Skip to content

cancer

concept · in 121 videos (2010–2026)

Diseases of uncontrolled cell growth; Hank was treated for Hodgkin lymphoma in 2023.

Videos by year: 2010: 3 · 2012: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2023: 38 · 2024: 26 · 2025: 18 · 2026: 11

Threads

Also named in the threads: Hank: living with ulcerative colitis (2007) · This Star Won't Go Out bracelets sold at DFTBA.com/Esther for the This Star Won't Go Out Foundation (2010) · Death of Nerdfighter Esther Earl, John's friend (2010) · John: as Sierra Leoneans trust mental health care, demand for its services will keep rising (2019) · Hank and John: go to a Rax restaurant together as a P4A 2023 perk (2023) · Hank asks viewers to buy Hank's Cancer Socks at good.store (2023) · Hank's Cancer Socks: socks Hank designed during chemo, sold at good.store to fund cancer-treatment access (2023) · P4A 2026 edition

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

chemotherapy (26) · Hodgkin lymphoma (20) · Esther Earl (12) · tuberculosis (20) · Esther Day (9) · This Star Won't Go Out (charity) (7) · This Star Won't Go Out (book) (3) · health equity (6) · Hank's Cancer Socks (3) · malaria (4)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2010

  • 2010-07-05 · With Esther — John: Esther has cancer, which John says sucks. — 00:00:14
  • 2010-09-17 · Positive Prank Calls!! — Hank says cancer rates are falling significantly year over year, not only because lung cancer is falling but also thanks to screening for precancerous lesions and the HPV vaccine. — 00:01:17
  • 2010-10-27 · You Are Awesome — John says the bracelets honor Esther Earl, the brothers' friend and fellow Nerdfighter who died a couple of months ago from cancer. — 00:00:42
    • John describes the This Star Won't Go Out Foundation as a new organization founded by Esther's family to help other families with kids who have cancer. — 00:01:11

2012

  • 2012-02-07 · 10 Misconceptions Debunked! — John says the idea that sharks don't get cancer, so eating shark prevents it, is wrong: sharks do get cancer, though how often is unknown because everyone keeps killing them. — 00:00:59
  • 2012-07-24 · The Treadmill Desk! Fitness for Nerds — John says reclining counts as sitting, and sitting too much increases the risk of heart attack, diabetes and certain cancers. — 00:01:46

2013

2015

  • 2015-11-27 (said on 2015-11-26, implied) · Never Satisfied: The Story of Humans ¦-/ — Hank's thought experiment: if cancer were cured tomorrow we would celebrate for years, but within 20 or 30 years we would normalize and just live in a world without cancer. (hypothetical) — 00:00:42

2016

2017

  • 2017-05-23 (said on 2017-05-14, implied) · Boxes, Butterflies, and Regular Aunts: Live from the Past, It's Question Tuesday — John says Willy is not doing great: he has a very slow-growing cancer, but he is much loved and has a relatively good prognosis, so they are hopeful. — 00:02:43
  • 2017-08-03 · HAPPY ESTHER DAY!!! — John says that after Esther died her family created This Star Won't Go Out, a charity that has helped many families of kids with cancer. — 00:01:05
  • 2017-12-12 · 2017 is the Best? — John: By some measures 2017 is the best year in history (not Twitter's): absolute poverty is at its lowest share, schooling and adult literacy at their highest, and cancer death rates are down globally. — 00:00:48

2018

  • 2018-02-23 · Dear Young People, You Terrify Me — Hank: Occasionally a mutation lets a cell divide uncontrolled, which is cancer. — 00:00:21
  • 2018-02-27 · Ode to a Dog — John says their dog Willy is probably near the end of his life, and he wants to eulogize him before he dies. (hedged) — 00:00:01
    • Willy is harder to care for, with weeks of interrupted sleep; as the cancer advances he becomes the quiet, cuddly dog John once wanted, and John is grateful for the dog he is and was. — 00:03:21
  • 2018-04-20 · This Video is About Marijuana — Hank: Third reason: THC, CBD and other marijuana compounds are legitimate medications, helping with autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, seizure disorders and vomiting in cancer patients. — 00:01:00

2019

  • 2019-09-17 · 'end the stigma' — John: In the mid-20th century it was commonly believed that cancer was caused by childhood depression and social isolation. — 00:02:26
  • 2019-12-03 · We Are Cats Now, I Guess? — John says 70% of cancer cases occur in poor countries, where access to care is so difficult that outcomes are far worse. — 00:02:21
    • The Butaro Cancer Center offers real hope: it has treated thousands of people with cancer and helped train many healthcare workers in oncology. — 00:02:38

