A Modern Solution to Loneliness and Isolation in Cancer Care

When it comes to cancer, feelings of loneliness and isolation are heartbreakingly common. For many, connection isn’t just a comfort—it’s a lifeline. A cancer diagnosis disrupts every aspect of life, creating distance from friends, family, and the world that once felt familiar. Even the most supportive loved ones often don’t know what to say, and patients can begin to feel invisible in their own lives.

Imagine being immunocompromised and afraid to hug your children or see your friends. Imagine being a caregiver who stays home for months, fearful that a single exposure to germs could endanger the person you love most. This is the quiet reality for so many facing cancer, and it’s a kind of loneliness that medicine alone cannot cure.

At the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation, we see this every day—and it’s why we created CancerBuddy. Our goal has always been to ensure that no one has to face cancer alone. CancerBuddy, one of the Foundation’s primary areas of focus, is a safe, free, and user-friendly mobile app that connects patients, survivors, and caregivers with others who truly understand their journey.
The app uses customizable filters—diagnosis, treatment, hospital, age, and location—to help users find peers in similar situations. It allows someone going through chemo in a rural town to connect with another patient halfway across the country. It allows a young adult survivor to meet others rebuilding their lives after treatment. And it gives caregivers a place to share their fears, frustrations, and hard-earned wisdom with others who have walked the same path.

Research shows that these kinds of connections are not just emotionally healing—they can improve outcomes. Studies link loneliness and isolation to poorer mental health, slower recovery, and even lower survival rates. Conversely, strong social support helps patients cope better, stay engaged in treatment, and maintain a sense of hope and control. The evidence is clear: connection is part of care.

Yet even as cancer treatment advances, social and emotional support have not kept pace. Most hospitals provide excellent medical care but lack the capacity to build ongoing peer connections. Traditional support groups, while valuable, are limited by schedules, geography, and staffing. They often don’t account for the diversity of cancer experiences—age, identity, treatment type, or life stage—all of which shape how people connect.

CancerBuddy bridges this gap. It modernizes psychosocial care by offering patients an accessible, secure space to connect anytime, anywhere. Hospitals can even create private groups within the app, giving their patients a safe, moderated environment that extends beyond clinic walls.

What makes this initiative especially meaningful to us is that it’s entirely free. There are no subscriptions, no paywalls—just human connection. We believe that emotional support should never depend on financial means. By breaking down barriers of distance, cost, and circumstance, CancerBuddy helps restore what cancer too often takes away: community, understanding, and hope.

As the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation continues its mission to provide financial assistance, housing, counseling, and education, CancerBuddy stands at the heart of our commitment to holistic, human-centered care. It’s not just an app—it’s a movement to ensure that every person touched by cancer feels seen, supported, and never alone.

CancerBuddy is available for free on iOS and Android. Because connection is healing—and no one should face cancer alone.