Questions for Your Oncologist
Don’t worry about asking “too many” questions.
It’s your body, your life, your treatment and your cancer.
There are no wrong questions.
What type of cancer do I have?
Has it spread anywhere else?
What stage or grade is it?
Do I need biomarker or genetic testing?
Specific genetic markers can open the door to highly targeted treatments
What treatment do you recommend first? Other options?
Your options may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or a combination.
How soon do we start?
What is the goal of this treatment? Cure? Control? Managing Symptoms?
How long will treatment last?
Ask how many months the treatment plan is expected to last, how often, and how long each session will take.
How will my treatment be administered, and will I need a chest port?
Treatments vary. Some involve oral pills, IV infusions in a clinic, or continuous pumps worn at home. Depending on the frequency and duration, infusions and at home therapies, you may want to consider a surgically implanted port or a PICC line.
What are the potential side effects expected?
Are there clinical trials?
How will treatment impact my daily life, my quality of life?
Do I have to quit working?
Do treatments affect my fertility?
Will treatment affect my sexual intimacy?
What symptoms require immediate medical urgency?
Who do I contact after hours?
What happens after next?
Is there anything I need to do before treatment starts?
How many patients with my exact diagnosis do you treat a year?
Do you participate in clinical trials?
Will my treatment be at (name your local hospital?)
Does this cancer center offer professional counseling or mental health services?
Should you get a second opinion?
How long will I live without any treatment?
What does malignant neoplasm mean?
Big fancy phrase saying that you have cancer. A “malignant neoplasm” simply means a cancerous tumor.
Is my cancer curable, and what are the survival rates?
How fast does it spread, and can I die from it?
What is the difference between being “cured,” in “remission,” and having “No Evidence of Disease” (NED)?
What is Lymph Node Involvement?
This is the time to ask all those questions that you have written down from all your research.