Working with Cancer: How the Law Can Help Survivors Maintain Employment

Advances in cancer treatment are saving lives, but along with the benefits come challenges. Millions of cancer survivors of working age need to support themselves and their families. This Article looks at the impact of cancer on employment starting with the empirical evidence gathered by researchers affiliated with medical centers. This empirical research provides a base, not previously explored in the legal literature, for assessing the existing laws dealing with cancer and employment (or unemployment).

Viewing the law through this lens, which reveals the complex relationship between cancer and employment, exposes both the promise and the weakness of existing laws and offers ideas about legal changes that would better meet the needs of cancer survivors and their families.