Cancer Crowdfunding Campaigns Cite Financial Struggles, Health-Related Needs

More than a third of the cancer-related campaigns on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe cite medical financial hardships and health-related social needs, according to research published in JAMA Oncology.¹

The financial hardships include struggles with the cost of medical care and a patient’s insurance denying coverage, while health-related social needs are most commonly job-related, such as employment disruption, loss of income, and lack of sick leave.

For this study, researchers retrieved data from all cancer-related GoFundMe pages from January 1, 2021, to May 31, 2023. The team used ChatGPT (v3.5) to extract data from the pages, including patient sociodemographic characteristics, cancer diagnosis and treatment information, and reasons for requesting financial assistance.

The researchers identified 91,113 cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns. The majority of the patients featured in the campaigns were women (57.1%) and 18-64 years of age (62.9%). Most campaigns (79.0%) mentioned the patient’s cancer type. The most common cancer types were breast cancer (20.5%), blood cancers (16.9%), brain cancer (12.7%), colorectal cancer (8.4%), and lung cancer (7.8%).

The patients’ stage at diagnosis was mentioned in 33.9% of campaigns, and 67.4% of those campaigns were for patients with stage IV disease. About half of campaigns (52.6%) mentioned receiving cancer treatment, with chemotherapy being the most common treatment (77.5%).

Overall, 35.9% of the campaigns cited any medical financial hardship or health-related social need.² Of the campaigns that cited medical financial hardships (25.5%), the most common hardship was struggling with medical costs (n=22,137).¹ Campaigns also cited insurance coverage denial (n=415).

Of the campaigns that mentioned health-related social needs (24.1%), the most common were employment disruption (n=13,860), income loss (n=11,483), and lack of sick leave (n=6976). Struggles with monthly bills (n=4060), transportation expenses (n=3845), housing expenses (n=3391), food expenses (n=3046), and school absenteeism (n=1115) were also mentioned.

Most campaigns (88.5%) had a fundraising goal of $5000 or more, with 43.4% requesting $15,000 or more. However, few campaigns (11.4%) met their fundraising goal during the study period.

“Sadly, financial hardship is common among cancer survivors across the country, forcing a growing number of patients and their families to use personal crowdfunding as an alternative source to raise money,” study author Zhiyuan (Jason) Zheng, PhD, of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, said in a statement.² “These findings show the intense difficulties in meeting basic medical and social needs, underscoring the fragility of safety nets in the US.”

Disclosures: There was no funding listed for this study. Some study authors disclosed conflicts of interest. Please see the original reference for complete disclosures.