In 1979, our co-founder Penny Brohn was living with her own cancer diagnosis when she recognised something that medicine alone could not answer: cancer affects the whole person, not just the body. That understanding has been at the heart of Penny Brohn Cancer Care UK ever since.
Support for the whole person
A cancer diagnosis reaches into every part of life: your physical and emotional health, your work, your family and your relationships. So our support does too. We help people strengthen mind, body, spirit and emotions alongside their medical treatment, in ways that fit who they are and what matters most to them.
Everything we offer is free, and everything we do is backed by research. Evidence increasingly shows that supporting physical and emotional resilience can improve quality of life and clinical outcomes for people living with cancer. Most importantly, the people we support tell us it works.
We pioneered this approach. We were supporting the whole person decades before whole-person cancer care became widely talked about, and we’ve been refining it for over 45 years.
The NHS saved my life. Penny Brohn Cancer Care UK showed me how to live it.
Jennie, supported by Penny Brohn Cancer Care UK
Explore the four areas of whole-person support
Our support is organised around four connected areas, each closely linked to the people, places and practical circumstances in your wider life. Start with the area that matters most to you right now and explore from there.
Support for every step
Wherever you are in your cancer experience, we're here for you. Choose the step that feels closest to where you are now to see the support we can offer you.
Not sure where to start? Call our team on 0303 3000 118 and we'll help you find the right first step.
An approach backed by evidence
We’re committed to services that are high quality and make a measurable difference. Our Evaluation, Evidence and Insight team studies what we do and how well it works, and we share what we learn.
We work alongside the NHS and with partners including GenesisCare, so our whole-person support complements medical treatment, never replaces it, and is built into your care wherever possible.
You can read more about our outcomes, research and reports on Our impact.
Shaped by the people we support
We listen to people with cancer in everything we do. Our Community Voice group brings the experiences of people we support directly into how we design and improve our services, and it reviews our work regularly. If you’d like to take part, we’d love to hear from you.
We work closely with health professionals across the NHS and beyond. If you’d like to recommend our support to a patient, or find out how it fits alongside treatment, visit For health professionals.
Support for mind, body, spirit and emotions
Free, personal and backed by research. Start wherever feels right.