Atlanta emerges as an innovative hub to redefine cancer care, survivorship and advocacy
Every day in Atlanta, thousands of patients walk into exam rooms carrying the exact same question: “What comes next?” For those facing a cancer diagnosis, the answer increasingly begins close to home.
Across the city, hospitals and research institutions are rapidly expanding access to world-class specialized treatment, as organized networks of surgeons, oncologists and support teams deliver comprehensive care. Atlanta’s standing in cancer care goes beyond medicine. Survivors become advocates for others, physicians prioritize quality of life alongside survival and communities that stick together long after treatment ends.
For the more than two million Americans each year who hear the words “You have cancer,” it can feel like their entire world has been flipped upside down. Dr. Ha Tran, medical oncologist at Piedmont Cancer Institute and Midtown parent, finds the first step into the lifelong cancer journey is often the one that hits closest to home.
“When patients get a diagnosis of cancer, it’s one of the most devastating diagnoses they can ever receive,” Tran said. “It’s completely life-altering. It doesn’t affect just them. It affects their families, their friends, their work – everybody that they are tied to.”
Frantic doctor visits, difficult conversations with loved ones and overwhelming emotions are what Tran describes as the first sprint of the journey. Later, the sprint slows down into a marathon, as cancer treatment and lifestyle become intertwined until the disease is in remission or no longer threatening.
“In order for them to even get that diagnosis, it’s a huge list of to dos, including scans and procedures, meeting specialists, meeting subspecialists, getting biopsies,” Tran said. “It’s this sprint, and they’ve had no training; they’ve never had this before, all the language is new. We’re helping them navigate so they can find the best possible care and settle into this lifelong marathon.”
As one of the Southeast’s leading medical hubs, Atlanta excels not only in general care but in innovative specialties, especially cancer. Comprehensive, compassionate care at centers like Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta, and the Piedmont Cancer Institute, coupled with groundbreaking advancements coming out of Emory, Georgia Tech and City of Hope, have put the city on the leading edge.
“I’ve seen [Atlanta] become a hotbed for leading-edge research, top specialists, pulling people from all over the country,” Dr. Nathan Neufeld, Chief of Supportive Care and Medical Director of Interventional Pain Medicine at City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta, said. “So many factors are really increasing the caliber of care and bringing sub-specialists and different experts from all over the country. It’s driven healthcare systems to develop very appealing environments for these doctors and providers to offer world-class care right here in Atlanta.”
This accessibility and proximity to care are critical along every step of the journey to healing, according to Tran.
“The saving grace is they can get all of it here; they don’t have to get on a plane,” Dr. Tran said. “We have specialists, subspecialists, so many good resources here, amazing surgeons that specialize in essentially every cancer type, so Atlanta is incredible in that way. The collaboration is phenomenal, I can call any surgeon, or any surgeon can call me, and for the most part, they’ll pick up on the first ring because they know I have a patient that needs their help.”
Both Dr. Ha and Dr. Neufeld emphasize that comfort and ease are paramount for all patients, and allowing them to continue their livelihoods and be with their families is invaluable.
“You want to stay as close as you can to your family and still get world-class care – and that’s the most important thing we work to provide,” Dr. Neufeld said. “For example, a lot of the care we provide is episodic, so patients come periodically to get care. With that, we don’t have to see some patients as often so they can still participate in life at home and be engaged with their community and their family while getting excellent [cancer] care periodically. I think the model and future of cancer care is where there’s as little disruption in life as possible.”
For many patients, that network of care becomes deeply personal. Tyler Blue, an Atlanta resident and Stage 4 throat and thyroid cancer survivor, experienced that firsthand after his diagnosis.
“For a little while, I had a tickle in my throat, and I didn’t want to have it checked out,” Blue said. “To put a long story short, I went through everyone in Atlanta. I went to different hospitals, too many doctors. I even paid for a private ENT doctor to tell me what was going on. But the last one that I saw, [the doctor] said, ‘I think you have cancer.’”
Blue emphasized how City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta went above and beyond in its compassion and support throughout his journey.
“When I walked into City of Hope [Atlanta], I felt something different,” Blue said. “I just felt like they were going to save my life.”
As a successful corporate salesperson, Blue said losing his voice to cancer was one of the hardest things to grapple with, even though it meant being completely cancer-free.
“When I knew I was going to lose my voice, I was devastated,” Blue said. “In my career and my professional life, I was talking all day to work with people. I absolutely loved my voice.”
Blue said he speaks for cancer survivors worldwide when he finds that being able to survive and adapt to a cancer-free life is the greatest gift of all. For Blue, losing his voice meant finding a new purpose and drive. Now, he utilizes an electrolarynx to speak, a handheld device that enables speech by creating vibrations that people like Blue can use to shape into sounds and words.
