Breast Cancer Questions

After being diagnosed with breast cancer, you will likely have many questions for your doctor. It's important to ask as many questions about breast cancer as you can think of, including about your diagnosis, treatment options, what to expect during treatment, and what to expect should you decide not to pursue certain types of treatment.

Questions Regarding Your Breast Cancer Diagnosis

You may want to ask your doctor these breast cancer questions if you have been recently diagnosed with the disease:
 
  • Would you please explain what is on the pathology report?
  • What type of breast cancer do I have? What stage do I have?
  • Did a pathologist who is experienced in diagnosing breast cancer examine my biopsy slides?
  • Should my biopsy slides be examined again? Why or why not?
  • What are the chances that the cancer has spread within or outside my breast?
  • Were lab tests done on the tumor tissue? What do the results mean for me?
  • Were estrogen and progesterone receptor tests done? What do the results mean for me?
  • What other tests do I need (chest x-ray, bone scan, etc.)?
  • What are my treatment choices? How can I get more information about them?
  • What benefit can I expect from each kind of treatment?
  • What are the risks and possible side effects of each treatment? Are they short-term or long-term?
  • What are the risks if I don't get treatment?
  • What are my chances for recurrence?
  • How can I get another opinion?
  • Is there any research being done on my kind of cancer?
     

Add
Email
Print
(Breast Cancer Questions Continued: Page 2)
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Other Articles in This eMedTV Presentation
Referring Pages Articles