Macmillan's Cancer Information Blog

We know that the NHS is facing many challenges right now. The covid pandemic, cost of living crisis and staff shortages have overwhelmed NHS services and caused record-high waiting times. This is having an effect on people worried about cancer or living with cancer.  People worry about cancer for many different reasons. Waiting for tests or results, or waiting to start cancer treatments, is an anxious time for everyone…

Advance care planning helps your loved ones and healthcare team understand what your wishes are when it comes to your medical treatment and future care. It can be a good idea to document your views and wishes about your future care. This means they can try to make sure your wishes are followed if you become very unwell and cannot make or communicate a decision. In this blog we answer some of your questions about advance…

What is our new campaign about?

Our What Are We Waiting For? campaign calls on governments across the UK to make sure everyone with cancer gets the treatment they need, when they need it.

New research from Macmillan suggests that at least 100,000 people with cancer across the UK have been affected. There have been increased delays in being diagnosed and starting treatment. NHS staff are doing the very best they can, but…

September is Blood Cancer Awareness month. In this blog you can find out about the 3 main types of blood cancer (leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma) and the symptoms to be aware of.

To understand blood cancers, it helps to know a little about how the blood and blood cells work. Blood is made up of different types of blood cells:

• Red blood cells carry oxygen from our lungs to the rest of our bodies.  
• White blood cells fight…

Some people with cancer choose to use complementary therapies as well as conventional cancer treatment. Complementary therapies may help people feel better and help them cope with cancer symptoms or the side effects of treatment. They do not claim to treat cancer. Complementary therapies are different to alternative therapies. Alternative therapies are used instead of conventional medical treatments and some claim to…