The Economist recently joined the conversation on work and cancer in light of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein's diagnosis announcement. They wrote a piece on top executives with cancer who've continued their jobs – "a growing club that would have been inconceivable not so long ago".

They pointed out that unlike past leaders, such as Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, Blankfein was more vague in his disclosure regarding the type, severity and prognosis of his cancer and also with potential succession planning at Goldman Sachs.

"That is a result of remarkable breakthroughs in medicine, and also of how companies are organised. Other executives can take on some of the boss's burden. And there are ways, such as the use of corporate jets, which make even distant travel fit with treatment schedules. Chief executives may also be less essential, at least on a day-to-day basis, than they’d like to believe. A lower-level employee, without any of the amenities, with the same rigorous treatments, and with tasks that must be accomplished on an inflexible schedule, may be far less able to carry on."

For the full story, click here.