People living with cancer today are navigating two realities at once: a moment of extraordinary scientific progress, and one of extraordinary complexity.
Science and information about cancer are advancing faster than ever. Five-year relative survival rates are rising.1 More therapies are reaching patients who, just a decade ago, had far fewer options.2 But every advancement brings new questions. More treatments require more decisions. More data means more to interpret. More specialists mean more coordination. The cancer care system is being asked to evolve rapidly because what's possible for patients has fundamentally changed.
At Novartis, we want to understand how that evolution is being experienced by patients, caregivers, and the oncologists who care for them. So we asked and listened.
Introducing the Novartis Next Generation Cancer Care Survey
Novartis Next Generation Cancer Care Survey is a nationwide survey capturing the perspectives of patients, caregivers, oncologists, and care team professionals across the United States. More than 2,000 respondents shared how they are experiencing cancer care today — what's working, what's evolving, and where they feel the system is being stretched thin by the very progress it has enabled.
This is the beginning of a conversation. In the months ahead, we'll share disease-specific insights, a deeper look at the caregiver experience, and demographic findings, all developed in partnership with leading advocacy organizations. But even at this early stage, three themes stand out.
What we're seeing through the Novartis Next Generation Cancer Care Survey is that progress in cancer care is changing what patients expect. The science has advanced and now the experience must continue to evolve alongside it. We don't see this as a set of problems to solve alone. We see it as a conversation to have together, with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and advocates leading the way in shaping what comes next.
At Novartis, we believe that the path forward must be shaped in collaboration and co-creation with patients, caregivers, clinicians, advocacy organizations, health systems, and policymakers. The Novartis Next Generation Cancer Care Survey is our invitation to that partnership.
"What we're seeing through the Novartis Next Generation Cancer Care Survey is that progress in cancer care is changing what patients expect. The science has advanced and now the experience must continue to evolve alongside it. We don't see this as a set of problems to solve alone. We see it as a conversation to have together, with patients, caregivers, clinicians, and advocates leading the way in shaping what comes next." — Mitchell Medland, Senior Vice President, US Therapeutic Area Head of Oncology
Three Insights Shaping the Future of Cancer Care
1. Expectations Are Evolving Faster Than the Systems Designed to Support Them
Today's cancer patients are more informed, more engaged, and more determined to be active partners in their care than any generation before them. They want treatment plans shaped around their biomarkers, their priorities, and their daily lives.3
That expectation is a direct reflection of how far oncology has come. As care has become more personalized, patients have come to expect personalization in every part of their experience,3 not just in their therapy, but in how they are communicated with, supported, and understood.
The opportunity ahead is to continue evolving the experience of care to match the pace of scientific progress.
2. Trust Is Being Tested in a New Information Landscape
Patients and caregivers today have access to more information than ever, and more sources of it. From digital tools to AI to peer communities, the ecosystem of information surrounding a cancer diagnosis has expanded dramatically.
This abundance is a sign of progress. It is also a new kind of challenge. Patients are working to determine which voices to trust, which tools to use, and how to bring those tools into conversations with their care teams. Clinicians, for their part, are navigating how to guide patients through a landscape that is changing faster than any single appointment can accommodate. 3
The opportunity ahead is to help build trust-based pathways, between patients, clinicians, and the information environment they now share.
3. The Experience of Cancer Care Still Varies by Geography and Circumstance
Even as treatment options expand, the lived experience of cancer care is not the same for everyone. Where a patient lives, the resources available to them, and the network of support around them continue to shape how they move through diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.3
This is not a new reality, but it is one that becomes more visible as the science advances. When more options exist, equitable access to those options becomes more consequential.
The opportunity ahead is to ensure that progress in oncology reaches every patient, regardless of geography or circumstance.
Turning Insights into Co-Created Solutions
These tensions are not problems to be solved in isolation. They are signals pointing to where the cancer care experience is being asked to evolve alongside the science.
Read More About the Next Generation Cancer Patient
An invitation without action is just a statement. This survey is the start of a conversation and we're already building the collaborations and forums to advance the conversation it has opened.
We will be working with leading advocacy organizations to co-develop the next phases of this research by going deeper on the disease-specific, caregiver, and demographic insights that matter most to the communities they serve. We are convening patients, clinicians, and advocates to translate these findings into shared priorities. We are then bringing these insights to the broader healthcare ecosystem, from policy conversations to scientific meetings, so the tensions that surface here help inform decisions being made across the system.
We believe that by listening carefully, partnering broadly, and acting with urgency, we can help shape a cancer care experience that keeps pace with the science.
This is the first chapter. We invite you to help us write the next one.
