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.
Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)
Cancer is increasing at an alarming rate and one in three people will develop cancer at some point in their lives. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, up to 39 per cent of the most common cancers - lung, breast, colorectal, skin, mouth/throat and oesophagus, liver, stomach, prostate, cervical ovarian, testicular, endometrial and pancreatic - are preventable through diet, physical activity and weight control alone. "Say no to cancer" was originally published by Piatkus in 1999 and this greatly expanded edition contains new chapters that reflect the very latest information on the connection between diet and lifestyle and the risk of developing cancer. It offers guidance for people who wish to avoid getting cancer, and for those who want to know what they can do nutritionally if they have cancer and/or want to prevent reoccurrence. By improving your diet and taking the right nutritional supplements you really can say no to cancer. (Publisher)
Books Beyond Words
The book is designed to support women who are invited for a smear test. It explains what happens to Carol, from receiving the invitation, making a preliminary visit to the GP practice, deciding whether she will have the smear or not, having the smear, and receiving the results. We then see her being recalled for further tests. Feelings, consent and health education are all addressed. Ideally this book should be used to prepare women with learning disabilities before they have a smear test. (Publisher)
Coronet (Hodder & Stoughton)
This book does not offer a cure for cancer. It offers a cure for your fear of cancer. Both memoir and self-help book, this is the remarkable chronicle of a passage from 'terminal' diagnosis to exuberant wellness in just a few months. The Cancer Whisperer reverses our traditional adversarial relationship with cancer by teaching us how to listen to it; how to be healed by it as well as seek to cure it; and how to be emotionally free of illness even when physically curtailed. Living on the frontier between her fierce will to live and necessary willingness to die, Sophie - now thriving with cancer - shares her journey with searing honesty, unapologetic vulnerability and intelligent pragmatism. Alongside rare insights into a condition now affecting approximately one in three people, she challenges the mental conditioning we need to overcome to redefine our narratives about cancer. As 'the cancer whisperer', she offers a groundbreaking practical guide that will encourage cancer patients to: Direct their own treatment while preserving their personhood in a system that tends to see them as patients more than people. Engage with fear, anger and grief in healthy and healing ways instead of toughing it out, trying to be positive or collapsing into despair. Radically shift from being a cancer victim to a cancer listener-to seeing cancer less as a disease than as a symptom of other underlying causes, and engaging proactively with whatever changes it calls on them to make. Discover what the author calls 'the whispering, the reaching into a well of darkness and finding your hands painted with light'. Inspired, wise and moving, this book is as unflinching as Lisa Lynch's The C Word, as uplifting as Kris Carr's Crazy, Sexy Cancer, and carries us to a new threshold in our relationship with cancer, strengthening our ability to meet it with courage, creativity, gratitude and grace. (Publisher)
BUPA
This booklet explains types of treatment and some of the health professionals who are helping people with cancer to get better.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Eating may be a problem for people with cancer or other illnesses, particularly when undergoing treatment such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy. This booklet has advice on how to eat well when trying to cope with loss of appetite, changes in taste, dry mouth, difficulties swallowing, feeling full, nausea, diarrhoea, and constipation. It has tips on how to make food as nourishing as possible and ideas for snacks and drinks.
BUPA
This booklet looks at some of the side-effects of different types of cancer treatments. It also offers ideas for small ways children may like to help out at home.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Advice about what to eat and what not to eat following treatment.
SKCIN: The Karen Clifford Skin Cancer Charity
Leaflet with information about skin cancer and how to avoid it, including: sunburn; sunbeds; protecting young children; choosing the right sunscreen; applying sunscreen; at risk groups; types of skin cancer.
Target Ovarian Cancer
This video describes the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
BUPA
This booklet explains what cancer is and explores some common worries and feelings that children may have - reassuring them that however they react, it’s ok.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Some people may be advised to follow a low-fibre diet during or after treatment for cancer. This booklet gives ideas of suitable foods and advice for improving the nutritional value of meals; this may be helpful for people who have a poor appetite or who have lost weight.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Some illnesses or treatments may make swallowing difficult. This booklet has ideas on how to prepare soft or liquidised foods and how to make food more nourishing by enriching it with dairy produce, fats, sugars and fortified milk. Includes meal suggestions.
Dansac Limited
This illustrated booklet aims to guide people with a colostomy through the first months after the operation and help them adapt to life with a stoma. It covers care of the stoma (including changing the bag, disposal of products, and irrigation) going home after the operation, diet and nutrition (including odour, wind, diarrhoea and constipation), clothing, sex and relationships, exercise, going back to work and travel.
Pancreatic Cancer Action
This booklet has information about eating after insertion of a duodenal stent. It describes what to expect and the best foods to eat and avoid.
BUPA
An activity booklet to help occupy children at home or in hospital when someone they know has cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer Action
Created by dietitians and chefs at University College Cork, this recipe book provides advice on how best to combat cancer-induced weight loss and other eating related problems whilst undergoing pancreatic cancer treatment. It features over 80 quick, easy and energy dense recipes for nourishing meals and snacks that have been created specifically for people who find it hard to maintain a healthy weight.
University College London Hospital Cancer Collaborative|FruitFly Collective
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.
British Lung Foundation
Information and support for those caring for someone with a lung condition (not specifically lung cancer).
Prostate Cancer UK
Bisphosphonates are a group of drugs that can be used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones (advanced prostate cancer). This factsheet describes how bisphosphonates work, the advantages and disadvantages, what treatment involves and the possible side effects.
