Help specifically lowers Part D prescription-drug costs. If retired but not yet on Medicare, review Marketplace, retiree-plan, and COBRA options separately.
Cancer has made work impossible
Social Security uses a strict disability standard: an adult generally must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable impairment that is expected to result in death or has lasted—or is expected to last—for a continuous period of at least 12 months. Some cancer claims meet or medically equal SSA’s cancer listings. Certain severe cancer conditions are on the Compassionate Allowances list and may receive faster processing, but Compassionate Allowances is not a separate benefit and the usual SSDI or SSI eligibility requirements still apply.
MORE THAN MEDICAL BILLS
An oncology social worker or financial navigator can help identify and apply for multiple programs. Availability and funding can change, so contact programs before making plans.
SUPPORT CLOSE TO HOME
Programs, eligibility, funding, and service areas change. Use these links as starting points, confirm details directly, and ask an oncology social worker or patient navigator to help coordinate options.
South Carolina-specific services are listed below these national directories.
No login or health information needed. Your choices stay in this page's memory; we do not send them to these providers. External sites have their own privacy practices. Directory links checked September 9, 2026.
For Hollings patients and caregivers, available services include social work, financial counseling, psychological support, support groups, survivorship programs, and help navigating travel. South Carolina programs can connect people with additional health, coverage, transportation, and everyday-needs resources.
When care crosses state lines, ask the insurer and hospital navigator about network rules, short-term lodging, and whether follow-up can happen closer to home.
For longer drives or repeated appointments, ask early about transportation, temporary lodging, local partner clinics, and weather-safe backup plans.
For rural, coastal, or cross-county travel, ask about satellite clinics and hospital lodging. If enrolled in Medicaid and without transportation to a covered service, ask the state or health plan about non-emergency medical transportation; eligibility, advance notice, authorization, and vendor rules vary.
Across large service areas, ask whether travel grants, lodging, telehealth follow-up, or a closer affiliated clinic can reduce repeated long-distance trips.
These are practical navigation links, not referrals or endorsements. Some NCI-designated centers focus on laboratory research and do not provide patient care; confirm services, insurance, and diagnosis fit directly. For a medical emergency or immediate physical danger, call 911. For suicidal thoughts, emotional distress, or a mental-health or substance-use crisis, call or text 988. For urgent cancer symptoms or treatment side effects, follow the care team's instructions and do not wait for this site.
RESEARCH, WITH CONTEXT
Understand what changed, who was studied, and what is still unknown. These updates are educational—not treatment recommendations.
FDA accelerated approval
Camizestrant with a CDK4/6 inhibitor received accelerated approval. In SERENA-6, switching treatment delayed cancer progression compared with continuing the existing combination.
Who: Adults with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer when an ESR1 mutation is detected during aromatase-inhibitor plus CDK4/6 treatment using an FDA-authorized test.
Keep in mind: Survival results remain immature and confirmatory evidence is required. Serious heart-rhythm risks require clinician review. This is not an option for every breast cancer.
Research direction · feasibility studies and trials
Researchers are testing medicines on living tumor cells to help personalize treatment. NCI describes feasibility studies and clinical trials at cancer centers.
Who: People considering research opportunities with their care team; eligibility depends on the particular study.
Keep in mind: This is not a proven, routine option for everyone. Stronger clinical evidence, standardized testing, fresh tissue handling, and clearer coverage are still needed.
These four cancers account for nearly half of projected U.S. diagnoses in 2026. The summaries below describe ongoing research directions.
PSMA PET imaging and PSMA-targeted radioligand therapy, inherited and tumor genetic changes, and active surveillance for low-risk disease.
Ask about: stage, risk group, PSA pattern, imaging, and whether biomarker testing could change care.
Follow this research at NCIAntibody-drug conjugates, endocrine and HER2-targeted therapies, and treatment choices guided, when relevant, by hormone-receptor, HER2, and genomic results.
Ask about: hormone receptors, HER2, inherited risk, stage, and which test result guides each treatment.
Follow this research at NCIImproving access to established low-dose CT screening for eligible people, earlier-detection tests, tumor biomarker testing for non-small cell lung cancer, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy combinations.
Ask about: cancer subtype and stage; for non-small cell lung cancer, whether comprehensive biomarker testing is complete; and whether a family member separately meets age and smoking-history screening criteria.
Follow this research at NCIStudies of circulating tumor DNA after surgery, MSI/MMR biomarkers, immunotherapy for selected tumors, mutation-targeted treatments, and improving screening and follow-up access.
Ask about: tumor location, MSI/MMR testing, inherited risk, stage, and the goal of each recommended treatment.
Follow this research at NCIProjected diagnosis counts are 2026 U.S. estimates reported by NCI SEER from American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures 2026. Projections describe population burden, not an individual forecast.
A listing is not a recommendation. Bring the study’s NCT number to an oncologist or trial navigator to discuss eligibility, risks, travel, and costs.
DIAGNOSIS PATTERNS
These are population-level patterns, not predictions. They can help communities see where screening, research, and access deserve attention.
Sorted by share of all new cancer cases
SEER 21 share of new cases across all cancer sites, 2019-2023. A larger share does not mean every person in that age group has the same risk.
Choose a population to compare
Selected population
Different populations: breast rates are among females, prostate rates among males, and the other rates among all people. These are not a single ranking of personal risk.
Age-adjusted incidence rates from SEER 21, 2019-2023. Breast rates shown are among females and prostate rates among males, so they are not direct comparisons across one identical population. Race and ethnicity are social and demographic measures—not biological destiny—and observed differences can reflect exposure, access, screening, diagnosis, and many other factors.
HOPE HEALS EVENTS
Find the next gathering, see what to expect, and make a plan to join us.
WHY HOPE HEALS EXISTS
Hope Heals grows from the Graves family's desire to make the cancer journey feel less isolating, help people find a clearer next step, and keep community close through difficult seasons.
This website is one part of that continuing story: a living guide to public research, practical resources, regional support, gatherings, remembrance, and encouragement.
Open the story on YouTube ↗REMEMBER + CELEBRATE
We want to remember those we have lost with dignity and celebrate survivors in their own words. No names, photographs, health details, or personal stories should be shared here without clear permission.
READ WITH CONFIDENCE
Separate a laboratory finding, a trial result, and an FDA approval. They are different stages of evidence.
Cancer type, stage, biomarkers, prior treatments, age, and access to care can all change what a result means.
Look for study size, side effects, length of follow-up, and whether the finding has been independently reviewed.
