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• What is cancer

  • Cells and cancer

    • What cancer is

    • How cells grow

    • The cancer cell

    • How cancer starts

    • Cell types

  • How cancers grow

    • Blood supply

    • Cancer growth

    • Cancer spread

    • Cancer stages

    • Where cancers spread

    • Cancers can come back

  • About your body

    • Blood

    • Lymph system

    • Immune system

    • Hormone system

    • Genes and DNA

  • Statistics

    • About stats

    • Types of stats

    • Looking at research

• Tests

  • Barium X-ray

  • Blood tests

  • Bone marrow

  • Bone scan

  • CT scan

  • Cystoscopy

  • Endoscopy

  • ERCP

  • IVU

  • Lumbar puncture

  • MRI

  • PET

  • PET-CT

  • Ultrasound

  • X-ray

• Treatment

  • Cancer drugs

  • Chemotherapy

    • About chemo

      • What it is

      • How it works

      • When it is used

      • Where you have it

      • Naming drugs

      • What to ask

    • Having chemo

      • Ways to have it

      • Injections and IV

      • Pumps

      • Tablets and capsules

      • What to ask

    • Planning chemo

      • Why plan?

      • Tests

      • Changing the plan

      • What to ask

    • Side effects

    • Living with chemo

      • Everyday life

      • Socialising

      • What to ask

    • Fertility

      • About fertility

      • Women's fertility

      • Men's fertility

      • What to ask

    • Sex and chemo

      • About sex and chemo

      • For women

      • For men

      • Talking about sex

      • What to ask

    • About this section

  • Radiotherapy

    • About radiotherapy

      • What it is

      • Why it is used

      • Your treatment plan

      • Where you have it

      • Who gives treatment

      • Questions for your doctor

    • External radiotherapy

      • About external radiotherapy

      • Radiotherapy planning

        • Preparing your plan

        • Having scans

        • Skin markings

        • Producing your plan

        • Radiotherapy moulds

      • Having treatment

      • Questions for your doctor

    • Internal radiotherapy

      • About internal radiotherapy

        • What it is

        • Safety

        • What to ask

      • Types

        • Caesium

        • Radioactive wires

        • Radioactive iodine

        • Radioactive strontium

        • Radioactive phosphorus

    • Radiotherapy for symptoms

      • Treating symptoms

      • Bone pain

      • Spinal cord compression

      • Pressure and blockages

      • Brain symptoms

      • Lung symptoms

      • Cancer wounds

      • Vein blockages (SVCO)

      • What to ask

    • Radiotherapy side effects

      • General side effects

        • Radiotherapy reactions

        • Blood side effects

        • Tiredness

        • Eating

        • Skin reactions

        • Sex and fertility (women)

        • Sex and fertility (men)

        • Emotional effects

        • What to ask

      • Brain side effects

        • Tiredness

        • Hair loss

        • Feeling sick

        • Worsening symptoms

        • What to ask

      • Head and neck side effects

        • Mouth and teeth

        • Weight loss

        • Swallowing

        • Your voice

        • Hair loss

        • What to ask

      • Chest side effects

        • Swallowing

        • Sickness and weight loss

        • Breathless

        • What to ask

      • Stomach or pelvic side effects

        • Diarrhoea

        • Sickness and weight loss

        • Bladder pain

        • Abdominal pain

        • What to ask

    • Follow up

      • Outpatient appointments

      • Long term side effects

      • What to ask

    • Research

    • About this section

  • Surgery

    • Treating cancer

    • Before surgery

    • After surgery

    • The first few days

    • Going home

    • Long term

    • What to ask

    • About this section

  • Hormone therapy

    • What it is

    • General side effects

    • What to ask

    • About this section

  • Biological therapy

    • About biological therapy

    • Types of biological therapies

      • MABs

      • Cancer vaccines

      • Blood cell growth factors

      • Cancer growth blockers

      • Blood vessel growth blockers

      • IFN and IL2

      • Gene therapy

    • What to ask

    • About this section

  • Transplants

    • Stem cell transplant

    • Bone marrow transplant

    • Having transplant

    • Side effects

    • What to ask

  • Bisphosphonates

    • What they are

    • Side effects

    • What to ask

    • About this section

  • Other treatments

    • Radiofrequency ablation

    • Laser treatment

    • High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)

    • Photodynamic therapy

    • Cryotherapy

  • Complementary and alternative therapies

    • About these therapies

      • Differences between them

      • Why people use them

      • Where you have them

      • Are therapies safe?

        • Safety of CAMs

        • Herbal products

        • Diet supplements

        • Alternative diets

    • Finding a therapist

    • Cost

    • Info on the web

    • Finding more info

    • What to ask

    • Research

      • About research

      • What's new

      • What to ask

    • Therapies

      • Acupuncture

      • Aloe

      • Aromatherapy

      • Art therapy

      • Ayurvedic medicine

      • Black cohosh

      • Carctol

      • Chaparral

      • Chiropractic

      • Echinacea

      • Essiac

      • Flower remedies

      • Gerson therapy

      • Green tea

      • Healing

      • Herbal medicine

      • Homeopathy

      • Hypnotherapy

      • Laetrile

      • Massage therapy

      • Macrobiotic diet

      • Meditation

      • Music therapy

      • Osteopathy

      • Reflexology

      • Reiki

      • Shark cartilage

      • Shiatsu

      • St John's wort

      • Traditional Chinese medicine

      • Visualisation

      • Yoga

    • About this section

    • Reading list

    • Organisations

• Cancer questions and answers

• Causes and symptoms

  • Possible symptoms

  • Screening

  • Prevention

  • Causes

    • What causes cancer

    • Why we don't get cancer

    • Diet

    • Environment

  • Genes and inherited cancer risk

    • About genes, cancer and family history

    • Inherited genes and cancer risk

      • How inherited genes cause cancer

      • Inherited genes and specific cancers

    • Testing for cancer genes

      • Before you decide to have a gene test

      • How to get a cancer gene test

      • Having a cancer gene test

      • Getting the results of a gene test

      • What to ask your doctor about testing for cancer genes

    • About this section

Cancer questions and answers

In this section you can find answers to some of the cancer questions sent to us. The most popular and most recently answered are displayed. You can also search by cancer type or by cancer subject.

For specific information about yourself, please speak to your GP or consultant. To speak to one of the Cancer Research UK information nurses you can call freephone 0808 800 4040. If you would prefer to send a question by email, click contact us. The nurses will answer you personally if you include your email address.

Updated: 8 February 2013

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