British Thyroid Foundation
This card lists the different types of thyroid cancer and briefly describes the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.
Cancer Laryngectomee Trust
This booklet has details of hospitals believed to handle emergencies of the type that laryngectomees may suffer. It includes flash cards (English, French, Spanish, and German) to help a voiceless laryngectomee indicate what the problem is.
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group
This illustrated booklet tells the story of siblings Tom and Jess, whose little brother Ben has cancer. It describes how they cope with the illness and the changes it brings. It is aimed at children under nine.
Lesbian and Gay Foundation
General information for lesbian and bisexual women about the breasts, including breast cancer: what it is; breast awareness; risks; checking the breasts; and routine screening.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Designed by dieticians for people with eating difficulties, this booklet describes the supplements available, those that are most suitable, and how each product can be used. Indicates those that are approved for kosher or halal diets.
Pancreatic Cancer Action
A booklet for patients and carers describing the types of pancreatic cyst, their symptoms and risks. It gives detailed information on the diagnostic tests used, the different types of treatment given for cancerous and non-cancerous cysts. It includes a glossary to explain many of the terms used.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
This booklet explains what radiotherapy is, when it will begin, in-patient and outpatient treatment, how treatment is planned, what happens during treatment, possible side-effects, and what happens when treatment ends. It also has sources of further information and support.
British Thyroid Foundation
This leaflet describes cancer of the thyroid, the main types, the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This information is about what to expect when you find out you have cancer and where to get help and support.
Cancer Focus Northern Ireland
This leaflet explains what causes fatigue and describes its effects on daily life and how to cope. Includes details of services offered by Cancer Focus Northern Ireland.
Piatkus (Little, Brown Book Group)
Coping with life after cancer can be tough. The idea that the end of successful treatment brings relief and peace just isn't true for countless survivors. Many feel unexpectedly alone, worried and adrift. You're supposed to be getting your life 'back on track' but your life has changed. You have changed. With reassurance and understanding, Dr Frances Goodhart and Lucy Atkins help readers deal with the emotional fallout of cancer whether it's days, months or years since the treatment ended. Drawing on Dr Goodhart's extensive experience working in the NHS with cancer survivors, this guide is packed with practical and simple self-help tools to tackle issues such as worry and anxiety, depression and low mood, anger, low self-esteem and body image, relationships and sex, fatigue, sleep and relaxation. If you are a cancer survivor, this book will support you every step of the way. If you are supporting a loved one, friend, colleague or your patient, this is a vital read. Winner of the 2012 Best Health Book category in the Guild of Health Writers Awards and highly commended in the Popular Medicine category at the BMA Medical Book Awards 2012 this is the first UK book to look in depth at cancer survivorship and its emotional fallout. Government statistics indicate around 2 million people in the UK survive for at least 5 years post diagnosis and this figure is set to increase. This book will be an invaluable resource. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet explains what cancer is, why surgery might be used to treat it, and how the surgery is carried out. It also describes what to expect before and after the operation, and the possible longer-term complications. Includes English language version.
Prostate Cancer UK
A factsheet for men who have been diagnosed with high-grade prostatic intrapeithelial neoplasia (PIN) or atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) after having a prostate biopsy. It explains what ASAP and 'high-grade' PIN are and how they might be monitored.
British Thyroid Foundation
This leaflet describes cancer of the thyroid, the main types, the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about some of the side effects of cancer treatment.
Pancreatic Cancer Action
This booklet for patients and carers contains information about how pancreatic cancer can affect diet and nutrition. It covers managing dietary symptoms such as poor appetite, weight loss and diarrhoea, dietary supplements and diabetes and diet. Contains dietary advice for patients undergoing surgery and for patients undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet explains what breast cancer is and describes the possible causes, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and the treatment options. Includes the English-langage version.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet explains what breast cancer is and describes the possible causes, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and the treatment options. Includes the English-langage version.
General Medical Council
This guide explains how to create a partnership with your doctor and get the most out of the consultation.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about bowel cancer and its treatment. It includes the English-language version.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet explains what breast cancer is and describes the possible causes, the symptoms, how it is diagnosed, and the treatment options. Includes the English-langage version.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about how prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated. Includes the English-language version.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about bowel cancer and its treatment. It includes the English-language version.
Pancreatic Cancer Action
A booklet for patients and carers covering the different procedures used to control pancreaticcancer symptoms with practical information about being in hospital and returning home. Includes a section about second opinions, clinical trials, questions to ask your doctor and a glossary to explain some of the terms used.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet explains why surgery may be used to treat cancer. It describes how the surgery is carried out, what happens before and after an operation, and the possible long-term complications, such as lymphoedema.
Prostate Cancer UK
This factsheet describes how cryotherapy treats prostate cancer, what it involves, and the possible side effects.
Cancer Focus Northern Ireland
Lists the risk factors for and the signs and symptoms of lung cancer and describes what to expect when visiting the GP. Also has information about how the Cancer Focus Northern Ireland can help.
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Easy read information on taking care in the sun.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is about claiming benefits. Includes the English-language version..
British Thyroid Foundation
This leaflet describes cancer of the thyroid, the main types, the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.
Christie Hospital NHS Trust
Although designed primarily for people having treatment at the Christie Hospital, this booklet is relevant to anyone with cancer. It describes the emotional support, palliative care, and financial help available. It has a list of national support groups and also support groups in the northwest.
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