Cancer Ghosting

What does cancer ghosting mean?

Abandoning a person diagnosed with cancer

Cancer ghosting is an unfortunate occurrence where a person diagnosed with cancer feels ghosted by their friends and relatives. For example, if a person is months into chemo treatment and stuck in the hospital while their loved ones are living their lives, they may feel "cancer ghosted."

Various factors may lead to cancer ghosting. First, a person may just not be very good friends with the cancer patient, making it easy for them to cancer ghost a patient. Also, a person may cancer ghost their friend because they don't know how to support them through the trying time.

A person may also unintentionally cancer ghost a loved one. For example, they may be busy caring for kids, job and home responsibilities, etc., and not think of visiting, sending a card, or calling.

Origin of cancer ghosting

The origins of the "cancer ghosting" slang term are unclear, but the term gained usage in 2022 (coming from the "ghosting" term) as a way to name the feeling that many cancer patients experience. People mostly use it online via social media and cancer forums.

Example

The hardest part of my cancer battle is not the chemo, but getting cancer ghosted by your friends
I'm sorry you experienced that. :/
Candid cancer ghosting post
Candid cancer ghosting post

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Updated September 12, 2023

Cancer ghosting definition by Slang.net

This page explains what the slang term "Cancer ghosting" means. The definition, example, and related terms listed above have been written and compiled by the Slang.net team.

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