“After I found myself as a new man with the electrolarynx – once my cancer was eliminated in 2018 – I knew that I had to share my gift with others,” Blue said. “My speech pathologist, whenever there were any new patients that were a little bit scared to use this device, she would give me a call and ask, ‘Could you talk to this person and let them know what your challenges were?’ I would go talk to them, and show them all the cool ways I can be expressive with my electrolarynx, and I could talk people through using it for the very first time.”
Now, nearly eight years cancer-free and retired, Blue has turned his gratitude into a powerful mission. In partnership with City of Hope Atlanta, he helped establish the Total Laryngectomy Support Group, a monthly gathering where patients and survivors connect and share strategies for navigating daily life.
“We help each other through everything,” Blue said. “There are different groups for people from all walks of life,” Blue said. “I’m so grateful to be in a position where I can make my story into something bigger. For me, once I’ve been heard and everyone sees me using the [electrolarynx], it makes a difference.”
Encouraging his fellow members to embrace their new identities as survivors inspires Blue to continue his work, day in and day out.
“For one of the people I work with, I said, ‘It’s easy to say I love you by writing it down [when one has lost their voice], but when you say it yourself, – through your own mouth – it means the entire world,’” Blue said.
Blue sees his story is a testament to the power of resilience, world-class medical care and finding a new purpose in the face of life’s greatest challenges. Recently, Blue’s advocacy took him to Pasadena, California, where he represented Atlanta on City of Hope’s float in the Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
“It was incredible to be out there,” Blue said. “What made it really special was that I don’t know anyone who has had throat cancer [before my diagnosis]. You always hear about breast cancer or lung cancer or prostate cancer, but you never really hear about throat cancer. So I felt like the poster child. I told my group, ‘This is monumental for us.’ And for me, it was a breakthrough moment. Because even though I like to help people, I’m a very private person, so for me to be on the front stage, it was a different side of life.”
Blue’s advocacy reflects a broader effort across Atlanta and the nation, where survivors, caregivers and physicians work together to support patients long after treatment ends.
“Patients benefit from [groups] in all parts of this marathon,” Dr. Tran said. “Those who are newly diagnosed find their people here and share and have their feelings validated. In the group setting, they get their hopes and their accomplishments and their milestones celebrated by these people too, who can definitely celebrate with them in a different way than we can.”
For patients and those in the cancer journey for the long run, survivors like Blue and doctors like Dr. Tran find that community makes a world of difference, in health, emotional well-being and bringing perspective to the situation.
“They are then able to look at the person who’s 20 years out from their diagnosis and their treatment and see what’s possible,” Dr. Tran said. “Just being in a room with someone who has gone through it is pretty amazing. We see many amazing friendships forged.”
As cancer is not a journey undertaken alone, many return once cleared or otherwise finished with their care to help those going through the process navigate it with confidence.
“Nearly everyone that has been able to fight off cancer and get to a point of remission feels very blessed and fortunate,” Dr. Neufeld said. “They want to help others fight cancer and get through it. There’s this sense of a team – churches, doctors, nurses, everyone took a role – and they turn this into a sense of ‘I want to give back.’”
In some instances, surrounding a newly-diagnosed patient with others may be uncomfortable, but Dr. Tran sees that this allows them to handle and negotiate with the hard realities of their diagnosis.
“For many patients, it’s hard to be in a room where they’ve just finished [treatment], they’ve gotten the all clear, and someone in the group shares that theirs came back,” Dr. Tran said. “Sometimes patients need to step away from it. But, in others, they need to hear that to put it into context and understand ‘there’s a lot more to my cancer than this linear path, and I can make it through it no matter what, as long as I have love and support.’ For those long-term survivors, they transition from being patients to becoming mentors.”
Together, Atlanta’s physicians, survivors, caregivers and support networks form a web of care that extends far beyond hospital walls – one that prioritizes dignity, continuity and community at every stage of recovery.
“Our staff becomes their second family,” Dr. Tran said. “Thankfully, we’ve got such amazing people that work with us that patients really do feel like they’ve got an extension of their family just steps away from home.”
For physicians like Dr. Tran, bringing patients through the journey and out the other side is a testament to their efforts to care; seeing her patients flourish after treatment and finding themselves is motivation enough to continue clocking in.
“This is exactly why we do what we do,” Dr. Tran said. “That’s why no matter how hard my days are and how long my days are, I do it again the next day – for them to be able to share their story and feel they’ve had success, however that success is defined for them.”
For Blue, that sense of normalcy – and the chance to help others reclaim it – is what continues to drive his advocacy. And for those just beginning their journey, he hopes his story offers reassurance that survival is possible and that no one faces cancer alone.
“For someone just diagnosed, I would tell them: it gets better,” Blue said. “Believe in yourself. Get your faith together, get your team together – and go through it.”
