You’ve been diagnosed with cancer, and your primary care physician has sent you to see an oncologist: a specialist in treating the disease. The good news is, in many cases, your cancer may be treatable and even curable.

To minimize anxiety and maximize confidence, you’ll want to be fully prepared with good information when you meet your oncologist. Here’s what you can expect.

At your first meeting, the oncologist is likely to order more tests and imaging to determine the type of cancer you have and what stage it is (whether and how far it might have spread).

The oncologist will also want to find out more about you.

"Getting to know the patient is most important," said Lauren Midthun, MD, a Cedars-Sinai hematologist-oncologist. "Do they have any medical conditions that would prohibit certain treatments? Providers also seek to understand what they want and what their goals are. That will help us decide how to tailor treatment."

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It’s a good idea to have a family member join you when you meet the oncologist, at least for your first few visits.

"Usually the patient is pretty overwhelmed," Midthun said. "They don’t remember what you talked about with them, which is understandable. I think it’s good if someone can be there to write down the most important things."

She explained that many clinics have patient navigators on staff. If a navigator doesn’t join you for your first meeting, Midthun suggests asking if the clinic can provide one.

"Navigators help explain the nuts and bolts of treatment and the day-to-day tasks that need to get done. Doctors are often treating a great many patients, so it’s valuable when a navigator can take the time to answer questions and review what we’ve discussed. I think these people are very important."

Navigators can also provide practical support, such as helping with insurance issues or transportation.

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Once the tests and imaging are done, it’s time to talk about treatment options. If the cancer is at an early stage, surgery to remove the tumor might be an option. You might receive radiation to reduce the size of the tumor before it can be removed.

If the disease is advanced, medication may be the best approach. There are two main types. Chemotherapy is familiar to most people, as it’s the oldest and most used. It kills cancer cells, but it also kills healthy cells, so patients may experience side effects such as fatigue, nausea and hair loss.

Molecular-targeted therapy and immunotherapy are newer classes of drugs that block tumor growth and harness the body’s own immune system to fight the cancer. These treatments have their own unique side effects and are only effective for certain types of cancers.

"If the cancer is curable and the patient is in good health, the goal is to be aggressive with treatment to get the best results and help patients tolerate any side effects,” Midthun said. "However, if the cancer is not curable or the patient is not as strong, then the goal is to control the disease for as long as possible while maintaining their quality of life and minimizing side effects."

The oncologist also needs to evaluate your general health to make sure you’re fit enough to undergo a chosen treatment.

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Don’t be afraid to ask all the questions you want answers to.

Ask your oncologist for resources if you want to do more reading. Googling won’t always get you the most accurate information.

"Some patients don’t want to hear a bunch of options. They just say, 'Tell me what to do,'" Midthun said. "Others want to see the data and read up, so I’ll bring in articles and provide more information. It all depends on the patient’s comfort level."

Midthun said patients should always ask what the first line or most effective treatment would be and, if that’s not an option, what other choices are available. They should inquire about whether they can access appropriate clinical trials. Cedars-Sinai offers a wide variety of cancer clinical trials to patients.

A second opinion is encouraged, particularly for more complicated cases. And ask about molecular testing. This will help determine if your cancer might respond to the newer drugs.

But the first and most important questions are, "Is my cancer curable? And if it's not curable, can I live for many years with it, or is it something that maybe I can only live with for a few months? Because that's going to help you make decisions about what you want to do. Sometimes people are afraid to ask those questions," Midthun said.

"I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer, and the biggest thing was that we knew what was going to happen, so we were able to plan and spend time with him. If we hadn’t known, we might have missed that opportunity."

Speaking openly with your doctor may help bring you the peace and confidence you and your family need to move forward.

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