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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
Ipilimumab is a targeted therapy drug used to treat advanced melanoma. This describes how it works, how it is given, and some of the possible side-effects.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Nivolumab (OPDIVO®) is a targeted therapy drug used to treat melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer or kidney (renal cell) cancer.
Macmillan Cancer Support
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is a specific type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This factsheet describes the signs and symptoms, staging, grading, diagnosis and treatment.
Breast Cancer Now
This leaflet uses illustrations to show women how to check their breasts and the changes to look for.
Breast Cancer Now
This leaflet uses illustrations to show women how to check their breasts and the changes to look for.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet highlights the early signs and symptoms of cancer. It explains what to look out for and why it is important to get any symptoms checked out.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet for women highlights the early signs and symptoms of cancer. It explains what to look out for and why it is important to get any symptoms checked out.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet for men highlights the early signs and symptoms of cancer. It explains what to look out for and why it is important to get any symptoms checked out.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is for anyone who is going to have a donor stem cell transplant.There is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet explains what a donor stem cell transplant is, the different stages of treatment, and the possible side effects. It also has information about emotional, practical and financial issues.
Bowel Cancer UK
Illustrated leaflet with information about how the digestive system works and advice on how to eat well and other lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of bowel cancer.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about having a stem cell transplant using your own cells. It is for anyone who is going to have this treatment and there is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet explains what an autologous stem cell transplant is, the different stages of treatment, and the possible side effects. It also has information about emotional, practical and financial issues.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet describes the symptoms to look out for and the factors that affect the risk of lung cancer.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet contains information about how cervical screening can detect early changes in the cervix before they develop into cancer. It also provides information about factors affecting the risk of cervical cancer.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet describes the early signs of skin cancer and includes photographs to help spot the signs.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet has information about the causes and symptoms of bowel cancer and how to reduce the risk.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This z-card gives the signs and symptoms of the main cancers for men and women and advice on cancer prevention for anyone worried about their cancer risk.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet has information about the risk factors for breast cancer, the screening programme, and how to be breast aware.
Hospice UK|Dying Matters
Guidance on how to raise the subject of dying with someone who has dementia.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet describes the prostate, the risk factors for prostate cancer, the symptoms, and what will happen at the doctor's.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about getting benefits and other financial help if you are affected by cancer in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. It is for anyone living with cancer and their family, friends and carers. It explains the types of financial help you could get and how to claim this support. It also tells you who to contact for further help, including Macmillan’s welfare rights advisers.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This leaflet is about a Holistic Needs Assessment (HNA). An HNA identifies any concerns you may have when you are diagnosed with cancer. These may be physical, emotional, practical, financial and spiritual. The leaflet talks about what happens at an HNA and has information about making a care plan.
Blood Cancer UK
Guidance for employers: Key facts about blood cancer; Coronavirus and blood cancer; Your employee’s rights; Supporting your employee during coronavirus; Support for you.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet helps patients who have been urgently referred with suspected cancer to prepare for their appointments and tests. Includes English-language version.
Cancer Research UK
This leaflet helps patients who have been urgently referred with suspected cancer to prepare for their appointments and tests.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is for you if you may die in prison from a serious illness. It explains what might happen, how you may feel and what support is there to help you. There is some information about what will happen after your death and the support available for any family members and friends.
Bowel Screening Wales
This leaflet explains what happens if the bowel screening test shows that blood has been found in your sample. It explains what a colonoscopy is, and how to prepare for it.
Bowel Screening Wales
This leaflet describes the benefits of the bowel screening test kit, what the kit looks for, and what happens if blood is found in your sample. It also has information on how to reduce your risk of bowel cancer and the symptoms to look out for.
The Brain Tumour Charity
This leaflet aims to help patients understand why they may have less energy. It explains what cancer-related fatigue is and describes the symptoms and possible causes. It has suggestions for coping with fatigue and answers some commonly asked questions and also offers some practical suggestions for coping with the emotional and physical effects of fatigue.
Macmillan Cancer Support|Diabetes UK
This booklet is for anyone who has cancer and also has diabetes. You may also want to read it if you have been told your cancer treatment may increase your risk of developing diabetes. It explains how some tests and cancer treatments can affect your diabetes and make it difficult to control your blood sugar. It also has some tips to help you cope with the side effects of cancer treatment if you have diabetes.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This leaflet is about what to expect and where to get further support after cancer treatment ends. It gives suggestions to help you get the best care and support available and make healthy lifestyle choices.
