Good Information Sources
CancerNet: Cancer Basics
Medline Plus: Cancer
Penn Medicine: OncoLink
American Cancer Society: Learn About Cancer
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): About Cancer
Terminology
Common terms you’ll hear when dealing with cancer
Cancer Statistics
American Cancer Society: Cancer Statistics
New York State Cancer Registry
Cancer Control Planet
Videos on Cancer
CancerNet: Videos
Reducing Your Risk of Cancer
Good Sources of Information
Cancer Resource Center: Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
American Institute for Cancer Research: Foods that Prevent Cancer
National Cancer Institute: Cancer Prevention
Centers for Disease Control: Cancer Prevention and Control
The Cancer Project: Diet and Cancer Research
Environmental Working Group: Consumer Guides
Smoking Cessation
New York State: Smokers’ Quitline
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Tobacco
Understanding Risk
Mayo Clinic: Cancer Risk: What the Numbers Mean
Mayo Clinic: Cancer Causes: Popular Myths about the Causes of Cancer
Rating the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer (a good summary article on the topic).
Cancer and the Environment
About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products is an excellent resource from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Other useful resources:
Cancer Alternative Therapies (Medline Plus)
Complementary and Alternative Therapies (Cancer Research UK)
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (National Cancer Institute)
Columns by Bob Riter about alternative cancer care
Living with advanced cancer is scary. One must cope with a serious reality but also move forward with life on a day-to-day basis. We’ve compiled some helpful resources below. We also offer a twice-a-month support group for people living with cancer as a chronic disease. We call it Pat’s Group in honor of Pat Thonney who created the group. Please call us at 277-0960 or email info@crcfl.net. We’d love to talk with you.
Good Information Resources
National Cancer Institute: Coping with Advanced Cancer
National Cancer Institute: When Someone you Love has Advanced Cancer
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Coping with Advanced Cancer
Center to Advance Palliative Care: Get Palliative Care.Org
CancerNet: Advanced Cancer
Bob Riter’s columns about advanced cancer
Local Resources
Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County
Bob Riter is the retired Executive Director of the Cancer Resource Center. His articles about living with cancer appear regularly in the Ithaca Journal and on OncoLink. He can be reached at bobriter@gmail.com.
A collection of Bob’s columns, When Your Life is Touched by Cancer: Practical Advice and Insights for Patients, Professionals, and Those Who Care, is available in bookstores nationwide and through online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
People are generally more worried about chemotherapy than any other type of cancer treatment. While it’s no one’s idea of fun, most people find that it’s more manageable than they had expected.
Good Information Sources
National Cancer Institute: Chemotherapy and You
Medline Plus: Chemotherapy
American Cancer Society: Chemotherapy
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Chemotherapy Explained
What are Ports?
Ports are often implanted before chemotherapy. Here is a description from MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain).
“Healthy Diet Tips For Chemotherapy”
Courtesy of ‘Breast Cancer Car Donations’
Good Information Sources
National Cancer Institute: Radiation Therapy and You
ASTRO: What is Radiation Therapy?
American Society of Clinical Oncologists: Understanding Radiation Therapy
Medline Plus: Radiation Therapy
American Cancer Society: Understanding Radiation Therapy
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Radiotherapy (Note: Radiotherapy is a British term for radiation therapy)
The newest generation of cancer treatments specifically target processes within cancer cells. These treatments generally have fewer side effects that traditional treatments like chemotherapy. More and more, cancer treatment will be personalized to each person’s specific biology.
Good Information Sources
National Cancer Institute: Biological Therapies
National Cancer Institute: Targeted Therapies
National Cancer Institute: Immunotherapy
CancerNet: Understanding Immunotherapy
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Biological Therapies
Cancer Research UK: Biological Therapies
Surgery is often the initial form of treatment for most solid tumors. In some situations, chemotherapy and other treatments are performed before surgery. This is known as neoadjuvant therapy.
Good Sources of Information
Mayo Clinic: Cancer Surgery
American Cancer Society: Cancer Surgery
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Cancer Surgery
Medline Plus: Videos of Surgical Procedures
Everyone worries about the potential side effects of cancer treatment. While some problems – like fatigue – are nearly universal, others vary widely from one person to the next. Here are some resources to help.
