Macmillan's Cancer Information Blog

  • Travel and cancer - What to know before you go

    It's summer, and everyone loves going on holiday. A holiday can improve your mood, make you feel relaxed and allow you to spend quality time with your family and friends. This can be especially important if you have cancer. 

    There’s a lot for anyone to think about and plan before a holiday. There can often be more if you have cancer. In this blog, information development nurse Richard runs through a few last-minute…

  • International Youth Day

    August 12th is International Youth Day. This year, the focus is on safe spaces for youth. In today’s blog, content developer Ella looks at safe places where young carers can go if they need more information and support.

    What is a young carer?
    A young carer is someone who is under the age of 18 who spends time looking after someone who is ill. Young carers might do extra things to help their families. For example…

  • Current news - HPV vaccines for boys

    HPV vaccines have been in the news a lot recently. Currently, the NHS offers HPV vaccination to girls aged 12 to 13 years old. But recent campaigns have been calling for the vaccination to also be offered to boys. Last Tuesday, the government announced the decision to start vaccinating boys aged 12 to 13 against HPV. In this blog, we'll explain what HPV is and why it's been in the news.

    What is HPV?
    The human papilloma…

  • International Friendship Day - How to talk to a friend with cancer

    Today is International Friendship Day. It’s a day to celebrate our friendships and thank our friends for being there for us. It can be a difficult time if a friend has cancer and you might worry that you don’t know what to say. In this blog, Editorial Assistant Helen will talk about how to talk to your friend if they have cancer and give some tips about how to support them.

    Talking can help make sense of difficult…

  • Sarcoma Awareness Week - Understanding, diagnosing and coping

    This week is Sarcoma Awareness Week. In this blog, we explain more about sarcomas, how they are diagnosed, and coping with being told you have a sarcoma.  

    What are sarcomas?
    Sarcomas are rare cancers. They can develop in the:

    • muscle
    • bone
    • nerves
    • cartilage
    • tendons
    • blood vessels
    • fatty and fibrous tissues.

    About 3,300 people a year are diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma and around 580 people with a bone sarcoma. If you…