ABSTRACT
Background
Cancer patients in the Gaza Strip have long faced major barriers to timely diagnosis, treatment, and continuity of care. These barriers have become substantially more severe under war conditions, displacement, and the collapse of health services. This study aimed to explore the experiences of adults with cancer in the Gaza Strip before and during war, with a particular focus on access to healthcare, support mechanisms, and basic living conditions.
Methods and Results
This qualitative study was conducted with 12 adults diagnosed with cancer and living in shelters, displacement centres, or tents in the Gaza Strip. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews in Arabic and analysed using content analysis. The analysis identified six key themes describing cancer care in the Gaza Strip, organized within two temporal categories: three themes characterized the pre-war period and three themes characterized the wartime period. The pre-war themes were problems in access to healthcare services, support mechanisms, and positive aspects related to diagnosis and treatment. The wartime themes were problems in access to healthcare services, insufficiency of support mechanisms, and inadequacy of basic living conditions. Participants reported that even before the war, they experienced delayed diagnosis, fragmented treatment pathways, financial hardship, and limited psychosocial support, although some described positive experiences with functioning hospitals and treatment availability. During the war, participants described severe disruption of medical follow-up, hospital inaccessibility, medication shortages, inability to travel for treatment, irregular or insufficient support, displacement, food insecurity, and worsening physical and psychological burden.
Conclusions
The findings show that cancer care in the Gaza Strip was already fragile before the war and became profoundly disrupted during it. The experiences of patients highlight the need for integrated responses that address not only treatment continuity, but also psychosocial support, nutrition, and basic survival needs. The study also underscores the interdisciplinary relevance of cancer care in conflict settings for medicine, nursing, and social work. By showing how treatment uncertainty, disrupted support, and unmet survival needs interact, the study identifies patient-level psycho-oncological priorities for cancer care in conflict and crisis settings.