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Learn about healthy foods for treatment

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Nurse Mercedes: There are so many factors that come into play when it comes to supporting your health on treatment. One of those is nutrition.

Sometimes, you may need more of certain nutrients during treatment. You can talk to your care team about these. My advice would be to avoid overcomplicating what you eat during this time. Healthy foods are important, but focus on getting regular meals instead of trying a new diet.

If you experience side effects, like nausea, it may affect your appetite. You might find it easier to eat small meals made with mild food, such as crackers or toast. If you don’t feel like eating much, try having snacks throughout the day—like a piece of cheese with fruit, or a small bowl of cereal with milk.

A tip for building a healthy plate is to aim to get protein, whole grains, and vegetables or fruit in each meal. Some days, you may not be able to eat from every food group, and that’s okay. The most important thing is to listen to your body and do what feels right for you. Reach out to your care team as they can provide you with nutrition resources or even connect you with a dietician.

Taking care of yourself

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Healthy food choices support your body’s overall wellness and can be especially important when treating cancer. Eating a balanced diet can help maintain your energy and even ease treatment side effects, like nausea and fatigue.

What types of foods can help?

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Plant-based proteins help with cell repair and muscle building. They aid in creating muscle, and some plant-based proteins are often easier to digest than red meats.

Try:
  • lentils
  • tofu
  • quinoa
  • chickpeas
  • beans and legumes

Healthy fats help your body absorb certain vitamins and support brain function. These fats provide energy, which can lift you up when your appetite or motivation is low.

Try:
  • avocados
  • nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, pecans)
  • fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, trout)
  • olive oil
  • seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower)

Healthy carbs help the body make sugar, which provides energy.

Try:
  • whole grains
  • vegetables (like corn, potatoes, broccoli)
  • fruits
  • legumes (like beans, lentils, and chickpeas)

Vitamins & minerals support the immune system. Certain vitamins (A, C, and E) may help protect tissue due to their antioxidant properties.

Try:
  • fruits
  • vegetables
  • nuts
  • seeds
  • whole grains

Foods for when you’re not feeling well

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Mild foods like toast, rice, or bananas are gentle on the stomach and less likely to trigger nausea, diarrhea, and appetite changes, while still helping you fill your plate.

Example foods:
  • white rice
  • boiled potatoes
  • applesauce
  • bananas
  • plain oatmeal
  • broth
  • plain crackers

High-calorie drinks are easier to eat than a full meal—especially if you don’t have a huge appetite. They can also help you maintain your weight when treatment-related side effects get in the way.

Example foods:
  • homemade smoothies
  • milkshakes
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How can healthy movement support your lifestyle?

Moving your body has a significant impact on your physical and mental well-being.

Moving your body has a significant impact on your physical and mental well-being.

Physical benefits:
  • Preserves strength and mobility
  • Improves energy and stamina
  • Supports healing
Mental benefits:
  • Reduces stress
  • Improves sleep
  • Helps boost clearer thinking

Low impact exercises to try

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Stretching can help relieve tension and improve blood circulation.

Here are some examples to try:

  • Neck rolls
  • Shoulder shrugs
  • Cat-cow stretches
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Walking can boost energy and help your immune system.

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Light strength training can preserve muscle.

Here are some examples to try:

  • Wall push-ups
  • Chair squats
  • Toe and heel raises

Talk to your care team about how low-impact exercises can best fit into your treatment plan. Always talk to your doctor before beginning new exercises.

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Important Safety Information

What is the most important information I should know about IMFINZI® (durvalumab)?

IMFINZI is a medicine that may treat certain cancers by working with your immune system. IMFINZI can cause your immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in any area of your body and can affect the way they work. These problems can sometimes become severe or life-threatening and can lead to death. You can have more than one of these problems at the same time. These problems may happen anytime during treatment or even after your treatment has ended.

Call or see your healthcare provider right away if you develop any new or worsening signs or symptoms, including:

What is IMFINZI?

IMFINZI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a type of lung cancer called SCLC.

  • IMFINZI may be used alone when your LS-SCLC cannot be removed by surgery and has responded or stabilized after initial treatment with chemotherapy that contains platinum, given at the same time as radiation therapy.
  • IMFINZI may be used with the chemotherapy medicines etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin as your first treatment when your SCLC has spread within your lungs or to other parts of the body (extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, or ES-SCLC).

It is not known if IMFINZI is safe and effective in children.

  • SCLC Lung Problems Icon

    Lung problems: cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain

  • SCLC Intestinal Problems Icon

    Intestinal problems: diarrhea (loose stools) or more frequent bowel movements than usual; stools that are black, tarry, sticky, or have blood or mucus; and severe stomach-area (abdomen) pain or tenderness

  • SCLC Liver Problems Icon

    Liver problems: yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes, severe nausea or vomiting, pain on the right side of your stomach area (abdomen), dark urine (tea colored), and bleeding or bruising more easily than normal

  • SCLC Hormone Gland Problems Icon

    Hormone gland problems: headaches that will not go away or unusual headaches; eye sensitivity to light; eye problems; rapid heartbeat; increased sweating; extreme tiredness; weight gain or weight loss; feeling more hungry or thirsty than usual; urinating more often than usual; hair loss; feeling cold; constipation; your voice gets deeper; dizziness or fainting; and changes in mood or behavior, such as decreased sex drive, irritability, or forgetfulness

