‘They Refused to Treat Him’: What Nigerians Need to Understand About Advanced Cancer

By Fellow Nurses Africa, 18th August, 2026

Recent public discussion surrounding veteran Yoruba actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, and reports about his alleged battle with stage IV cancer have raised important questions about how advanced cancer is managed.

Among the most difficult claims to understand is that hospitals may have “refused to treat” a patient.

But in advanced cancer care, not treating the cancer with further aggressive or curative therapy does not necessarily mean refusing to care for the patient.

The distinction matters.

Treatment is not always the same as a cure

Stage IV cancer generally means that a cancer has spread from its original site to distant parts of the body. However, what happens at this stage varies widely.

The type of cancer, where it has spread, the patient’s overall health, previous treatments and response to those treatments all influence what doctors consider appropriate.

In some cases, treatment can still control the disease, reduce symptoms or extend life.

In others, doctors may determine that further cancer-directed treatment is unlikely to provide meaningful benefit or could cause more harm than good.

That is where conversations about the goals of care become particularly important.

When the goal of care changes

Cancer treatment is not always about eliminating the disease.

When a cancer can no longer be cured or controlled effectively, healthcare professionals may recommend shifting the focus of care towards palliative care.

Palliative care is active medical care aimed at improving a patient’s quality of life. It can include managing pain, breathlessness, nausea and other symptoms, as well as providing psychological, social and emotional support.

It can also support the patient’s family as they navigate a difficult illness.

Importantly, palliative care is not the same as giving up on a patient.

It is a recognised part of serious-illness care and can be provided alongside cancer treatment when appropriate.

Why ‘they refused to treat him’ can be misleading

For families and members of the public, seeing a seriously ill person without further chemotherapy, surgery or another major intervention can understandably feel like the person is being abandoned.

But medical treatment must be based on whether an intervention is likely to help the patient.

A treatment may be technically available but medically inappropriate for a particular patient.

For example, an intervention could carry significant risks while offering little chance of controlling the cancer or improving the patient’s quality of life.

In such circumstances, deciding not to provide that intervention is not necessarily a refusal to care.

It may instead represent a clinical decision that the potential burdens of treatment outweigh its likely benefits.

That decision should, however, be explained clearly to the patient and family, with appropriate opportunities to ask questions and discuss alternatives.

The will to live matters — but it cannot change the biology of cancer

Another difficult part of these conversations is the relationship between a patient’s determination to survive and the limits of medical treatment.

A strong will to live is important. Patients should be listened to, respected and involved in decisions about their care.

But determination alone cannot guarantee that a cancer can be cured.

Medicine can offer treatment, symptom control and support, but it cannot always reverse advanced disease.

This is why discussions about stage IV cancer need to move beyond the question: “Why aren’t they treating him?”

A more useful question may be:

“What form of care is most likely to give this patient the best possible quality of life at this stage of the illness?”

Palliative care is still treatment

There is sometimes a misconception that palliative care means a patient has been abandoned or that healthcare professionals are “doing nothing”.

That is not the case.

Pain relief, symptom management, psychological support, nutritional support, communication with families and helping a patient maintain dignity are all meaningful forms of healthcare.

For some patients, palliative care may be provided while they continue to receive cancer-directed treatment.

For others, particularly when further disease-directed treatment is no longer beneficial, it may become the main focus of care.

The aim is not to shorten life. It is to relieve suffering and help the patient live as well and as comfortably as possible for the time they have.

What families should ask when cancer becomes advanced

When a patient reaches an advanced stage of cancer, families may find medical conversations overwhelming.

Rather than focusing only on whether another treatment is available, it can help to ask healthcare professionals:

• What is the goal of the proposed treatment?
• Is the treatment intended to cure the cancer, control it or relieve symptoms?
• What benefits are realistically expected?
• What are the possible side effects and risks?
• What happens if treatment is not given?
• Is palliative care appropriate?
• How can pain and other symptoms be managed?
• What support is available for the patient and family?

These questions can help families understand what doctors are recommending and why.

The wider lesson for Nigeria

The discussion surrounding advanced cancer also highlights a wider need for better public understanding of palliative and end-of-life care in Nigeria.

Patients and families deserve clear information about their diagnosis, treatment options, likely outcomes and the goals of care.

Healthcare professionals, meanwhile, need to communicate difficult decisions with compassion and in language that patients and relatives can understand.

Public conversations about cancer should therefore avoid reducing complex medical decisions to whether a hospital “treated” or “did not treat” someone.

Sometimes, the most appropriate care is not another aggressive intervention.

Sometimes, it is controlling pain.

Sometimes, it is helping a patient breathe more comfortably.

Sometimes, it is supporting a family through an extremely difficult period.

And sometimes, it is ensuring that a person living with an advanced illness is treated with comfort, dignity and respect.

A conversation that deserves nuance

The reported circumstances surrounding Taiwo Hassan should not be used to draw conclusions about his individual medical care without verified information from his healthcare team or family.

But the wider conversation provides an opportunity to correct an important misconception.

When curing cancer is no longer possible, caring for the person does not stop.

The goal may simply change — from trying to eliminate the disease to making every remaining period of life as comfortable, meaningful and dignified as possible.

That is not abandonment.

That is care.

Fellow Nurses Africa is the independent voice of African nursing, we educate, inform and support nurses across Africa.