19 May 2013 - Cancer and diet: Why is nutrition overlooked?

By Sheila Dillon, Presenter Radio 4's Food Programme

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (MM), a cancer of the bone marrow, in December 2011.

At every chemo session I was offered a white bread sandwich, a fizzy drink, and a chocolate bar or packet of biscuits.

Nurses told me that there was no point in worrying about what I ate. "Worrying" is not what I or any other patient wants to do.

We want to know what will help us get through treatment in the best way possible, and what, if anything, might keep a recurrence at bay - and that includes how diet may help.

We do not want to feel like a helpless pawn in a big and overwhelming system.

But unless you are very lucky, you will not be told about any of the latest food-related research when you enter the parallel universe that is cancer treatment.

Previously I have made three editions of Radio 4's The Food Programme about cancer and diet, and it is a subject close to my heart.

The last one on prostate cancer in 2009 was eye-opening.

Geoff Tansey, who I had known for many years as one of the UK's serious thinkers and writers about food policy, got in touch to say he had prostate cancer, was facing surgery and would the Food Programme like him to keep a diary.