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To address this gap, this study examines how cancer survivors describe objectification, internalization, and performance within oncology care. Through this analysis, we develop a unified analytic account of these three experiences. In doing so, we reframe the \u201cmedical gaze\u201d in existential terms as the \u201cmedical look,\u201d by drawing on Sartre\u2019s account of how becoming visible to another reshapes lived experience and existence. We interpret clinical visibility as a structure that unfolds across encounters, rather than as isolated interactional events. Drawing on 29 interviews with cancer survivors, our findings show that being positioned through clinical routines, adopting those framings as self-measures, and calibrating self-presentation in anticipation of clinical judgment were lived as connected movements within one structure of visibility. Recognizing this continuity clarifies communication pressures and constrained agency in oncology, and identifies points where clinical practice may ease the conditions under which patients manage how they appear.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/13634593261446988","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T14:37:34Z","timestamp":1778769454000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The medical gaze reframed: A phenomenological investigation of patient visibility in oncology"],"prefix":"10.1177","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8809-3664","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Byrne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Susan E.","family":"Leggett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-1157-4030","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aaryanna","family":"Zapata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-8262-1540","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fanny","family":"Smithing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joshua","family":"MacLeod","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zekun","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liangtong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7002-2952","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jack","family":"Pickert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Illinois Urbana\u2013Champaign, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2019.112370"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.577896"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"An introduction to phenomenology in qualitative education research: A critical reading of \u201cUnderstanding things from within\u201d","author":"Byrne T","year":"2025","unstructured":"Byrne T (2025a) An introduction to phenomenology in qualitative education research: A critical reading of \u201cUnderstanding things from within\u201d. 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