Opinion about the Treatment, Treatment of Cancer Tips

A second opinion about your diagnosis

To get a second opinion about your diagnosis, you’ll need to find a breast pathologist at a hospital or cancer center to review your breast tissue slides and prepare a second pathology report.
The reason this is so important is that the best course of treatment for your cancer depends on your diagnosis. That means you need to make sure that breast cancer the diagnosis is accurate and that there are no differences of opinion about how to interpret your test results
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A second opinion about your treatment

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, you’ll also want to see another doctor for a second opinion about the treatment options available to you.

Words to Know

Oncologists are physicians who study, diagnose, and treat cancer. Each specializes in a specific area, such as cancers of the reproductive system or blood. A surgical oncologist specializes in cancer surgery.
Loyalty to the first oncologist you see isn’t something you should be concerned about. In fact, most oncologists expect you to get a breast cancer second opinion, and some will even refer you to another specialist for a different perspective. Doctors can have diverse treatment philosophies, so don’t be surprised if the second doctor’s recommendations differ from those of your original oncologist.
If the two doctors have radically divergent opinions, you’ll have to make a decision about which approach — and doctor — you’re more comfortable with, or you can seek a third perspective.

Taking the time you need

It may take a few weeks or more for you to gather your records, get a second — or even third — opinion, and decide on a course of treatment. If you’re concerned whether the delay could adversely affect your health, you should discuss it with your doctors and ask them how long you can afford to take to make a decision.
While you don’t want to put off starting treatment unnecessarily, in the majority of cases, a delay of several weeks or even longer makes no difference. And it’s important that you feel confident that you have as much information as possible available to you and are taking the best course of action.