Hi Chrisina,

Welcome to Cancer Chat.

I’m sorry to hear that your daughter has been diagnosed with cancer and that she is concerned about having treatment. The important thing to remember is that doctors offer people cancer treatments to give them the best chance of survival.

Overall, chemotherapy and other cancer drugs have a very important part to play in cancer treatment. In some cases, they help to cure the disease. In others, they give people more precious time to spend with their loved ones.  

And the treatments keep getting better. Many working at Cancer Research are here because of being successfully treated for cancer.

It sounds as though your daughter has not yet started treatment, so it might even mean that she has nothing to worry about, and surgery alone will be enough or that she can be treated without the need for chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

If you or your daughter are worried about conventional treatments, it’s best to talk to her cancer team about your worries. They can talk you through what to expect and how they can support you through it. We have some information on our website about radiation and cancer which might help

You can also ring our nurses or post a question for them in the Ask The Nurses section of this forum. You can call them on freephone 0808 800 4040 (Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm).

Conspiracy theories are something we all have to try to educate people about. Cancer Research UK provides information both on our website and in the community to help people understand how treatments work and what they can expect when they are diagnosed with cancer. Stories about possible cancer causes make for hot topics in the news and on social media. But some things you hear, read or see are not supported by good evidence.

Misinformation can cause unnecessary worry and distract from the facts. You might find it useful to look at our article about conspiracy theories which explains why research is important and also a BBC article on the wider issue of conspiracy theories which might help you when talking to your daughter.

I hope your daughter is able to get the treatment she needs but do call or message our nurses if you think that might be helpful for you.

Wishing you all the best,

Ben
Cancer Chat Moderator