Our dietitians are experienced in assessing and treating a wide range of nutritional and dietary problems for both inpatients and outpatients.
Nutritional and dietary problems are often caused by treatments, so it is important to try and maintain a good nutritional status before, during and after your treatment. Maintaining good nutrition during cancer treatment is crucial for supporting overall health, managing side effects and supporting the overall effectiveness of treatments.
Nutrition and cancer
Some people with cancer can find it hard to eat, this can be a side effect from cancer treatment. These symptoms are called ‘nutritional impact symptoms’ and can make it hard to maintain a healthy weight.
There is information and support available to help you manage these nutritional impact symptoms. If you are experiencing these symptoms, please speak with your cancer team who will refer you to our dietitian team.
Types of cancer we treat
We treat a variety of cancers, including but not limited to:
- head and neck (pharynx, larynx, salivary gland, oral and nasal cavity)
- upper GI (oesophageal, gastric and duodenal cancers)
- haematology (lymphoma, myeloma, leukaemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)
- lung
- pancreatic
- breast
- colorectal
- prostate
- gynaecology
What to expect
During your first appointment, the dietitian will talk with you about your nutritional needs and complete a nutritional assessment. We will ask you about what foods you like, what is important to you, and check how well-nourished you are to help you stay strong.
We support you before and during treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiotherapy. Our goal is to help prevent muscle loss and keep your body healthy. We also help manage common cancer symptoms and side effects of cancer treatment, including nausea, taste change or lack of appetite.
If needed, dietitians can also give advice about tube feeding and how to manage both short and long-term tube feeding (enteral nutrition).
Who we work with
To provide patient-centred care, our dietitians work with many health professionals, including but not limited to:
- oncologists
- haematologists
- surgeons
- Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS)
- speech and language therapists
- radiographers
- dental nurses
We attend Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meetings to talk about your care and treatment plans. We will often see you in joint consultations with members of this team to help provide you with the best possible care.
General dietary advice
Generally, people do not need to follow a special diet when they have cancer or are undergoing treatment. If you are a healthy weight, eating well and not losing weight, you should follow a healthy, balanced diet.
A healthy balanced diet includes:
- fruits and vegetables, aiming for five portions per day
- starchy carbohydrates, e.g. bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, choosing high-fibre or whole grain varieties where you can
- proteins - eggs, chicken, fish, meat, lentils, beans and pulses. Aim to have protein in every meal
- dairy - milk, yogurt, and cheese
- fluids - aim to drink 6-8 glasses of water or other fluids per day
The Eatwell Guide shows what foods to each to achieve a healthy balanced diet.
If you are losing weight or eating less than normal, you should try to eat little and often, make meals as nourishing as possible and pick higher calorie/protein versions of foods.
Cancer diets and myths
There is a lot of information available on cancer and diet. It can be overwhelming to process it all and know what is true. It is important to make sure you are getting your information from reliable and trusted sources.
Before you make any changes to your diet, please speak to your healthcare team.
If you take any vitamins, herbal supplements or alternative medicines, speak to your cancer team or pharmacist. Some of these may change how your cancer treatment works or stops it from working as effectively.
Last reviewed: 29 September 2025