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The web Directory of Information Materials for People Affected by Cancer is regularly updated and currently has details of over 1,900 booklets, leaflets, books and audiovisual materials for people affected by cancer. Most have been published in the last five years but we have included some older ones that are still useful.
Breast Cancer Care
A booklet for people who have been diagnosed with secondary cancer in the bones that has spread from the breast. It describes what secondary breast cancer in the bone is, the symptoms, and the investigations. It also describes the treatment options, but not in great detail. Lists useful organisations.
Breast Cancer Care
A booklet for women who are experiencing menopausal symptoms after breast cancer treatment. It has advice on treatments (prescription drugs and complementary therapies) and practical measures for coping with hot flushes, vaginal dryness, loss of libido, mood swings, joint pain and risk of osteoporosis. Includes details of further support.
Macmillan Cancer Support
We have produced the Core Books List to help public libraries and cancer information and support centres improve the quality and reliability of the cancer books they stock. The list includes books about cancer itself and people’s experience of living with cancer. All the books on the list have been reviewed favourably by our volunteer book reviewers. This list is not prescriptive but intended to help libraries to make informed choices between the very wide range of books available, which can be of variable quality and accuracy. Please note: Inclusion of a book in this list does not imply endorsement by Macmillan Cancer Support.
Breast Cancer Care
Many people will lose either some or all of their hair as a result of treatment for breast cancer. For some, this is the most distressing side effect of treatment. Some people find that being prepared for hair loss before it occurs helps them cope better when it happens. This booklet explains how you may lose your hair and the effect it can have. It looks at how to care for your hair and scalp during and after treatment and the different headwear you may want to try, including wigs and headscarves. It includes step-by-step guides to tying headscarves and tips on recreating the illusion of eyebrows and eyelashes. The final part of the booklet discusses what usually happens when your hair grows back and how to look after it.
Sims M
Mark Sims, a young doctor was diagnosed with advanced skin cancer just before his 27th birthday. This is the story of his 23-month wrestle with the disease, his passion to raise awareness and funds for vital research and how he found love quite unexpectedly, while working through his bucket list. Sadly, Mark died on January 19th 2017. His book is being published posthumously. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This leaflet is for older people living with cancer. It is aimed at people aged 70 and over, but people under the age of 70 might also find it useful. It explains the different types of treatment and support available. it also has information about living with cancer and other conditions.
Belasco A
In her mid-twenties, balancing a stable job and a partying lifestyle, Annie was also on the hunt for a man. She wanted to find Mr Right, get married, buy a house, and live the life she'd always wanted. But then one day, she found a lump ... Breast cancer. The two words that would derail Annie's life. Suddenly she realised how short her life had been, and the very idea of finding love seemed impossible. As her hair fell out, and her social life crumbled, her mental health deteriorated. She began to question if she would actually survive. Struggling with an identity crisis and worryingly low moods, she wondered if she'd ever be able to live the normal life that had been within her reach only months earlier. Love and Remission tells the tale of a young woman in search of love and mental wellbeing. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
A booklet for young people aged 12-25 years. It aims to help answer some of their questions and to provide tips and guidance. It explains what cancer is and how it can be treated. It also gives practical tips about coping with treatment, relationships and sorting out practical things like school, university, work, and money.
Public Health England
Leaflet aimed at encouraging women over 70 to check their breasts regularly and to go to the doctor as soon as they notice any change.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet explains what clinical trials are, and why and how they are carried out. It describes the different types of trials and suggests questions that people might ask before deciding whether to take part in a clinical trial. Includes details of useful organisations and other resources.
