There are a number of ways through which Cancer Research UK directly provides information and support for people affected by or worried about cancer:

• our cancer information nurses
• our patient information website, CancerHelp UK
• our mobile cancer health promotion units

Cancer information nurses

Our cancer information nurses offer a confidential service and will answer any question about any aspect of any cancer.

All the nurses have at least three years cancer nursing experience. They have ongoing training and education to make sure they keep right up to date with developments in cancer treatment and care.

The nurses respond to around 10,000 enquiries per year by telephone, email and letter

Along with answering questions about cancer and its treatment the nurses help people to understand and cope with the emotional impact of being diagnosed with cancer.

The nurses also:

• Provide cancer awareness talks for other support groups and organisations
• Help Cancer Research UK respond to items in the press about cancer
• Help our fundraising department develop fundraising materials
• Contribute to our award-winning patient information website, CancerHelp UK

CancerHelp UK

Our patient information website, CancerHelp UK, provides a vital service for people affected by cancer in the UK. The site has more than 5,000 pages and covers over 95 percent of the cancer types diagnosed in the UK and more information is being added on rarer cancers all the time. Over 2 million pages are visited on the website each month.

All material for the website is written by experienced cancer nurses with additional skills in plain English writing. New sections are checked by two independent cancer experts before being added to the website. The content is then reviewed by experts at least once every two years.

Cancer news, such as NICE guidance and trials results are added to the website regularly. We also encourage people to share their own experiences with other patients in the "Your Stories" section of the website. People can also use the website to contact the cancer information nurse team.

CancerHelp UK also includes a clinical trials database. This is the only trials database that is written specifically for patients and relatives in plain language. This allows people affected by cancer to see what research is going on and find clinical trials that they'd like to join anywhere in the UK.

Mobile cancer health promotion units

Our mobile health promotion units tour the country with information about all of our Reduce the Risk activities. People are able to talk to one of our health promotion nurses on the unit about any concerns about cancer they may have.