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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.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Information from the Macmillan Cancer Support website translated into Polish. MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance) is a non-cancerous condition but there is a small risk it developing into a blood cancer, such as myeloma or lymphoma. This information explains what MGUS is, the causes, diagnosis, and treatment and follow up.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet describes acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. It also discusses issues such as feelings, talking to children, self-help, and practical and financial support. Includes details of useful organisations and other resources.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This factsheet is a translation of information on the Macmillan Cancer Support website. It describes neuroendocrine tumours. It discusses the causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about cancer of the larynx (voicebox), which is also called laryngeal cancer. It is for anyone who is having tests for cancer of the larynx, or anyone who has been diagnosed with it. There is also information for carers, family members and friends. It explains the signs and symptoms of cancer of the larynx. It also explains how it is diagnosed and treated, and ways to cope. This includes your feelings, relationships, work and finances.
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.
British Association of Dermatologists
This factsheet aims to help you understand the risk of developing skin cancer after receiving an organ transplant. It explains the importance of early detection and treatment of skin cancers. It describes the main types of precancerous and cancerous skin growths, how you can reduce the risk of getting skin cancer, and how skin cancer can be treated.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Carboplatin is a chemotherapy drug used to treat ovarian and lung cancer. It may also be used to treat other cancers.
Winston's Wish
A child’s early years are a time of development and change which helps shape the rest of their life. From newborn babies needing constant attention and care to curious children seeking new experiences, an immense amount of learning and change happen during this short period of time. A key focus of early childhood is the relationships that children form with the important people in their lives — usually parents, carers and siblings. Most children will form a strong, secure bond with these people, which enables them to feel safe, and encourages the curiosity that helps them to explore their world. Bereavement during a child’s early years interrupts the attachment that they have with that person. In the absence of strong memories of their own, it can be hard for a young child to remember the person who has died and to feel connected to them. This booklet is designed for parents, carers, childcare professionals and other adults supporting children up to the age of 5 who have experienced the death of a parent or carer. It offers information and ideas as well as some activities which we hope will benefit children and their families. (Publisher)
Leukaemia Care
Essential thrombocythaemia (ET) belongs to a group of conditions called myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), which also includes polycythaemia vera and myelofibrosis. ET is a chronic condition that is characterised by too many platelets (blood cells that helps the blood clot) in the blood. This booklet explains what ET is, what causes it, who it affects, how it affects your body, what symptoms to expect and likely treatments.
Macmillan Cancer Support
A translation of selected pages (6-39: The pelvis; radiotherapy; how radiotherapy might affect you; tiredness; effects on the skin, bladder, bowel, vagina; finding a toilet in a hurry; effects on sex life and fertility; early menopause) from Macmillan Cancer Support’s booklet “Pelvic radiotherapy in women. Managing the side effects" [MAC13944_E03_N].
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 booklet explains what testicular cancer is, the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and surgery. It also has sections on sexuality and fertility (including sperm storage), emotions, self-help and support. Includes details of useful organisations.
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.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet helps provide a better understanding of secondary cancer in the liver, describing the causes, how it is diagnosed, and treatment options. It also includes information on follow-up and clinical trials. Issues such as feelings and talking to children are discussed and sources of emotional and financial support are described. Includes details of 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 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 is for anyone who is thinking about having risk-reducing breast surgery. You may consider this if you have a high risk of developing breast cancer. This is usually because you have a strong family history of breast cancer. The booklet explains what risk-reducing breast surgery is and what it involves. It talks about the different options for risk-reducing breast surgery. There is information about the benefits, limitations and risks of each type of surgery. We also talk about some physical and emotional issues you may experience, and ways to cope with these. We have included photographs of women who have had breast reconstruction after risk-reducing surgery. This is to help show how a reconstruction may look.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about a type of kidney cancer called renal cell cancer. It is for anyone who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer, or is having tests for it. There is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet explains how renal cell cancer is diagnosed and treated. The booklet also talks about your feelings when you are diagnosed with cancer. You can find practical advice on dealing with work and finances towards the end of the booklet.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has information about the most common type of cancer of the pancreas - adenocarcinoma. It describes the risk factors, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, staging, treatment options and follow-up. It also discusses feelings and self-help and includes details of further support and websites.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has information about soft tissue sarcomas, including the different types, the symptoms, diagnosis, staging and grading, and treatment options. It also discusses feelings and how your relationships, work and finances might be affected.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is for women who are having, or are going to have, radiotherapy to the pelvic area. The pelvic area is the lower part of the tummy (abdomen), between the hips. The booklet explains: side effects that may happen during, or shortly after, pelvic radiotherapy; how side effects can be controlled or reduced; what you can do to help yourself.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet has information about the side effects of pelvic radiotherapy during treatment. There is a separate booklet for men experiencing late effects (Managing the late effects of pelvic radiotherapy in men).