  • SCLC Kidney Problems Icon

    Kidney problems: decrease in your amount of urine, blood in your urine, swelling of your ankles, and loss of appetite

  • SCLC Skin Problems Icon

    Skin problems: rash; itching; skin blistering or peeling; painful sores or ulcers in mouth or nose, throat, or genital area; fever or flu-like symptoms; and swollen lymph nodes

  • SCLC Pancreas Problems Icon

    Pancreas problems: pain in your upper stomach area (abdomen), severe nausea or vomiting, and loss of appetite

  • SCLC Other Organ Problems Icon

    Problems can also happen in other organs and tissues. These are not all of the signs and symptoms of immune system problems that can happen with IMFINZI. Call or see your healthcare provider right away for any new or worsening signs or symptoms, which may include: Chest pain, irregular heartbeats, shortness of breath or swelling of ankles; confusion, sleepiness, memory problems, changes in mood or behavior, stiff neck, balance problems; tingling, numbness or weakness of the arms or legs; double vision, blurry vision, sensitivity to light, eye pain, changes in eye sight; persistent or severe muscle pain or weakness, muscle cramps, joint pain, joint stiffness or swelling; and low red blood cells and bruising

  • SCLC Severe Infusion Reactions Icon

    Infusion reactions that can sometimes be severe or life-threatening. Signs and symptoms of infusion reactions may include: chills or shaking, itching or rash, flushing, shortness of breath or wheezing, dizziness, feel like passing out, fever, and back or neck pain

  • SCLC Transplant Rejection Icon

    Rejection of a transplanted organ or tissue. Your healthcare provider should tell you what signs and symptoms you should report and monitor you depending on the type of organ or tissue transplant that you have had

  • SCLC Transplant Complications Icon

    Complications, including graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), in people who have received a bone marrow (stem cell) transplant that uses donor stem cells (allogeneic). These complications can be serious and can lead to death. These complications may happen if you underwent transplantation either before or after being treated with IMFINZI. Your healthcare provider will monitor you for these complications

Getting medical treatment right away may help keep these problems from becoming more serious. Your healthcare provider will check you for these problems during your treatment with IMFINZI. Your healthcare provider may treat you with corticosteroid or hormone replacement medicines. Your healthcare provider may also need to delay or completely stop treatment with IMFINZI if you have severe side effects

Before you receive IMFINZI, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

  • have immune system problems such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or lupus
  • have received an organ or tissue transplant, including corneal transplant
  • have received or plan to receive a stem cell transplant that uses donor stem cells (allogeneic)
  • have received radiation treatment to your chest area
  • have a condition that affects your nervous system, such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain-Barré syndrome
  • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. IMFINZI can harm your unborn baby    

    • Females who are able to become pregnant:

    • Your healthcare provider will give you a pregnancy test before you start treatment with IMFINZI.
    • You should use an effective method of birth control during your treatment and for 3 months after the last dose of IMFINZI. Talk to your healthcare provider about birth control methods that you can use during this time.
    • Tell your healthcare provider right away if you become pregnant or think you may be pregnant during treatment with IMFINZI.
  • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if IMFINZI passes into your breast milk. Do not breastfeed during treatment and for 3 months after the last dose of IMFINZI.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

What are the possible side effects of IMFINZI?

IMFINZI can cause serious side effects (see above).

The most common side effects of IMFINZI when used alone in adults with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) include inflammation in the lungs and feeling tired or weak.

The most common side effects of IMFINZI when used with etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin in adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) include nausea, feeling tired or weak, and hair loss.

Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of IMFINZI. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for more information.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects related to AstraZeneca productsReport side effects related to AstraZeneca products. If you prefer to report these to the FDA, either visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Please see Full Prescribing Information including Medication Guide for IMFINZI.

What is IMFINZI?

IMFINZI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a type of lung cancer called small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

  • IMFINZI may be used alone when your LS-SCLC cannot be removed by surgery and has responded or stabilized after initial treatment with chemotherapy that contains platinum, given at the same time as radiation therapy.
  • IMFINZI may be used with the chemotherapy medicines etoposide and either carboplatin or cisplatin as your first treatment when your SCLC has spread within your lungs or to other parts of the body (extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, or ES-SCLC).

It is not known if IMFINZI is safe and effective in children.

Please see Full Prescribing Information including Medication Guide for IMFINZI.

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Important Safety Information

What is the most important information I should know about IMFINZI® (durvalumab)?

IMFINZI is a medicine that may treat certain cancers by working with your immune system. IMFINZI can cause your immune system to attack normal organs and tissues in...

IMFINZI is a medicine that may treat certain cancers by working with your immune system. IMFINZI can cause your immune system to...

Read full Important Safety Information

What is IMFINZI?

IMFINZI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with a type of lung cancer called SCLC.

  • IMFINZI may be used alone when your LS-SCLC cannot be removed by surgery and has responded or stabilized after initial treatment with chemotherapy that contains platinum, given at the same time as radiation therapy...

United States flag iconThis product information is intended for US consumers only.

IMFINZI is a registered trademark and AstraZeneca Access 360 is a trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies.

©2025 AstraZeneca. All rights reserved. US-91740; US-106883 Last Updated 12/25

United States flag iconThis product information is intended for US consumers only.

IMFINZI is a registered trademark and AstraZeneca Access 360 is a trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies.

©2025 AstraZeneca. All rights reserved. US-91740; US-106883 Last Updated 12/25