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If your GP suspects you have cancer, you will be referred to a cancer specialist in hospital for tests. If the tests confirm you have cancer, you will have your treatment in hospital.

Different treatments are used for different types of cancer. Your doctors will choose the treatment that is best for the type of cancer you have. You may have more than one type of treatment.

Surgery is one of the main treatments for cancer. Surgery usually means having an operation to remove all or part of the cancer. An operation might be the only treatment you need. But sometimes you may have radiotherapy or chemotherapy before or after surgery.

Chemotherapy is a treatment that uses anti-cancer drugs to destroy cancer cells, including leukaemia and lymphoma cells. You may have one chemotherapy drug, or you may have more than one. When you are treated with two or more chemotherapy drugs, doctors call it combination chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy drugs can cause unpleasant side effects. However, these are mostly temporary and there are often ways of controlling or reducing them. The main areas of the body that are affected are those where normal cells rapidly divide and grow. These include cells in the mouth, the lining of the digestive system, the skin, hair follicles and the bone marrow.

We are CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association. We unite the children and young people’s cancer community, driving collective action and progress. Powered by expertise, we work together to create a brighter future for children and young people with cancer.

Radiotherapy uses high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells. It can be used to treat cancerous tumours and some benign (not cancer) or very slow-growing tumours. You will only have radiotherapy to the part of your body that needs to be treated.

Radiotherapy damages cancer cells but can also affect normal cells close by. This is what causes any side effects that you get.

Stem cell transplants, sometimes called bone marrow transplants or high-dose treatment with stem cell support, are sometimes used to treat leukaemia, lymphoma and some solid tumours.

Some people use complementary therapies alongside other cancer treatments to help them feel better or to relieve symptoms or side effects. Complementary therapies don’t claim to cure cancer. Some have been scientifically tested to check how effective and safe they are. Talk to your hospital staff if you want to try a complementary therapy.