patient vs sufferer

patient and sufferer both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
patient	Yes	Yes	No	No
sufferer	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, sufferer is a hypernym of patient; that is, sufferer is a word with a broader meaning than patient:

Other hypernyms of patient include case, diseased person, sick person.

patient (noun)	sufferer (noun)
the semantic role of an entity that is not the agent but is directly involved in or affected by the happening denoted by the verb in the clause	a person suffering from an illness
a person who requires medical care	one who suffers for the sake of principle

patient (adjective)	sufferer (adjective)
enduring trying circumstances with even temper or characterized by such endurance