{"id":798397,"date":"2026-10-10T19:52:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/798397\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T19:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T19:52:17","slug":"cancer-ghosting-concerns-as-charity-urges-people-to-support-loved-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/798397\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cancer ghosting\u2019 concerns as charity urges people to support loved ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of people living with cancer could be being \u201cghosted\u201d by loved ones as they navigate their diagnosis and treatment, a charity has warned.<\/p>\n

Macmillan Cancer Support said that so-called \u201ccancer ghosting\u201d is leading to patients feeling they are facing the disease \u201calone\u201d.<\/p>\n

Patients have spoken out about losing friends they have known for decades after being diagnosed.<\/p>\n

One patient described how friends \u201cdisappeared from my life\u201d after she was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

Another said she felt \u201churt\u201d when close friends \u201cwithdrew\u201d after she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer \u2013 the cancer of the lining of the womb.<\/p>\n

Macmillan Cancer Support is urging people to make \u201csmall practical steps\u201d to show up for friends or family diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

\"LisaSTV NewsLisa Walker says she has felt isolated during her cancer journey STV News<\/p>\n

This can include sending a message, checking in regularly or supporting someone at an appointment, the charity said.<\/p>\n

Lisa Walker, a retired social care worker from Edinburgh, described losing friends she has known for decades after she was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had people withdraw from me that I never thought would,\u201d the 61-year-old said.<\/p>\n

Ms Walker, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer when she was 50 and has since been diagnosed with four other types of cancer over the past decade, added: \u201cFriends I\u2019d known since school and others I had known for years, people I had spoken to two or three times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just stopped talking to me and disappeared from my life, almost as though I meant nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really affected me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Walker went on: \u201cI kept asking myself what I had done wrong and whether the friendship had ever been as genuine as I thought it was\u2026 and that was incredibly painful.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve also learned that the people who truly matter are the ones who stay, even when they don\u2019t know what to say, even when things are difficult, and even when you\u2019re not the easiest person to be around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have much rather someone said, \u2018I don\u2019t know what to say, but I\u2019m here for you\u2019, than say nothing at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LauraSTV NewsLaura says her partner has been very supportive during her cancer journey STV News<\/p>\n

Mev Ghazanfar, a HR business partner, was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2018.<\/p>\n

The cancer has spread to other parts of her body and is now considered incurable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had quite a few people withdraw from me since my diagnosis, and I\u2019ve lost some really close friendships because of it,\u201d the 38-year-old from Hampshire said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, I found that incredibly difficult. I was hurt, confused and didn\u2019t understand why somebody who had been so important to me could suddenly step away when I was going through something so huge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut over time, I\u2019ve come to realise that their decision to withdraw wasn\u2019t necessarily about me. I don\u2019t know what was going on for them or why they couldn\u2019t be there, but ultimately, I had to concentrate on myself. I was fighting to survive, and I still am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MevMacmillanMev Ghazanfar, a HR business partner, was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2018. Macmillan<\/p>\n

As part of its Fair Cancer Care campaign, Macmillan Cancer Support is urging people not to \u201cgo quiet\u201d when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

Polling conducted by YouGov on behalf of the charity on 2,100 UK adults suggests that a quarter (26%) have found it hard to communicate with someone they know who has cancer.<\/p>\n

This includes struggling to know what to say, avoiding the subject of the person\u2019s cancer, seeing or speaking to them less, or in some cases even completely losing touch altogether, the charity said.<\/p>\n

Sian Robinson-Brown, service knowledge specialist on Macmillan\u2019s Support Line, said: \u201cFinding the right words to talk about cancer isn\u2019t easy. But showing you care really matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cCancer is one of the most challenging things many people will go through, and it shouldn\u2019t be made harder by people feeling they have to face it alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t one perfect thing to say. What matters most is listening with empathy, taking the lead from the person with cancer and showing up consistently, even when conversations feel difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

Follow STV News <\/a>Follow STV News on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of people living with cancer could be being \u201cghosted\u201d by loved ones as they navigate their diagnosis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":798398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-798397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=798397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/798398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=798397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=798397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=798397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}