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is for anyone who has been diagnosed with locally advanced prostate cancer. This is when prostate cancer has grown outside the prostate and may have started to spread into tissue or organs close by. There is also information for family members and friends. The booklet explains the different treatments for locally advanced prostate cancer and their side effects. It also has information about the feelings you might experience, and how your relationships, work and finances might be affected.
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
A moving, lyrical picture book about a young girl's love for her granddad and how she copes when he dies, written by poet and playwright Joseph Coelho. This beautifully illustrated, powerful and ultimately uplifting text is the ideal way to introduce children to the concept of death and dying, particularly children who have lost a grandparent. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet describes the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment (including side-effects) of myeloma. It also covers issues such as feelings, and practical and financial help. Includes details of useful support organisations and other resources.
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
This booklet is about non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. It is for anyone who is having tests for this type of cancer or has been diagnosed with it. It may also be helpful for family members, friends or carers. The booklet explains the symptoms of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. It also explains how it is diagnosed and treated, and ways to cope; this includes your feelings, relationships, work and finances.
Hashtag Press
Elsie and Daisy are best friends. They go to a special school, a school where the children have helpers and some of the children use wheels to get around. Elsie waits at the classroom door for her best friend to arrive every day. One day Daisy doesn’t arrive in school. All the grown-ups are crying; they are sad because Daisy has died. Elsie will never see her friend again. Elsie isn’t sad though, she is cross with her friend for not saying goodbye. Goodbye Daisy is based on Stephanie Nimmo’s own experiences of explaining to her daughter Daisy’s friends that Daisy had died. Aimed mainly at children with profound learning disabilities it is also a heart-warming social story and support guide about the death of a school friend that will support help parents, carers and professionals support a child through their loss and grief. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about secondary breast cancer. This is breast cancer that has spread to another part of the body. It is for anyone who has been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer and explains the signs and symptoms, the different treatments, how to manage symptoms and ways to cope with some of the feelings you may have.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Information for people who have had treatment for head and neck cancer and who are experiencing side-effects after treatment has ended.
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 is about muscle-invasive and advanced bladder cancer. It is for anyone who is having tests for this type of cancer or has been diagnosed with it. It may also be helpful for family members, friends or carers. The booklet explains the symptoms of muscle-invasive and advanced bladder cancer. It also explains how it is diagnosed and treated, and ways to cope. This includes your feelings, relationships, work and finances.
North Staffordshire Press
My Daddy Is My Superhero was inspired by Michaelagh's own experience of explaining her husband's brain tumour illness to her eldest son, and is intended to help begin conversations surrounding serious illness and death with young children. At its core, My Daddy Is My Superhero is about the loving relationship between a little boy and his dad. It is a story about love, fun, beauty, loss, sadness, memories and celebration. (Publisher)
Graffeg Limited
There's only one dad quite like me. I wish that there were two. I'd have more time to spend And I would spend it all with you. Most of us can't imagine having the time we spend with our children or loved ones cut short, but this is the reality being faced by mother of two Lisa Wells, who was diagnosed with terminal bowel and liver cancer in December 2017, at the age of 31. The Only One of Me project grew from Lisa's determination to leave a lasting legacy for her daughters and her desire to help other families rally against the difficulties of loss. Only One of Me is the product of Lisa's lifelong love of writing and a newfound friendship with award-winning children's author Michelle Robinson. The two collaborated on this tender and moving rhyming poem, with charming illustrations by Tim Budgen, which is both a love letter to Lisa's own daughters and a testament to the unwavering strength of parental love, a timeless message for families facing the challenges of bereavement. (Publisher)
Graffeg Limited
The Pond is a touching picture book about a young boy, and his family, overcoming the loss of his father. This colourful, emotional book is filled with natural imagery, and will teach children not only about death and loss, but the importance of the natural world. From Nicola Davies and Cathy Fisher, the duo behind the beautiful children’s book Perfect. (Publisher)
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.
