When should I contact my cancer team urgently?

Call 999 for an emergency

Call 999 for severe difficulty breathing, collapse or unresponsiveness, severe chest pain, uncontrolled heavy bleeding, or new confusion or slurred speech when someone is acutely unwell. Blue, grey, very pale or blotchy skin with serious illness can also be an emergency.

Do not wait for an oncology advice line to answer if someone appears dangerously ill. Tell the emergency service about the cancer treatment and when it was last given.

Contact the oncology advice line immediately

During systemic treatment, or while your team says infection risk remains increased afterwards, call immediately if you have fever, shivering or feel suddenly unwell, even without a high temperature. Some treatments reduce the body's ability to fight infection; serious infection can develop quickly.

Use the temperature limits on your treatment information. Do not wait for an online article's cutoff or for the next blood test. NICE treats suspected neutropenic sepsis as an acute medical emergency requiring immediate assessment and treatment.

Other reasons to call immediately include new or worsening breathlessness, a painful swollen limb, uncontrolled vomiting or diarrhoea, inability to keep fluids down, markedly reduced urine, or significant bleeding. Severe symptoms may need 999 rather than a phone discussion. These examples are not an exhaustive checklist.

Back pain, weakness or bladder and bowel changes

If you have or have had cancer, contact your cancer team straight away about new severe or worsening back pain, particularly pain disturbing sleep or made worse by movement or straining. Even without weakness or numbness, this needs urgent advice so assessment can be arranged; do not wait for the next appointment.

New limb weakness, difficulty walking, numbness or sensory changes, or new difficulty passing urine or controlling the bladder or bowels can indicate pressure on the spinal cord or its nerves. This is an oncology emergency, with or without back pain. Contact the team immediately for emergency assessment. If you cannot reach them, attend A&E straight away; call 999 if you cannot get there safely or need an ambulance. Do not wait for more symptoms or try to walk through new weakness.

Tell the clinician about your cancer history and that you are concerned about spinal cord compression. Other conditions can cause these symptoms, but that cannot be decided safely online.

Immunotherapy has different warning symptoms

Some immunotherapies, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors, can cause inflammation in organs such as the bowel or lungs. New diarrhoea, breathlessness or other unexpected symptoms need prompt advice from the treating service; severe illness needs emergency assessment.

Problems can appear after treatment has stopped. Tell any clinician who assesses you which immunotherapy you received and when. Do not assume a new problem cannot be treatment-related because the last dose was weeks ago.

If you cannot reach the team

If the situation is an emergency, call 999. Follow the treatment team's instructions about attending hospital directly.

For urgent advice when you cannot reach the oncology service, call 111 in England, Scotland or Wales. In Northern Ireland, contact your GP or the GP out of hours service. Explain that you are receiving or have recently received cancer treatment. These are fallback routes, not a reason to delay emergency care or a direct hospital assessment advised by your team.

Do not rely on email, a website contact form or social media for urgent care.

Make the call easier

Have your treatment name, last treatment date, temperature if measured, current symptoms and medicines available. Do not delay calling to gather every detail.

For stable concerns without urgent features, use the routine contact route the team has provided. If symptoms worsen or you are uncertain about urgency, seek advice rather than waiting for a scheduled review.