In 1998, I was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and given months to live. I consulted more than a dozen leading oncologists and got conflicting recommendations. No one could tell me: ‘Which treatment is best for me?’

A clinical trial saved my life—despite itself being unsuccessful—only raising more questions. Why did this therapy work for me but not for others? Could my experience help similar patients? It was life-saving knowledge I wanted to share with all cancer patients.

Welcome to Cancer Commons.

Marty Tenenbaum, PhD Founder of Cancer Commons

Help for Advanced Cancer Patients: Learn More or

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Our Services

We provide patients and their care teams with the actionable information and data they need to make informed decisions. We help identify and access individualized regimen of therapies that specifically target the molecular drivers of their disease and refer patients to a myriad of precision oncology services to help them navigate the cancer maze and minimize trial and error.

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Always Learning

What makes Cancer Commons unique is our continuous learning health system.

As we help patients identify and access novel tests, treatments, and trials, we learn continuously from every patient's experience—and share that knowledge with the world.

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Support Us

We've been helping cancer patients for more than a decade—and our services are free, supported by generous donations/philanthropy.

Please help us continue our work serving patients and changing the field of oncology with tax-deductible donation in any amount, and learn about other ways to support our mission.

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Since our founding in 2011, we have delivered personalized, evidence-based guidance at no charge to more than 10,000 patients and caregivers, supported entirely by philanthropy.

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  • This free-of-charge, high-quality information service is a wonderful resource for patients with advanced cancer.

    Hope S. Rugo, MD
    UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • My experience with Cancer Commons has been fantastic! Their support and advice have been extremely helpful. I will always be very greatful to the Cancer Commons team. They took the time to contact me by phone to learn more about my diagnosis so they could study my case and recommend options to consider. Thanks so much to all the people involved.

    Michael Goold
    Grade 4 glioblastoma patient

  • It has been extremely gratifying to see how Cancer Commons has brought clarity and greater access to this expertise through its convening and curation.

    Keith Flaherty, MD
    Cancer Commons Advisor

  • Cancer Commons helped give me peace of mind with my treatment decision. Chief scientist Emma Shtivelman’s expert, science-based opinion made such logical sense, and it also felt right in my soul.

    Ellen
    Breast cancer patient

  • Emma has been so helpful and kind to my wife.

    Husband of cancer patient

Cancer Commons is staffed by accomplished researchers with PhDs in the molecular biology and pharmacology of cancer and in Artificial Intelligence. They have joined the Commons to apply their knowledge and expertise to help patients research their options in real time using the latest tools of precision oncology.

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