Side Effects

Hormone therapy treatment for breast cancer can lead to hot flashes. This article teaches you more about hot flashes and how to manage them.

An overview of the causes and treatment of constipation.

Diarrhea can be caused by cancer treatments, disease, infections, anxiety, food, among others. Diarrhea can cause dehydration, low levels of nutrients in your body, weight loss, and fatigue. This hand-out answers questions about and offers tips for managing diarrhea.

Treatment for cancer can affect the nails and skin in some patients. This article offers tips for managing nail and skin changes during chemotherapy.

Cancer itself and the therapies used to treat it can affect your normal blood counts. This article explains the various types of blood cells, what their normal levels should be, and how your body is affected when these counts become too low. Includes a chart to track blood counts.

A common side effect of chemotherapy is hair loss (alopecia). This side effect handout answers questions about alopecia and offers tips for coping with hair loss caused by chemotherapy.

Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a skin reaction on the palms of the hands and/or the soles of the feet. It can be caused by some chemotherapies. It may also be called acral erythema, palmar plantar erythema (PPE), or Burgdorf reaction.  This handout answers questions about and offers tips for managing hand-foot syndrome caused by chemotherapy.

Loss of appetite is when you do not feel hungry or have no interest in eating. This can be a side effect of some treatments for cancer or from the cancer itself. This article offers tips for coping with a loss of appetite from cancer and cancer therapy.

Low platelet count, also know as thrombocytopenia, can be caused by cancer itself, radiation and chemotherapy. Platelets play a major role in blood clotting so thrombocytopenia puts you at a higher risk of bleeding. This article details what you can do to prevent bleeding, how to reduce bleeding and general precautions to take when you have thrombocytopenia.

Anemia is a decrease in the number of red blood cells (RBC). This article describes details about anemia, signs and symptoms and how it is treated.

A neutrophil is a type of white blood cell that acts as a first responder when an infection is starting in the body. When this count is low it is called neutropenia. This handout discusses neutropenia, precautions to take to decrease risk of infection, signs of infection and food safety while neutropenic.

Mucositis may also be called mouth sores, oral mucositis, or esophagitis. It can range in severity from a red, sore mouth and/or gums to very painful open sores, causing a patient to be unable to eat. This article provides information about mucositis symptoms, oral care, tips to reduce pain and treatment.

Nausea is a "sick" or "queasy" feeling in your stomach. Vomiting or "throwing up" is when your body empties what is in your stomach through your mouth. It often goes along with nausea.  In most cases it can be managed with medications and diet and lifestyle changes.

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition in which a nerve or group of nerves have trouble communicating with each other. This article provides an overview of peripheral neuropathy and offers tips for coping with this side effect of some chemotherapy agents.

Dyspnea is trouble breathing or difficulty catching your breath. Some people describe it as an awareness of uncomfortable breathing or a feeling of working very hard to breathe. This handout answers questions about and offers tips for coping with shortness of breath.

The article provides an overview of vaginal dryness and related painful intercourse (also called dyspareunia). These are some of the most common problems reported by women during or after cancer treatment.

Some medications can cause reactions in the area around an IV or central line. Reactions can be caused by a sensitivity to the medication or by the medication leaking out of the blood vessels and into the nearby tissues.