Macmillan's Cancer Information Blog

  • Sex, relationships and fertility – support for young people affected by cancer

    FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Sex and relationships are important. Macmillan knows that cancer can have a big impact on them.

    If you’re a teenager or young adult when you are told you have cancer, it will have a big impact on the decisions you make. Everyone will have different priorities. You may be worried about how cancer and its treatment might affect your relationships or sex life. You may have questions about fertility issues, perhaps during…

  • Easy relaxation tips

    FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Practising relaxation techniques can help you cope with the side effects of cancer, such as anxiety, breathlessness and fatigue.

    Relaxing

    As you cope with the effects of cancer, you may feel like it’s difficult to relax. It could help to do some relaxation exercises to ease your anxiety, to help with breathing or just to take your mind off things. Relaxing could also help you if you’re having trouble sleeping.…

  • Head and neck cancer: don’t let eating problems get in the way of your social life

    FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Head and neck cancer is the seventh most commonly diagnosed cancer, with over 62,000 people living with it in the UK. Cancer can occur in any of the tissues or organs in the head and neck, including the mouth, throat, thyroid or larynx (voicebox). Most head and neck cancers are treated by surgery, radiotherapy, or a combination of both.*

    The illustration on the left shows a cross-section of the head, with the sinuses, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, floor of mouth and tongue labelled. The illustration on the right shows the inside of the mouth, with the lips, hard palate, soft palate, oropharynx, tonsils and tongue labelled.

    Eating and socialising

    Treatment for head and neck cancer can cause problems…

  • Meet Irene: “Why I review books for Macmillan.”

    FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Want to start the New Year by making a difference? We know the positive impact that quality information can have for those affected by cancer – but we can only produce it with your help. That’s why we’re looking for new reviewers to make our information in 2015 the best it can be.

    We could tell you ourselves why the work our reviewers do is so important, but we can’t say it as well as someone who’s actually…

  • Talking to children and teenagers about cancer

    FormerMember
    FormerMember

    In this blog, Debbie talks about her childhood experiences of cancer in the family. 

    ‘I just don’t understand. I’ve never smoked. I watch what I eat...’

    Those were the words I heard that told me my mum had cancer. Or at least, I was 70% sure it was cancer. Because smoking caused cancer, right? I knew that. But I was sure smoking caused other diseases too. It could be something else, no?  But do…