It's important to know that medicines and drugs used to treat cancer can be quite different and everyone's situation is different. If you're considering traditional or standard chemotherapy as a treatment option, the questions below may be helpful to ask your cancer care team so you can get as much information as possible. For questions to ask about other types of drugs to treat cancer, see Targeted Therapy or Immunotherapy.
Before choosing chemo as a treatment option, you should learn as much as you can about your treatment, and get an idea of the expected outcome. You should understand the expected benefits, side effects, and risks.
You will also give your written permission to get chemo. (This is called informed consent.) Consider asking your doctor or nurse these questions before signing the consent form. It may help to write down questions to take with you to your next visit.
Here are some tips to help you remember your doctor’s answers:
See Understanding Your Diagnosis for more ideas about the things you and your family may want to know.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Last Revised: November 22, 2019
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