Shaw R
12 June 1995. On his twenty-eighth birthday, Raz Shaw was a directionless gambling addict doing a telesales job that was eating up every trace of what soul he had left. The next day he would be diagnosed with stage 4 sclerosing mediastinal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the large cell type. As he tells it, cancer saved his life. He was given the all-clear in March 1996, and stopped gambling for good that April. After a year away recuperating, he turned his back on the highly paid job that had devoured him and re-assimilated himself into the world of theatre that had once made him feel so alive. It took him a long time to realise quite how much these recoveries were bound up with one another – now he is ready to tell his story. Death and the Elephant is a memoir of living through and beyond illness and addiction. Blessed with the ability to find humour even in life’s darkest moments, Raz charts his struggles with irreverence and unflinching perspective. This is his story, but it’s also a universal one – an honest, funny, sometimes raw, and often inappropriate glimpse into the mind of a young man dealing with a life-threatening illness in the only way he knows how: by laughing in its face. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet provides information on the causes and symptoms of vulval cancer, diagnosis and staging, and treatment options and their side-effects. It also discusses feelings and has advice on self-help and support (including financial benefits).
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet describes cancer of the cervix, how it develops, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, further tests following diagnosis, and the treatment options. It also explores the emotional aspects. Includes details of the financial help and benefits available, and useful organisations
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet gives information about early cancer of the prostate gland, i.e. cancer that has not spread into the surrounding tissues or to other parts of the body. It describes the prostate gland and prostate cancer, the cause of prostate cancer, the symptoms, PSA testing and other diagnostic tests, the grading and staging of prostate cancer, and the treatment options. It also has information about the feelings you might experience, and how your relationships, work and finances might be affected.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet gives information about advanced or metastatic cancer of the prostate gland, i.e. cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland to other parts of the body. It describes the prostate gland and advanced prostate cancer, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, tests, the grading and staging of prostate cancer, and the treatment options. It concludes with guidance on coping with advanced prostate cancer, financial help and benefits, and sources of further information and support.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has information on secondary cancer in the bone, what it is, what causes it, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and the treatment options. It also covers issues such as emotions, talking to children, and how family and friends can help.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has information for people who are still having side-effects six months or more after treatment for bowel cancer. It describes the possible side-effects, how they can be managed and who can help. The side-effects discussed include changes to bowel function, changes to bladder function, tiredness, concentration and memory problems, peripheral neuropathy, sexual difficulties, and feelings and relationships.
Cohen L, Jefferies A
“You have cancer.” These are perhaps the most feared three words that will ever come out of a doctor’s mouth, and more and more people are hearing them. Yet most patients (and some doctors) do not realize that lifestyle changes can dramatically reduce risk, assist treatment and improve chances of surviving and even thriving after a diagnosis. Over the course of a major study Servan-Schreiber designed with Dr Lorenzo Cohen at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, six key areas have emerged: love and social support, stress management, rest, movement, nutrition and avoiding environmental toxins. Each plays a role--but it's the synergies created by this potent "Mix of Six" that can bring about real shifts in health and well-being, significantly improving quality of life and positively supporting conventional cancer treatments. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber's Anticancer introduced a revolutionary way to understand and confront cancer, changing the lives of millions around the world. He laid out the principles of integrative care that had allowed him to live many years beyond expectations for his own cancer, but readers have long requested a specific plan to implement his approach. Anti cancer Living is that book. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This easy to use booklet contains up-to-date information about benefits and other sources of financial help for people affected by cancer.
ENABLE Scotland, Macmillan Cancer Support, CHANGE
This booklet is about getting good health care if you have cancer and a learning disability.
Macmillan Cancer Support, ENABLE Scotland, CHANGE
It is helpful to tell your doctors and nurses what is important to you. This will help them give you the best care. You can use this book to write about what is important to you.
Breast Cancer Care
This booklet is for women considering breast reconstruction after breast surgery to treat breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Care
This booklet describes ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the symptoms, how a diagnosis is made, the different types of DCIS, and the treatment options. It also has a short section on coping with breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Care
This leaflet explains what tamoxifen is, when it may be prescribed, how it works, the benefits, and possible side-effects.
Breast Cancer Care
This booklet explains briefly what capecitabine (Xeloda®) is, when it may be prescribed, how it works, and possible side-effects.
Breast Cancer Care
This booklet provides information for anyone going into hospital for breast cancer surgery. It describes what may happen before admission, what to take into hospital, what happens before and after surgery, what to expect after surgery (normal changes, possible problems) and leaving hospital and recovering from surgery. Includes details of further support and useful organisations.