Independently published
Cancer. It's a word associated with an unrivalled sense of dread, but also one that unites us in a variety of painful and unexpected ways. I, like many others, did my best to remain ignorant of the unpleasant truths surrounding this illness until at just the age of 19 I was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. This compiled journal is a record of my experiences as part of a group that can often be underrepresented in the public's approach to cancer. Follow me from the beginning to the end of this at times dire journey, where I do my best to learn what I can to share with the world about how we can better fight this illness on the psychological plain. If you or a loved one are in a similar situation, or perhaps you're looking to simply satisfy morbid curiosity, then partake in a unique account on one young man's experience with one of humanity's greatest killers. (Author)
Macmillan Cancer Support
Many people want to make positive changes to their lives when they have been diagnosed with cancer. Taking steps to live a healthier lifestyle is often a major part of these changes. This booklet is for people living with cancer or after cancer treatment who want to know more about a healthy diet. It explains why diet is important and has tips on how to eat well and keep to a healthy weight. It also answers some common questions about diet and cancer.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about managing weight gain after cancer treatment. It gives suggestions and tips to help you keep to a healthy body weight. We explain how changing the types of food you eat and being physically active can help you lose weight and feel healthier.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about anal cancer. The anus is part of the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum. We have separate booklets about colon cancer and rectal cancer. The booklet explains what anal cancer is, and how it is diagnosed and treated. It also talks about your feelings when you are diagnosed with cancer and has practical advice on dealing with work and finances.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about coping after cancer treatment finishes, including managing side effects, follow-up care, and making healthy lifestyle changes. It is for people who are preparing for life after cancer treatment.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about rectal cancer. The rectum is part of the bowel. We have separate information about small bowel cancer, colon cancer and anal cancer. The booklet explains what rectal cancer is, and how it is diagnosed and treated. It also talks about your feelings when you are diagnosed with cancer and has practical advice on dealing with work and finances. When we mention bowel cancer in this booklet, this includes rectal cancer.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about colon cancer. The colon is part of the bowel. We have separate information about small bowel cancer, rectal cancer and anal cancer. The booklet explains what colon cancer is, and how it is diagnosed and treated. It also talks about your feelings when you are diagnosed with cancer and has practical advice on dealing with work and finances. When we mention bowel cancer in this booklet, this includes colon cancer.
Bowel Screening Wales
Instructions on how to use the bowel screening test kit.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about the most common type of primary liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is for anyone who has been diagnosed with primary liver cancer. There is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet talks about the signs and symptoms of primary liver cancer. It explains how it is diagnosed and how it may be treated. It also has information about controlling symptoms and coping with emotional, practical and financial issues.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about secondary cancer in the liver. This is cancer that has spread to the liver from somewhere else in the body. It is for anyone who has been diagnosed with secondary cancer in the liver. There is also information for carers, family members and friends. The booklet talks about the signs and symptoms of secondary cancer in the liver. It explains how it is diagnosed and how it may be treated. It also has information about controlling symptoms and coping with emotional, practical and financial issues.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Challenging a number of myths about living long term with or after cancer, this book offers new insights by delving into areas that are not usually spoken about. Written from a dual perspective- that of a psychologist who had breast cancer and who copes with the long-term effects of treatment - the book contests the assumption that the afflicted person will simply 'get better' or 'move through' to a better situation. Emotional and physical side-effects can worsen over time and people living beyond or with cancer often endure a mismatch between expectations and reality, because they have been told that life would be easier than it actually is. This can leave both those suffering longer term and those close to them confused and unprepared. Including testimonies with people who have had a cancer diagnosis and people in the medical profession, the book signposts ways that professionals may help and offers prompts for friends and relatives to have useful and open conversations with the person affected. It gives voice to many people who feel that their suffering is disputed and diminished by the prevailing narrative around recovery. Galgut includes discussion on relationships, work, trauma, fear of recurrence and the role of therapy. Giving an unflinchingly honest perspective, Living with the Long-Term Effects of Cancer sheds light on these struggles, in the belief that bringing this conversation to the forefront is key to improving life for those who are affected by cancer and who suffer longer term from its effects. (Pub;lisher)
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is about travelling abroad when you have cancer. There is also information for family, friends and carers. The booklet talks about the benefits of travel and how you can prepare for a trip abroad. It also gives tips on finding travel insurance and taking care while you are away. Includes details of useful organisations.
Macmillan Cancer Support
This booklet is for people who may be finding it difficult to maintain their weight during and after cancer treatment. It explains the different food types and has suggestions on how to get more energy and protein in your diet. It also includes some meal ideas and some shopping list suggestions. These may help you when preparing meals.
Bowel Screening Wales
This leaflet describes the benefits of the bowel screening test kit, what the kit looks for, and what happens if blood is found in your sample. It also has information on how to reduce your risk of bowel cancer and the symptoms to look out for.
Canongate Books Ltd
In Radical Acts of Love, Janie Brown, oncology nurse of thirty years and counsellor of cancer patients with terminal diagnoses, recounts twenty conversations she has had with the dying; including those personally close to her. Each conversation uncovers a different perspective and experience of death, while at the same time exploring its universalities. As well as offering an extremely sensitive and wise insight into our final moments, Brown offers practical ways to facilitate the shift from feeling helpless about death to feeling hopeful; from fear to acceptance; from feeling disconnected and alone, to becoming part of the wider, collective story of our mortality. (Publisher)
Ken Harwood
The author was diagnosed in 2019 with a low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma and this is his day-by-day account of his chemotherapy journey over a six month period.
Little, Brown Book Group
As a specialist in palliative medicine, Dr Rachel Clarke chooses to inhabit a place many people would find too tragic to contemplate. Every day she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives and to help make dying more bearable. Rachel's training was put to the test in 2017 when her beloved GP father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She learned that nothing - even the best palliative care - can sugar-coat the pain of losing someone you love. And yet, she argues, in a hospice there is more of what matters in life - more love, more strength, more kindness, more joy, more tenderness, more grace, more compassion - than you could ever imagine. For if there is a difference between people who know they are dying and the rest of us, it is simply this: that the terminally ill know their time is running out, while we live as though we have all the time in the world. Dear Life is a book about the vital importance of human connection, by the doctor we would all want by our sides at a time of crisis. It is a love letter - to a father, to a profession, to life itself. (Publisher)
Lymphoma Action
Many people experience problems with their mouth following chemotherapy or radiotherapy. This factsheet has tips on oral hygiene and diet.
Myeloma UK
People with myeloma can develop sore (mucositis) or dry mouths. This factsheet explains the reasons why this may occur and describes the symptoms of mucositis and oral thrush, prevention and treatment. Includes tips for self-management.
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.