You Don’t Have To Choose Between Cancer Treatment & Your Job: The TEAMWork Approach To Workplace Accommodations

Creator: Jayson Haedrich
Published: 2026-07-15T16:32:40-04:00

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For Employees Navigating Cancer: Resources & Worker Rights

Legally, people facing cancer do not have to disclose their diagnosis at work unless they are requesting a workplace accommodation or the employer is making a limited, job-related medical inquiry.
Research has indicated that patients tend to handle cancer treatment better when they can continue to work in some capacity during. However, it’s important to ask for accommodations when you need them.
Dr. Victoria Blinder, a breast medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, has spent years researching and developing resources to help patients navigate their careers and their workplace needs, while getting the cancer care that they need.
TEAMWork, which stands for Talking to Employers and Medical Staff About Work, is a system designed to provide guidance to patients navigating cancer treatment, symptoms, and conversations about work accommodations.

After a breast cancer diagnosis, one of the first things patients often wonder is how the disease and their treatment path will impact their ability to work. To help ease some of that stress, a breast cancer expert is working on a resource to help patients when they have questions about balancing cancer treatment and their career responsibilities.

These are questions Dr. Victoria Blinder hears every day. As a breast medical oncologist and researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, she has spent years investigating how breast cancer affects patients’ ability to work and her research suggests that, for many women, staying on the job may be associated with better outcomes.

Plus, women who take extended leave during treatment often find they’ve been replaced by the time they’re ready to return, Dr. Blinder’s research, published in Health Affairs, reveals. This is true even though the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

Dr. Blinder’s research shows that job loss can last for up to five years after a cancer diagnosis, and the impact is often hardest on lower-income patients who already have limited financial stability. These patients may lose their health insurance along with their paycheck.

To address these challenges, Dr. Blinder created TEAMWork, a resource that helps patients navigate employment issues during cancer treatment, including workplace rights, accommodations, and conversations with employers.

What is TEAMWork?

TEAMWork, which stands for Talking to Employers and Medical Staff About Work, is a free, evidence-informed intervention system designed to support women with stage I to III breast cancer who are receiving or planning to receive chemotherapy.

Available in English and Spanish as both a mobile app and a printable booklet, it helps patients by providing three key features:

A Symptom Tracker to log how you’re feeling and communicate clearly to your care team.
Accommodation guidance, which is a tailored roadmap for asking your employer for what you actually need during work days, like less time on your feet, flexible hours, or more frequent breaks.
Guidance on workplace negotiations that teach patients how to have conversations about their needs across work settings, from large companies to private in-home jobs like nannying or home health care.

“It’s not about being more assertive,” Dr. Blinder says. “It’s about learning to be an effective negotiator, figuring out what you need, what your employer needs, and how to make both work.”

Importantly, patients do not have to disclose a cancer diagnosis or specific details about a diagnosis. Under the ADA, employees generally do not have to disclose a cancer diagnosis to their employer unless they are requesting a workplace accommodation or the employer is making a limited, job-related medical inquiry. That choice can give patients a sense of control at a time when so much else feels uncertain.

Know Your Worth At Work

One of Teamwork’s core lessons is that, in most cases, your employer wants this to work out too. Replacing and retraining an employee costs them real money. Reframing the conversation, from “I need time off” to “here’s how I can keep showing up,” can change everything.

Dr. Blinder often uses the example of a nanny in treatment. Telling an employer “I can’t work for six months” likely means being replaced. But saying “I’m in treatment, my doctor says I can still work, but I may need extra breaks and we’ll do more indoor activities” opens the door to a solution that works for both sides.

Beyond job security, Dr. Blinder emphasizes that staying engaged can lead to better treatment outcomes as well.

“Staying home is bad for mental health — it can even be bad for physical health,” she says. “The goal is to keep people active, keep people engaged, and help them maintain as normal a life as possible during treatment.”

For many patients, staying in the workplace, maintaining routine, and having a reason to leave the house is part of what keeps the rest of life feeling normal.

TEAMWork: Try it Out

TEAMWork is part of an ongoing research study at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

To be eligible, patients are generally required to be between 18 and 64 years old, currently employed full- or part-time, and either receiving or planning to receive chemotherapy for stage I-III breast cancer. Participants must also have access to a smartphone to use the app-based components of the program.

“I would love for Teamwork to be widely accessible,” Dr. Blinder says, “so that any woman undergoing treatment for breast cancer can have access to it.”

Research is also underway on an additional tool meant for broader use called WE-ACT, which stands for Workplace/Employer Accommodations during Cancer Treatment. The goals are similar: to keep patients involved at work throughout cancer treatment, when possible, and to help them communicate their needs to employers.

For more information on eligibility, patients are advised to contact MSK directly at 646-888-8053.

View complete trial details and eligibility requirements on the MSK Clinical Trials page.

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

Jayson Haedrich is a staff writer and producer for SurvivorNet. Read More