Breast Cancer Care
This booklet is about relaxation and wellbeing during and after breast cancer treatment. It looks at complementary therapies such as acupuncture, Reiki and massage. It also describes some popular relaxation techniques, including meditation and mindfulness, and has information on yoga, Thai Chi and Chi Gung. It discusses why people might use these complementary therapies and relaxation techniques after a diagnosis of breast cancer, and what they may need to think about before trying them. It also explains what herbal medicines and homeopathy are.
Breast Cancer Care
This leaflet explains briefly what goserelin (Zoladex®) is, when it may be prescribed, how it works, and the possible side-effects.
NHS Health Scotland
This leaflet explains what a cervical screening test is, what causes changes in the cervix, and describes how to make an appointment, what happens during the test and if changes are detected. It addresses the concerns of women who may not have been sexually active.
Public Health England
This illustrated leaflet is aimed at women with a learning difficulty. It explains the importance of breast screening and what will happen before, during, and after the screen.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has been written to help men decide whether to have the PSA blood test. It describes the prostate gland, the causes and symptoms of prostate cancer, and explains the PSA test in detail, including the advantages and disadvantages. Treatment options for prostate cancer are briefly explained. Includes details of useful organisations and other resources, such as websites.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet for anyone who is having tests for mesothelioma or has been diagnosed with it. There is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet explains the signs and symptoms of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma. It explains how they are diagnosed and how they may be treated. It also has information about the feelings you might experience, and how your relationships, work and finances might be affected.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet aims to provide a better understanding of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, their diagnosis and treatment. It also has sections on feelings and sources of practical and financial support. Includes details of useful organisations.
Target Ovarian Cancer, Macmillan Cancer Support
This set of ten tips was developed by a workshop group comprising people affected by ovarian cancer and GPs. It aims to help women get the best out of a visit to their GP if they are concerned about symptoms.
von Hirsch I
"Cancer is not a laughing matter, as I was told by a cross German lady from Dortmund when I showed her this journal. She had herself had breast cancer and is right of course; there are lots of things that are not fun about cancer, most of them unavoidable. I was therefore as surprised as the next person to realise that a huge amount of funny things happen on the way to chemo, or indeed on the way to most places, and that once you get your eye in, you completely forget to be scared..." This is not just an educational book about cancer, although it is certainly safe to give to cancer patients as a cheerful present. More importantly, it sheds new light on why Kim Kardashian is worth Keeping Up With, what playlists to make for MRI scans, the truth behind the legend of Medea, bikini etiquette on a deserted beach, what to do with a glut of rainbow chard, what an Oscar-winner should say in an acceptance speech, how to deal with cold-callers selling life insurance, and what to wear on a March Against Menopause (layers, obviously)... (Publisher)
Figes K
Coming up to her sixtieth birthday, Kate Figes found herself turning to the larger questions of family, love and life's meaning. It is like this author to examine different stages in writing, and her books - from new motherhood and adolescence to coupledom and infidelity - testify to this way of understanding herself and others: so naturally she turned to writing to explore the challenges of becoming sixty. And then - a horrible, and sudden diagnosis of breast cancer which had metastasised. Instead of a gentle journey into middle age, Kate Figes began to write for her life. Now, clawing back confidence and control was not just the ordinary business of these years: it was the only way to try and survive great pain and emotional turmoil. As her writing became an honest reflection on ageing, failing, regrets and the importance of childhood memory, friends, family and love she found a new determination to live to the full and about finding ways to face up to a shortened life expectancy with dignity. Original, passionate, funny and moving, On Smaller Dogs and Larger Life Questions will resonate with anyone dealing with the many griefs and freedoms of midlife. It is about living with a life-threatening disease but it is even more: an intelligent and passionate look at the way we can approach disappointment and trouble, friendship and love - every day. (Publisher)
Wise C, Wise G
