Financial Toxicity in Cancer Survivors Across the Lifespan

Financial toxicity—defined as the economic burden and distress resulting from cancer diagnosis and treatment throughout their survivorship journey --is a growing concern in oncology. It includes both objective hardship (e.g., out-of-pocket costs, medical debt, income loss) and subjective distress (e.g., anxiety, care trade-offs, diminished quality of life). While increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of outcomes, financial toxicity remains under addressed in biomedical research and clinical care.

This special issue will explore financial toxicity across the lifespan, from adolescents and young adults (AYAs) navigating education and early employment, to middle-aged adults balancing careers and caregiving, to older adults managing fixed incomes and comorbidities. Age-specific vulnerabilities, systemic drivers, and disparities will be examined to inform targeted interventions.

We will invite contributions that address:

• Measurement and epidemiology of financial toxicity across age groups

• Impact on treatment adherence, mental health, and survivorship outcomes

• Role of race, gender, insurance, and geography in shaping financial burden

• Opportunities for biomedical researchers to contribute—e.g., identifying stress biomarkers, developing predictive models, and designing interventions

• Policy and systems-level solutions, including insurance reform and financial navigation

• Innovative tools and care models to mitigate financial distress

This issue will engage researchers, clinicians, economists, and advocates to advance understanding of financial toxicity as a modifiable risk factor. By integrating biomedical, behavioral, and policy perspectives, it will promote sustainability and resilience in cancer survivorship.

We would welcome original research (including quantitative and qualitative research), reviews, and commentaries that illuminate the scope, impact, and solutions to financial toxicity across the cancer care continuum.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Financial toxicity, Cancer survivorship, Health disparities, Oncology care delivery, Policy and systems-level interventions

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.