2020

  • 2020-01-28 · Looking Away (Again) — John says access to mental health care in Kono has dramatically increased, and people with cancer or type 1 diabetes, until recently death sentences, are now treated there. — 00:03:48
  • 2020-08-21 · The Water's Getting Warm — Hank questions the line: cancer, kind of, nuclear proliferation and poverty are also global collective problems; it depends on what he meant by collective. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • 2020-12-31 · Auld Lang Syne: The Anthropocene Reviewed — John: After finishing Textbook, Amy learned she had cancer and called John, who knew many gravely ill young people after The Fault in Our Stars, to ask how her kids and husband would cope. — 00:12:46 · also in: We're here because were here., John's Review of Auld Lang Syne
    • John told Amy what he thinks is true: love survives death. — 00:13:00
    • John should have said her family won't be okay but will go on, as will her love; instead, crying, he said 'How can this be happening? You do so much yoga.' — 00:13:45
    • Dying people collect stories of stupid things the healthy say, but John knows none as idiotic as his; he hopes Amy got narrative mileage from it, knows he failed her, and wishes he had said something useful or nothing. — 00:14:09 · also in: We're here because were here., John's Review of Auld Lang Syne

2021

  • 2021-01-01 · In 1990 I Made a Bunch of Predictions About 2020...Here they Are — Hank: The timeline cured cancer in 2000; Hank apologises to little Hank that there turn out to be many cancers. (playful) — 00:01:51
  • 2021-05-25 · The Anthropocene Reviewed, Animated — John: Tempting as it is to make labyrinthitis a metaphor for a life lacking balance, John wrote against such symbolization of disease in his novels: OCD and cancer are illnesses to live with as well as one can, not battles or character flaws. — 00:05:41
  • 2021-08-03 · I L*** Hank — John: Esther died a few weeks after the first Esther Day in 2010, aged 16; her parents then founded This Star Won't Go Out, which gives direct financial support to families of kids with cancer. — 00:00:58
    • Childhood cancer treatment can be very expensive in the US, with indirect costs such as a parent leaving work; the charity helps families spend more time with their kids. — 00:00:58
    • John sees the response in thousands celebrating Esther Day, the community's commitment to child health including pediatric cancer care in impoverished communities, and support for This Star Won't Go Out. — 00:02:26
  • 2021-09-28 · 11 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read — recommendation: John: Julia Baird's Phosphorescence also treats us as participants in reality, not observers: it is about living with cancer, creatures that make their own light and the science of human joy. — 00:01:56

2022

  • 2022-01-11 · The Fault in Our Stars - Ten Years Later — John: Citing Susan Sontag's Illness as Metaphor, John says it was commonly believed as late as the 1970s that cancer came from not being loved enough or from immoral behavior; the same was true of cholera and epilepsy. — 00:01:56
    • John's dad had cancer twice when John was a kid, so he saw people keep their distance though it wasn't contagious, and invent reasons for his dad's cancer to reassure themselves. — 00:02:26
  • 2022-02-25 · When You Can't Fix Everything… — Hank: Partners In Health employs over 17,000 doctors in 11 countries, working on everything from cancer treatment to preventing malnutrition. (doubtful: over 17,000) — 00:01:37
  • 2022-08-03 · Why is it So Hard to Say 'I Love You'? — Hank explains that Esther Earl, an early community member, died of cancer in 2010, and asked how to celebrate her birthday, chose non-romantic love: a Valentine's Day for all other kinds of love. — 00:01:56

