Our Story

The story of CancerForward is a story of survivors. In their own cancer experiences, the organization’s founders recognized a need that was ultimately filled by CancerForward and The Survivor Network at CancerForward.In an effort to educate as many women as possible, Beth Sanders Moore in 2001 first spoke of her breast cancer to a large audience at a highly-publicized event. Though she then had been involved in promoting breast health for more than 10 years, she was stunned at the number of emails and phone calls she received after her disclosure. Women from across America reached out, wanting to discuss and share their own experiences. That’s when Beth realized that though there were organizations funding survivorship advocacy and research, there was not a single place where breast cancer survivors could find survivor-specific educational materials and support resources and also exchange their individual survivor experiences.

Further research revealed there was not a similar resource dedicated to survivors of all types of cancer. That was not surprising since the concept of cancer survivorship — today widely accepted and addressed by the cancer research, prevention and treatment communities — has a relatively short history dating first to 1986.

Hence, a movement began in Houston in 2007 to build an organization that would fill a void in cancer survivorship: a digital communications source of survivor-specific education and resource information that also provides a network for peer support. It was to become CancerForward.

CancerForward: The Foundation For Cancer Survivors was launched on National Cancer Survivors Day in 2010. Upon the Foundation’s inception, the seven largest healthcare institutions operating in the Texas Medical Center through their chief executive officers issued a joint public statement to emphasize the need for and importance of collaboration between health care institutions and public charities like CancerForward in developing cancer survivorship and rehabilitation programs.

Since its founding in 2010, CancerForward has attracted hundreds of thousands of survivors who once on CancerForward.org, have full access to a huge volume of up-to-date information, all of which is overseen by a national advisory board of 30 survivorship experts and advocates.

By joining The Survivor Network at CancerForward, survivors can connect to share experiences and information. They can join groups, ask questions and subscribe to blogs, webinars and live chats. They can use our site as a source for education and comfort or to supplement a traditional brick-and-mortar support group.

As detection and treatments improve, more patients are living with, through and beyond their cancer diagnoses. With CancerForward, a survivor – no matter how limited financially or isolated geographically – has access to support and information 24/7. With CancerForward, no survivor is ever alone.