In 2006 Knopf released Marchetto's graphic memoir, "Cancer Vixen: A True Story", about her 2004-2005 battle with breast cancer. Details in the memoir include her seeking cancer treatment without health insurance, which she had allowed to lapse. "Cancer Vixen" was one of "Time"s top ten graphic memoirs. "Cancer Vixen" was first published in "Glamour" magazine as a six-page cartoon. In 2006 released as a graphic memoir book which depicts a woman with cancer who chooses to live her life stylishly and fiercely, despite living with an illness. Marchetto's story is considered as a notable piece of literature in the breast cancer community. Her memoir has inspired the culture of not becoming a victim to breast cancer, but rather to be a "vixen." In 2013, HBO announced it was developing a "Cancer Vixen" film starring Cate Blanchett as Marisa Acocella Marchetto; as of 2020 the film is still in development.