2023

  • 2023-05-19 · So, I've got cancer — announcement: Hank does not know whether he will make Vlogbrothers videos, Dear Hank and John, SciShow or Tangents during treatment; he is playing it by ear. (unsure) — 00:06:14
  • 2023-06-02 (said on 2023-06-01, implied) · Chemo is Weird, Y'all — Hank's chemotherapy hits him hard on a Friday, then he gets a Friday off, then he is dosed hard again the Friday after. — 00:00:00
  • 2023-06-16 · So, About This HAIR… — Hank writes it is too early to tell how well treatment is going, but early signs indicate his cancer cells are responding well, meaning dying a bunch. (hedged) — video description
  • 2023-06-30 · Bon Your Vivant — The description marks the last chemo day of Hank's current treatment plan; he expects a terrible week, then radiation, plus an important scan next week (week of 3 July 2023) whose results will take a scary while. — video description
  • 2023-07-28 · Let's Try Radiation Therapy! — Hank recaps that chemotherapy killed so much of his cancer that doctors can no longer find it inside him. — 00:00:35
  • 2023-08-22 · The Panera Phenomenon — The description says John made the video before the news was public that Hank is in remission; John is grateful and relieved and hopes Hank will talk about it on Friday. — video description
  • 2023-09-01 · The Weirdest Post-Chemo Symptoms — Hank expected side effects from cancer and chemotherapy but did not realize there would be side effects to stopping chemotherapy and no longer having cancer. — 00:00:26
  • 2023-09-29 · Like Apocalyptic Horsemen — John tells Hank he is extremely grateful, relieved and happy that Hank is, at least for the foreseeable future, through chemo and doing so well. — 00:00:58
  • 2023-10-13 · Cancer Made me Do It. — Hank says he ended up writing a 70-minute stand-up show about cancer, for a couple of reasons. — 00:00:12
  • 2023-11-10 · My Final Chemo Secret — announcement: Hank announces that 100% of the profit from the socks will go towards making cancer treatment more available to more people. — 00:02:53
  • 2023-11-21 · Minus Its Charms — John says Casey McIntyre, a young woman he knew a little, has just died of cancer; she was married to his friend Andrew Rose Gregory and worked for years at John's publishing house. — 00:02:33
  • 2023-12-22 · Let's Talk About Death — Hank: Before getting sick Hank thought he had a good grasp on what life was for, but once close to the edge he was amazed how quickly he lost it. — 00:00:54
  • …and 117 statements more in 2023 — all statements of 2023

2024

  • 2024-01-26 · On YouTuber Retirement — Hank was relieved to get the special recorded because he needed the deadline to finish the show; two shows were recorded to be cut together, and he wrote the last words only as he said them on stage. — 00:01:05
  • 2024-03-15 · The Worst Things About Not Having Cancer — Hank says it has been more than four months since his last scan declared him in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma; that beats the alternative, but some things about it he doesn't like. — 00:00:00
  • 2024-04-26 · One Year Out. — Hank says that as the anniversaries arrive, many things will remind him of the last year; that is scary and makes him wonder how he would deal with a relapse, online and in his body. — 00:01:13
  • 2024-05-10 · Three Whole Onions with Secretary Pete Buttigieg — Hank says he had a 'cheap cancer', scans being the costliest part, plus flexible work, support systems and money, so he didn't have to worry. — 00:11:44
  • 2024-05-31 · The People I Hate Most in the World — Hank says he does not think anyone would ever tell him a mean tweet helped them through a tough time, nor that a nurse during his cancer treatment would say a brutal takedown video of his helped them through nursing school. — 00:02:26
  • 2024-06-14 · Some Reasons why People Suck — Hank says he is coming out of a few weeks of brain fog, fatigue and discomfort, maybe post-chemo, maybe normal depression; in survivorship you don't know what your body is telling you. (hedged) — 00:07:24
  • 2024-06-21 · I Was So Sad that I Did Comedy — Hank says cancer treatment made it hard to enjoy anything: nausea, fatigue, constant discomfort and a powerful brain fog that made focusing hard. — 00:01:05
  • 2024-08-03 · I Love Hank. (Also I'm back.) — John recounts that in 2010 the community created a holiday on the birthday of nerdfighter Esther Earl, who was dying of cancer and was asked what holiday she wanted. — 00:00:20
  • 2024-10-08 · Hank Steals John's Cells — Hank says if he relapses he will probably need an autologous stem cell transplant, his own marrow cleaned of cancer and put back, so he would need no donor. (hedged) — 00:01:00
    • Hank says his cancer is neither past nor present: he is in remission, and nobody can know for sure whether cancer cells remain in his body. — 00:01:30
  • 2024-11-03 · Hank's very messy post-cancer year of mistakes, meaning… — Hank: After cancer treatment Hank felt bad but much better by comparison, with lots of energy, and more aware that his life is finite than before cancer. — 00:00:58
  • 2024-12-10 · On Writing — John: Rereading, John sees the book continues 20 years of his work, extending his fascination with illness: cancer in The Fault in Our Stars, OCD in Turtles All the Way Down, plagues in The Anthropocene Reviewed. — 00:02:39
  • …and 34 statements more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2025