General Information
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Cancer Symptoms and Side Effects
American Cancer Society: Managing Side Effects of Treatment
Breastcancer.org: Treatment Side Effects
American Occupational Therapy Association: The Role of Occupational Therapy in Oncology
Fatigue
Cleveland Clinic: Cancer-Related Fatigue
New York Times: The Many Shades of Cancer Fatigue
National Cancer Institute: Causes of Fatigue in Cancer Patient
Pain
ASCO: Managing Cancer-Related Pain
Hair Loss
Chemo and Hair Loss: What to Expect During Treatment (Mayo Clinic)
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Coping with Hair Loss
BreastCancer.org: Hair, Skin and Nails
Weight Gain & Loss
MacMillan Cancer Support (Great Britain): Eating Well
Royal Marsden Hospital: Eating Well When You Have Cancer
Mayo Clinic: Tips to Make Food Tastier During Cancer Treatment
American Cancer Society: Nutrition for the Person with Cancer
University of Michigan: Managing Eating Problems
Cancer Related Diarrhea
Mouth Problems
MacMillan Cancer Support: Mouth Problems
Mayo Clinic: Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment
Neuropathy
American Cancer Society: Peripheral Neuropathy caused by Chemotherapy
MacMillan Cancer Support: Peripheral Neuropathy
Lymphedema
Medline Plus: Lymphedema
Breastcancer.org: Lymphedema
MacMillan Cancer Support: Lymphoedema
National Lymphedema Network
Life Following Active or Curative Treatment
You’ve been through surgery and many weeks, maybe months of chemotherapy and radiation. Your oncologist tells you that you have completed this phase of active or curative treatment. You may have a follow-up appointment in 3-6 months or you may be transitioning to maintenance or prophylactic (preventative or protective) treatment. Now what? How do you put your life back in order, or in a new order?
Your recent world (and often the world of those closest to you) has been dominated by changes in lifestyle, doctor’s appointments, medications, not feeling like yourself physically or mentally and multiple therapies. What has filled your time for so long is now coming to an end or at least is being significantly changed. The medical support team you have come to know and depend on during your active treatment phase will no longer be a part of your life in the same way it has been. What will it be like without them? How will you move forward with this new phase of your life? How will your life get back to normal or a “new normal?”
Many people diagnosed with cancer identify with the term survivor or survivorship to define their experience with cancer while many others do not. The term “survivorship” has been defined in many different ways. One definition explains survivorship as starting with a diagnosis of cancer and lasting throughout one’s entire experience with cancer, including all of the phases following active treatment. Another definition is having no sign of the disease following treatment.
Some individuals living with cancer choose not to use this term as they feel they have not “survived” cancer but rather are still dealing with it. The key is that “survivorship” and dealing with life post curative treatment are unique to the individual and each person has to find his or her own way while navigating their own cancer experience.
Below are some resources to help you answer some common questions and address concerns that individuals often have in this phase of their experience with cancer.
Publications Covering Many Relevant Issues
Cancer.Net: ASCO answers Cancer Survivorship
Macmillan Cancer Support: What to do after Cancer Treatment Ends: 10 Top Tips
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Life After Cancer
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship: Cancer Survival Toolbox
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship: Cancer Survival Toolbox (Audio)
National Cancer Institute: Facing Forward – Life after Cancer Treatment
Common Questions
Cancer.Net: Expert Q&A – What Comes Next After Finishing Treatment
Journey Forward: Managing Fatigue
Journey Forward: Managing Pain
Cure: 10 Tips to Help You Navigate Life after Cancer
Livestrong: Late Effects of Cancer Treatment
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Resources for Survivors
Follow-up Care
National Cancer Institute: Follow-up Care after Cancer Treatment-Fact-Sheet
Cancer.Net: The Importance of Follow-up Care
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Follow-up Care Common Questions
Living with Advanced Cancer /Maintenance Treatment
Cancer Resource Center: Advanced Cancer
American Cancer Society: Managing Cancer as a Chronic Illness
Cancer Council: Living with Advanced Cancer
Cancer Council: Information for Different Stages of Advanced Cancer
Body Issues
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Your Body after Treatment
Journey Forward: Body Changes and Intimacy
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: Questions about Body Image after Cancer
Livestrong: Adjusting to Body Changes
Dealing with your Emotions
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Your Emotions after Treatment
Mayo Clinic: Managing Your Emotions after Cancer Treatment
Cancer.Net: Coping with the Fear of Recurrence
Livestrong: What to Expect after Treatment
Relationships & Intimacy
Canadian Cancer Society: Relationships after Cancer
Cancer Information and Support Network: Common Relationship Challenges
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Social Relationships
Cancer Support Community: Improving Sexual Intimacy after Cancer
Returning to Work
Cancer + Careers: Cancer and Careers
National Cancer Institute: Going back to Work
American Cancer Society: Options for Returning back to Work
CancerCare: Knowing Your Legal Rights (Download MP3)
Financial Issues
OncoLink: Financial Concerns During and After Cancer Treatment
Cure: Coping with Cancer-Related Financial Toxicity
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Legal and Financial Impacts of Cancer
Links to other helpful pages on our Web site
