Recent nurse-led research at the University of Sunderland found that people who are obese are failing to access vital cancer screening services due to fears of stigma and judgement about their weight.

The stigma does not end with this cohort of patients. At Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, nurses have set up the Brother to Brother, Man to Man monthly support group to combat stigma about the disease in black communities (news, page 6).

Amelia Barber, a prostate cancer clinical nurse specialist at the trust, said: ‘It’s not uncommon for a black man to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and not tell his family because the stigma is so great.’

Cancer screening and diagnosis rates have already taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so a focus on hard-to-reach groups is vital. Ultimately, improvements in early diagnosis will result in better prognoses. While many more people are living with cancer for longer, a huge swathe of people are grappling with a poor prognosis.

In our analysis on poor prognoses (page 7), Sinead Cope, a senior cancer nurse and Maggie’s west London centre head, offers advice on how to talk to people when they find out their cancer cannot be cured, explaining the importance of balancing hope with honesty.

As Dorset County Hospital gynaeoncology clinical nurse specialist Hilary Maxwell reminds us, such conversations can be exhausting and it is important that we ‘never lose sight of what someone else may be going through.’