If you need drug therapy for cancer treatment, there are questions you may want to ask your medical oncologist:
General questions
- What is chemotherapy? What is hormone (endocrine) therapy? What is targeted therapy?
- What clinical trials are available to me? Where are they located, and how do I find out more about them?
- How will each treatment option benefit me? What are the risks?
- What is the expected timeline for each treatment option?
- What treatment plan do you recommend for me? Why?
- When do I need to make a decision about starting additional treatment?
- What is my prognosis?
- What can I do to get ready for this treatment?
- How long will each treatment take? Should I bring someone with me?
- How will this treatment affect my daily life? Will I be able to work, exercise, and perform my usual activities?
- What lifestyle changes should I consider making during my treatment?
- Do you recommend any nutritional supplements or changes to my diet?
- Can I take herbal supplements during my treatment? Is there any risk?
- Will insurance pay for chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or targeted therapy? If not, do you know of any assistance to help cover the costs?
Chemotherapy
- Why do I need chemotherapy?
- When should I begin chemotherapy?
- What drugs will I take and why?
- How will the chemotherapy be given? How many treatments will I have?
Hormone (endocrine) therapy
- What is the hormone status of my tumor? What does this mean?
- How does hormone therapy treat cancer?
- Do I need hormone therapy? If so, why?
- How does having reached (or not reached) menopause affect my treatment options?
- When will the hormone therapy be started? How long will I take it?
- How do I take it? How often?
- What are the risks if I stop taking the hormone therapy?
- Is there a generic form of this hormone treatment? Is it as effective as the name brand?
Targeted therapy
- How does targeted therapy treat cancer?
- Do I need targeted therapy? If so, why?
- When should I start targeted therapy? How long will I take it?
- How do I take it? How often?
- Is there a generic form of this targeted treatment? Is it as effective as the name brand?
Side effects
- What are the possible side effects? How long are they likely to last? What are the long-term risks?
- What can I do to ease side effects? Are there medications I can take to prevent or treat side effects?
- Are there any integrative and complementary therapies that may help me cope with side effects?
- Which side effects should I report to you?
Sex and fertility
- Will this treatment affect my sex life? If so, how and for how long? Is there anything I can do to prevent or treat these effects?
- Will this treatment affect my ability to have children (fertility)? Should I talk with a fertility specialist before treatment begins? Are there other treatments available that do not pose as high a risk to my fertility but are equally effective?
- Can I become pregnant while receiving drug therapy? What happens if I become pregnant during treatment? Is there a risk of birth defects and/or harm to the fetus and/or to me?
- How long should I wait after cancer treatment before trying to have a child?
Published June 2019
Stanford Health Care © 2019