Health and Wellness

How to Reduce Metallic Tastes During Cancer Treatment

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Medically reviewed by Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can affect how your taste buds interact with different flavors, changing the way you experience certain food. A recurring metallic taste while eating or drinking water is one of the most common taste changes reported by patients. Although this symptom typically subsides after treatment … Read more

More than the Mirror: Body Image and Young Adults with Cancer

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Perhaps more than other age group, young adults may feel pressure to look a certain way or conform to a traditional standard of beauty. Add a cancer diagnosis, physical side effects, and damaging treatments, and a young adult’s body image and self-perception can take an even bigger hit. Many young adult patients, whose previous health … Read more

Tips for Exercising During and After Cancer Treatment

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During cancer treatment, patients may face side effects like fatigue, insomnia, anxiety and neuropathy. While some patients may seek additional medication to combat these symptoms, exercise is an excellent pill-free alternative. Dana-Farber exercise physiologist Nancy Campbell, MS, recently answered questions during a live chat on exercising during and after cancer treatment. Campbell discussed ways to … Read more

How Can I Avoid Gaining Weight During Cancer Treatment?

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Patients often worry about weight gain as a potential side effect of cancer treatment. Eating behaviors triggered by chemotherapy-related symptoms, taking steroids, and inactivity due to fatigue can all contribute to weight gain. “Chemotherapy can cause certain appetite-related side effects, such as increased appetite, nausea or cravings for sweets and carbohydrates,” says Stacy Kennedy, MPH, … Read more

How Medications for Mood and Anxiety Can Benefit Cancer Patients

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By Fremonta Meyer, MD Many people – cancer patients and others – have fears and misconceptions about taking medication to manage their mood, reduce anxiety, and treat conditions such as depression. Some believe taking medication for psychological reasons means they are weak, while others fear they will get addicted to medication or that they will … Read more

Depression and Cancer: What You Need to Know

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A cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment can come with many different emotions: anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, and sadness. For some patients, that sadness can become a serious issue; approximately one quarter of cancer patients become depressed during or after treatment. “Patients will have feelings of sadness and a lack of energy from time to time … Read more

Why Do I Sometimes Feel Tired After Radiation Therapy?

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One of the most common side effects cancer patients experience is fatigue. During treatment, some patients may feel particularly tired after receiving radiation therapy. Fatigue can result when the immune system responds to an injury or wound. This occurs because the immune system uses energy to fight infection and sends out substances that make the … Read more

How to Care for Your Skin After Cancer Treatment

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Chemotherapy and radiation therapy may cause changes to your skin during and after cancer treatment. Follow these tips and check in with your doctor regularly to ensure your skin is in the healthiest condition possible throughout your cancer experience. Chemotherapy Dry skin is a common side effect of chemotherapy. If you experience dry skin, using … Read more

How to Manage Stress and Anxiety During Cancer Treatment

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Cancer comes with significant stress and anxiety for patients and their loved ones, which can make managing treatment even more difficult. Recently, Karen Fasciano, PsyD, clinical psychiatrist at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, joined four patients to discuss their experiences. “Often when we tell ourselves we can’t feel anxious, the anxiety gets bigger,” said Fasciano, … Read more

Helping Cancer Survivors Get a Good Night’s Sleep

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Sarah Boczanowski was tired. Her turbulent relationship with sleep, dating back to her childhood, had only worsened since her leukemia diagnosis at age 18. Through biopsies and chemotherapy, she found sleep elusive. “With nurses and doctors coming in and out, and beeping noises from my IVs, it was impossible to sleep,” she says. Boczanowski is … Read more

How Exercise Can Help Neuropathy

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For many patients treated with chemotherapy, peripheral neuropathy can be an uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous side effect. The condition, which includes tingling or loss of sensation in the arms or legs, can increase risk for falls and fall-related injuries. To help prevent and ease these problems, Dana-Farber exercise physiologist Nancy Campbell, MS, recommends patients use … Read more

Ask the Expert: Q&A on Breast Cancer, Exercise and Diet

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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jennifer Ligibel, MD, recently partnered with CancerConnect to answer questions about breast cancer, exercise and diet. Ligibel is an oncologist with the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber. Q: I am currently on maintenance treatment for breast cancer and I need to lose weight. Do you have any tips … Read more

Exercise Can Help Fight Cancer Fatigue

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Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most common complaints among cancer patients and survivors. This type of weariness, which typically occurs during treatment or in the first year after, is particularly difficult because it can last for long periods of time and doesn’t go away after sleep or rest.

A growing body of research shows that cancer patients who get regular exercise report feeling less tired.

If you’re interested in starting an exercise routine to address fatigue, consider these tips:

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