As a cancer care expert, my fears over my own diagnosis run deeper than just curing the disease | Jeff Dunn

My treatment for aggressive lymphoma has been successful but severely weakened my immune system. Like many others, antimicrobial resistance could kill me, even if the cancer itself is survivable

My entire professional career, spanning nearly four decades, has been in cancer care. On 12 August 2022, at the age of 64, I was myself diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive type of cancer that affects the immune system and has a very poor prognosis - I was told that survival without treatment would be only eight weeks.

I was fortunate to have access to Australia's world-class care. I received chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, and by World Cancer Day in February 2024, I was in remission.