Booklife Publishing
Cancer is a group of diseases in which abnormal cells divide and spread. There are many different kinds of cancer, and different forms of treatment. Cancer is very scary, and can be very difficult to handle physically, emotionally, and mentally. Learning about how cancer affects the body and how it can be treated can help readers who know someone with cancer, or who have cancer themselves. This book can help readers understand complex medical terms and processes through straightforward text. Full-color photographs and fact boxes highlight important information. (Publisher)
BUPA
An activity booklet to help occupy children at home or in hospital when someone they know has cancer.
Graffeg Limited
'There's only one mum quite like me. I wish that there were two. I'd have more time to spend And I would spend it all with you.' Most of us can't imagine having the time we spend with our children or loved ones cut short, but this is the reality being faced by mother of two Lisa Wells, who was diagnosed with terminal bowel and liver cancer in December 2017 at the age of 31. The Only One of Me project grew from Lisa's determination to leave a lasting legacy for her daughters and her desire to help other families rally against the difficulties of loss. Only One of Me is the product of Lisa's lifelong love of writing and a newfound friendship with award-winning children's author Michelle Robinson. The two collaborated on this tender and moving rhyming poem, with charming illustrations by Catalina Echeverri, which is both a love letter to Lisa's own daughters and a testament to the unwavering strength of parental love, a timeless message for families facing the challenges of bereavement. (Publisher)
Lemon Drop Books
This is a story about loss, friendship and hope. The Magical Wood is set in a beautiful wood with a river wandering through. One cold and stormy day, the wind blew a terrible gale. The next day the tree family woke to find that Strongest Tree had fallen to the woodland floor and had sadly died. How would the tree family survive the seasons without the strength of Strongest Tree? Throughout each season the tree family are visited by a new animal, offering advice and support to the trees. (Publisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about a type of leukaemia called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). It is for anyone who has been diagnosed with AML, or who wants to know more about it. It also has information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet covers: what AML is; symptoms and how AML is diagnosed; how AML is treated; coping with AML.
A Spark In The Sand
Ceara Hayden's book The Boobies is a lighthearted and informative story about breast cancer. Her quirky and witty rhymes convey this serious disease in a way that is accessible to young adults and grown-ups alike. Based on her own experience of her mother's diagnosis, Ceara's story brings warmth, hope (and a little humour) for those suffering or watching a loved one suffer from this devastating illness. All profits from this book will be donated to the breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel. (Publisher)
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.
Fentum Press
After a life of reading and writing, what does it feel like to be deprived of both, to be thrown back only on what’s in your head? The literary snippets that emerge into Todd’s consciousness during a month of radiation are sometimes apt, often ludicrous. They draw her back into childhood in Wales, Bermuda, Ceylon when literature functioned as friend and escape, to her unquiet past in sixties Ghana, then America at the dawn of the rights movements. Her father, nearing 100, is caught in the same ‘hospital-land’: both learn the selfishness of sickness and both respond by telling stories. (Publisher)
Square Peg (Vintage)
This is a singular memoir: an excavation of mother love, a candid account of the agonies, and absurdities, of the cancer experience, and a doggedly optimistic paean to life. When Genevieve Fox finds a lump in her throat, she turns up for the hospital diagnosis in a party frock and fancy hair. I can’t have cancer, she thinks. I’ve done my hair. But there is another reason she can’t countenance cancer. Genevieve was orphaned to it at the age of nine. Genevieve’s story weaves together past and present as she recalls her rackety, unconventional childhood, while also facing the spectre of being lost to her young boys. Yet, she confronts her treatment with the same sassy survival instinct that characterised her childhood misadventures. Through an extraordinary alchemy, Genevieve takes life’s precariousness and turns it on its head. (Publisher)
Mirror Books
With four children (three of them triplets!) and a relationship break-up to contend with, some things get a little lost in the mix. Like symptoms. Emma Campbell bravely and honestly offers heartfelt thoughts on what happens when cancer becomes an unwelcome guest at an already crowded party. She shares her own terror and pain, mixed with the heartwarming and unexpected. The extraordinary kindness of people and the gritty detail of battling a life-threatening illness, all while being a single mum to four children. She opens up about her angels and demons, losing and then finding love again, a constant fear of death mixed with the joy and relief of living, the anxiety of cancer returning - then facing it when it does. This book has grown from Emma's blog Me And My Four. Eager to share with her followers in more detail, the secrets, the fears, the triumphs and the terrors that she faces each day, in a life as unpredictable as your own... (Publisher)
