Abstract A028: Cancer as a social variable for intersectionality

Abstract In my 2022 JAMA Oncology article in which I described my lived experience with breast cancer, I mentioned in passing that, “My cancer diagnosis made me keenly aware of another axis of social categories: health vs. disease.”1 Drawing on the work of Audre Lorde and Patricia Hill Collins, this paper expands the scope of intersectionality to include not just health versus ill health, but specifically cancer. Those facing cancer have particular experiences that are more impactful mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically, than simply having poor health; cancer makes you face lifelong treatment, as is the case with metastatic cancer, or you live each day knowing that cancer could reappear, which also takes a toll. The impact of cancer is felt across the various domains of power outlined by Collins, as well. For this reason, it is the contention here that having cancer, or not, is an important intersectional social variable to include in any population studies. Citation Format: Kristi Tredway. Cancer as a social variable for intersectionality [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A028.