A moving, thought-provoking and surprisingly humorous book which is both a description of a journey to death and a celebration of the act of living. Based on Clare Wise's blog, which she started when she was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, Not That Kind of Love charts the highs and lows of the last three years of Clare's life. The end result is not a book that fills you with despair and anguish. On the contrary, Not That Kind of Love should be read by everybody for its candour, and for its warmth and spirit. Clare is an astonishingly dynamic, witty and fun personality, and her positivity and energy exude from every page. As she becomes too weak to type, her brother - the actor Greg Wise - takes over, and the book morphs into a beautiful meditation on life, and the necessity of talking about death. With echoes of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal and Cathy Rentzenbrink's The Last Act of Love, it is a very special read that rejoices in the extraordinary and often underestimated sibling bond, and the importance of making the most of the ordinary pleasures life has to offer. As Greg Wise writes in the book: 'Celebrate the small things, the small moments. If you find yourself with matching socks as you leave the house in the morning, that is a cause for celebration. If the rest of the day is spent finding the cure for cancer, or brokering world peace, then that's a bonus.' (Publisher)
Langton-Gilks S
Drawing on her family's own experiences and those of other parents facing the death of a child from illness or a life-limiting condition, Sacha Langton-Gilks explains the challenges, planning, and conversations that can be expected during this traumatic period. Practical advice such as how to work with the healthcare professionals, drawing up an Advance Care Plan, and how to move care into the home sit alongside tender observations of how such things worked in her own family's story. The book also includes a template person-centred planning document, developed by experts in the field. Empowering and reassuring, this book will help families plan and ensure the best possible end-of-life care for a child or young person. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
Coping with the death of someone close to you involves dealing with difficult feelings and emotions, as well as practical tasks that have to be done. This booklet is for the relatives and friends of anyone who has died from cancer. It gives you some practical information about what to do and what to expect when someone dies. It also looks at some of the emotions you may have, and the support that can help.
Macmillan Cancer Support, Winston's Wish
This booklet is written with the childhood bereavement charity, Winston’s Wish. It’s for parents or guardians who are near the end of life and aims to help you prepare and talk to a child or children about your death. Partners, grandparents and close family members may find it useful, too. It may also help you talk to children who are already dealing with the death of a family member.
Hospice UK
This booklet is for people caring for someone who is, or who may soon be, in the last stages of life. It is designed to help them prepare for what to expect in the very last days and hours of a person's life. It explains the physical changes that someone may go through when they are dying and what can be done to make them more comfortable, the kind of care a dying person can expect to receive, and where to turn to for help if there are concerns about the end-of-life care received.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about cervical screening. It is for anyone who wants information about how screening is used to find and treat abnormal cells to prevent cervical cancer. It explains what cervical screening involves and what your test results mean. It has information about the most common abnormal result, called cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN).
Macmillan Cancer Support
A booklet for men who have had radiotherapy to the pelvic area and who are experiencing late effects. It explains what pelvic radiotherapy is before describing the following late effects and how to manage them: bladder changes; bowel changes; lymphoedema; bone changes; sex life; and fertility. It also discusses feelings, relationships, and work, and has details of further support.
Macmillan Cancer Support
A booklet for women who have had radiotherapy to the pelvic area and who are experiencing late effects. It explains what pelvic radiotherapy is before describing the following late effects and how to manage them: bladder changes; bowel changes; lymphoedema; bone changes; early menopause; sex life; and fertility. It also discusses feelings, relationships, and work, and has details of further support.
Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust
Credit-card leaflet with facts about cervical cancer, including incidence, the symptoms to look out for, how to reduce the risk, and cervical screening.
University College London Hospital Cancer Collaborative
A short film produced with the Fruit Fly Collective to support parents when they decide to tell their children about their cancer diagnosis. It provides guidance about how and when to tell them, and looks at different age groups and how they may feel and behave when they have been told.
Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust
This booklet describes what cervical cancer is, the symptoms, causes, the different types and (briefly) the treatment options.
Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust
A guide for women who have recently been diagnosed with cervical cancer, and those who care about them.
Pancreatic Cancer UK
A factsheet for anyone who would like to find out more about how radiotherapy can be used to treat pancreatic cancer. It has information on how radiotherapy is given, the side effects of treatment and looking after yourself during radiotherapy.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about bowel cancer and its treatment. It includes the English-language version.
If you have any questions about Macmillan, or would like to talk to someone about cancer, we have a team of experts who can help.
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