Polygon (Birlinn Imprint)
How do you start a new life when the person you love is about to die? At the age of thirty-six, Gordon Darroch's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a devastating blow just as he, and their two children with autism, were preparing to move to her native Holland. Eighteen months later, as their plans seemed to be back on course, came the second blow: Magteld was terminally ill and possibly had only a few months to live. As her health rapidly deteriorated, they became caught up in a race against time to get a dying mother home and give their children a future in a country they hardly knew. How could they build a new life in the midst of grief and loss? How would their two sons adjust to such enormous changes? And what would remain of Magteld once she was gone? All the Time We Thought We Had is a story of love and loss and a meditation on grief and memory. It's about how events shape our lives and how we cope with them. And it raises important questions about what we value in life and the legacies we leave behind. (Publisher)
Short Books
The cruel early death of his wife Helen tears up the script of Adam Golightly's middle-class, middle-aged existence. Miserably single, outnumbered by his kids and haunted by life's screaming fragility, he recounts his fight back against the hand of fate. This irreverent and frank memoir follows Adam's snakes-and-ladders journey through his grief in the year following his wife's death, as he struggles with small town tongue wagging, the trauma of teenage bra shopping and online dating anarchy.Adam's is the biggest mid-life crisis anyone could face and as he starts to build a new, alternative life for himself and his children, he shows not just how to survive bereavement but how to be transformed by it. (Publisher)
Self-published
They say there’s a book in all of us, but I doubt I would ever have written one had it not have been for my diagnosis of breast cancer in 2011. ‘A New Kind of Normal' is the story of my life up to and moving on from that moment. Growing up in the 60's, working through the 70's and 80's, juggling a career in TV and radio while bringing up three children and surviving two divorces. From the moment I knew what a bra was, I’d wanted breasts: I even crafted a pair of blue plasticine boobs for myself, as nature made me wait until I was 15 for breasts of my own! Through cancer I lost them both, and with the chemotherapy; all my hair, my fingernails, and more worryingly, a sense of whom I was. My hair grew back, as did my fingernails, but I still struggled with my identity. What I’ve written isn't a diary, nor a self-help guide, and it's not just about cancer. I’ve taken a really good look at the little girl I was and the woman I grew into, and why I went to such lengths to try and claw back some of what cancer had taken from me - it's not everyone's way I appreciate, and it’s been an interesting exercise trying to ascertain why it was mine! I’ve been honest, open, and meticulous when it comes to detail, as I firmly believe that if you take away the mystery, you can take away some of the fear. But there’s a lot to laugh about here too, as luckily I’ve always been able to see the funny side of a situation, preferring that to the occasional overwhelming despair I felt. In this book I've tried to move the disease away from the medical professionals and the hospitals, and to bring it into the day to day, because that's where it sits. Over the last seven years I’ve come to realise that the ripple effect of cancer is far reaching, affecting not just those of us living with it but everyone around us. 'A New Kind of Normal' gives an insight into my relationship with my then partner, now husband; my children and their reaction to my illness, my family and friends, my work colleagues, people who wrote to me, and the professionals who cared for me; everybody reacts differently. Breast cancer assaults your femininity - the treatment is tough and the surgery brutal. It isn't easy, but it is possible, and I'd like to feel this book may be a source of comfort to anyone who's life is touched by breast cancer; maybe even help them to find their 'New Kind of Normal'. There are many things in life we may have to give up on, but hope is not one of them. (P
Trapeze (Orion)
Renowned as a much-loved and highly respected BBC journalist, Victoria Derbyshire has spent 20 years finding the human story behind the headlines. In 2015 she found herself at the heart of the news, with a devastating breast cancer diagnosis. With honesty and openness, she decided to live out her treatment and recovery in the spotlight in a series of video diaries that encouraged thousands to seek diagnosis and help. Victoria has kept a diary since she was nine years old and in this book she shares her day to day experiences of life following her diagnosis and coming to terms with a future that wasn't planned. From the moment she woke up to find her right breast had collapsed, to telling her partner and children, through to mastectomy and chemotherapy. From wearing a wig to work and hiding it from her colleagues, to the relief and joy of finishing treatment before immediately flying to Glasgow to present a debate on the European Referendum. y sharing her story, she became the person that mums, daughters, sisters, husbands, boyfriends and family members contacted to thank as they tried to find ways to cope with their own and their loved ones' prognosis, and needed to know that they were not alone. (Publisher)
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