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Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides support for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.
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Select the Live Chat button at the bottom of the page
At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources.
Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Patients, their caregivers, and health care providers are partners in health care decisions. When you seek medical care, you usually get recommendations about needed treatment. Most people follow these recommendations, but some choose not to follow them. You do have the right to either accept or refuse a treatment. If you are an adult and you’re able to make your own decisions, you are the only person who can choose whether to get treatment and which treatment to get. This is done through a process called informed consent.
All medical care requires consent (agreement) by the patient (or someone who is authorized to consent for the patient) before care is given. This includes treatments for illnesses such as cancer. In some cases, you approve or agree with the doctor’s plan by simply getting a prescription filled, signing a form that allows blood to be drawn for lab tests, or saying yes to seeing a specialist. This is called simple consent, and is OK for treatments that carry little risk for you. Many times, though, the more careful process of informed consent is needed.