Vanessa Bañuelos: Closing Resource Gaps for Young Adults With Cancer

Raised in a close-knit community in Hood River, Oregon, 25-year-old Vanessa Bañuelos was just beginning to build her future after getting a bachelor’s degree in business administration when her life took an unexpected turn. In 2016, she started experiencing persistent fatigue and severe back pain that did not improve with rest or medication. “It didn’t feel normal,” she recalled. “Even when I rested, I was still exhausted.” As her symptoms worsened, Vanessa went to the emergency room, where tests showed that her white blood cell count was dangerously elevated. Soon after, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. “I was in disbelief,” Vanessa said. “I was too young to have cancer.”

Vanessa’s doctor made a few calls and told her to prepare to leave her small town for treatment at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, a facility 70 miles away from Hood River. What she initially thought would be a short hospital stay turned into months of intensive care, including chemotherapy and radiation. Throughout her treatment, Vanessa had her mother, aunts, and friends always by her side in the hospital. Her friends included her in everyday activities so she could stay connected. Her community in Hood River organized a “Vanessa Day” to support her, and her family in Mexico formed prayer groups for her recovery.

Vanessa’s care team also provided her strong clinical support, but she quickly learned about gaps in resources for young adults with cancer. “There were resources for kids and older adults, but not for people of my age,” she said. These gaps were also present for critical life decisions she had to make because of her cancer treatment. At the time of diagnosis, Vanessa was faced with choices about fertility preservation, a serious concern for young adult cancer survivors. “I wasn’t ready to decide then,” she said. “But now that I’m older, I wish I would’ve had more information and guidance to make that decision and the resources to do it.”

After initially achieving remission, Vanessa relapsed in October 2017. Among her treatment options was a clinical trial at Seattle Children’s Hospital for CAR T-cell therapy, an innovative immunotherapy that modifies a patient’s own immune cells to treat cancer. However, accessing this treatment required her to relocate to Seattle, creating new challenges that extended beyond the medical aspects of care.

“I was more worried about relocating than the treatment,” Vanessa said. The move exposed significant structural gaps in support for young adult patients seeking specialized care away from home. Finding a place to live for a month or two was one of the most immediate challenges. Even though her family found housing through the Ronald McDonald House, the program had age restrictions. “You can’t be older than 25,” Vanessa explained as she wondered what others slightly older than her would do. “There is no health care that pays for housing just so you can receive treatment.”

After her CAR T-cell therapy, Vanessa received a bone marrow transplant from cells donated by her mother, because her team was unable to identify a donor who was a full match.

Despite these challenges, the CAR T-cell therapy proved effective. Although the process was physically and emotionally demanding, just 10 days after the infusion, Vanessa was in remission again, a turning point in her cancer journey.

Throughout this time, Vanessa found moments of connection and comfort within her care team, particularly when doctors shared her cultural and linguistic backgrounds. “When you connect with a doctor that looks like you or speaks like you, it feels like a family member is taking care of you,” she said.

Clear communication also played a critical role in her experience. Vanessa and her mother speak fluent English but still found that having information in Spanish and delivered using plain, simple terms helped them better navigate complex medical decisions. “It is less scary when you understand what they are telling you,” she explained. “You can advocate for yourself and make sure you get the care you need.”

Now nine years after CAR T-cell therapy, Vanessa has become an advocate for greater awareness and equity in cancer care, particularly for young adults and Hispanic communities. She highlights the need for better education about cancer, including dispelling misconceptions and encouraging early medical care. She also emphasizes the importance of increasing representation in donor registries, as finding a bone marrow match can be especially difficult for patients from underrepresented populations.

Her message to policymakers and the broader health care system is clear: more must be done to support patients beyond the point of diagnosis. “Young adults need help,” Vanessa said. “We need to know how to navigate life after cancer. We need research. We need to know what things have helped other young adults.”