  • 2025-01-24 · Am I OK? — Hank says he finished chemo about 18 months ago and is probably about as recovered as he will get, which is pretty good. (hedged) — 00:00:00
    • Hank says people miss that after cancer treatment people almost always live with a different level of ability, sometimes serious disability: being done with treatment is not being done. — 00:00:51
  • 2025-03-25 · Taylor, Dr Pepper, and My Anxiety Strats: It's Question Tuesday — John: Asked what to focus on if TB were eliminated, John says TB is by no means the only disease of injustice: cancer is one too. — 00:03:24
  • 2025-04-18 · I Still Don't Have Cancer (and I'm Still Scared) — Hank's empathetic oncologist checked his lymph nodes, now the only monitoring he needs given his cancer, stage and scans, and found them all perfectly normal: no current signs of cancer. — 00:01:27
  • 2025-09-26 · I've Not Been Doing Well — Hank: Following his oncologist's advice to come in if anything feels weird, Hank had tests and blood work and was relieved to find he is still normal and in remission. — 00:04:25
  • 2025-10-07 · Luck vs. Work vs. Skill vs. Privilege — John argues deserving is the wrong framework for life: he doesn't deserve his merch sales or his OCD; Hank didn't deserve cancer or the number one app. — 00:05:16
  • 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says about a thirtieth of the money spent on cancer treatment would be enough to cut the number of people with active TB by 80 or 90%. — 00:03:46
  • 2025-11-04 · The Real Question — John says we instead build systems where his brother can receive cutting-edge curative cancer care while for others the same diagnosis is a death sentence. — 00:03:53
  • 2025-11-10 · My Cancer Treatment was Not Cutting Edge — Hank says John's video this week (week of 10 November 2025) said he got cutting-edge curative cancer therapy, and hopes that is only half wrong. (hedged) — 00:00:00
    • The second component is how justly or unjustly those tools are distributed, from tuberculosis to cancer treatment to new ways to unblock blocked blood vessels. — 00:04:50
  • 2025-11-28 · Three Things! (Wait, no, actually four...) — announcement: Hank will do new stand-up material at Grace Helbig's stand-up night Cancer is a Joke, raising money for WeGotThis.org. — 00:02:52
  • 2025-12-12 · The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video — announcement: Hank: With the year passed, Hank uploaded his special Pissing Out Cancer to Hank's channel yesterday (11 December 2025). — 00:05:23
  • …and 29 statements more in 2025 — all statements of 2025

2026

  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John offers 20 prints of the Good News Bridge, which his mother painted after learning Hank's cancer was treatable rather than the worst case; John and his parents were on a walk there when they heard. — 01:00:55
    • John says he has read a couple of versions of the manuscript of Hank's book about cancer, offered as a P4A perk, and calls it brilliant on how cancer works and what it wants. — 08:05:05
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — John thinks Hank's book about cancer is going to light the world on fire, making a huge impact and changing many people's understanding of cancer and of living with it. — 02:47:01
    • Hank says the digital downloads include an audiobook of John's novella Zombicorns and an audio version of the first two chapters of Hank's nonfiction book about the biology of cancer. — 04:12:08
  • 2026-03-13 · Pain — Hank says he has missed plenty of Vlogbrothers videos, but during chemo he never missed one, partly because he was not feeling too bad to make them. — 00:01:47
  • 2026-04-24 · The AI Question that No AI Person Asks — Hank: It will obviously be easier for AI to create a cancer drug than to get it to everyone who needs it; both are problems, since cancer is unaffected by a drug not given. — 00:07:28
  • 2026-05-08 · My Deathday — Hank once thought it would be fun to party on the day he would have died without cancer treatment: had he been born 100 years ago, lived where Hodgkin's is mistaken for TB, or refused treatment. — 00:00:00
  • 2026-07-10 · How Status Destroys Us — Hank says The Fault in Our Stars is a book without a villain unless you count cancer, which neither he nor the book's characters really do. — 00:01:21
    • Hank says the book gives cancer no maliciousness or cunning: it evades control not by being smart or evil but by doing what it does, like a fire burning a home; fire can't be evil. — 00:01:50
  • 2026-09-08 · The Life Expectancy Lies That Won't Die — John: As a result, John says, people lived longer and the main causes of death shifted to chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. — 00:01:56
  • 2026-10-09 · The Productivity Lie — Hank: When Hank was sick and thought he might be nearer the end of his life, one of his few big regrets was not having done more of that supporting work. — 00:06:25
    • Hank produces things not because productivity matters to him but because Pizzamas, Nerdfighteria, John, cancer treatment, Crash Course, SciShow, 4x3 and the media environment do. — 00:09:38
  • …and 8 statements more in 2026 — all statements of 2026