The 10 questions you must ask your oncologist

Cancer is a serious and terrifying disease. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, your mind is likely filled with fear, worry, and questions. It is therefore imperative to have an honest and frank discussion with your oncologist. And to better understand your disease and treatment options, it is crucial to ask the right questions. Whether you are in treatment or have yet to begin treatment, if you are determined to beat cancer, here are the 10 questions you must ask your oncologist:

1. Is your expectation for me curative (achieving remission and long-term sur­vival) or pallia­tive (mostly maintaining quality of life), and if it is not the former, why not?
2. Chemoresistance (and radioresistance) is a leading cause of treatment failure and premature death. What is your plan to preempt this potential challenge?
3. How will you prevent or reduce damage to my normal (healthy) cells?
4. Hypoxia (low oxygenation) in the tumor microenvironment can fuel tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. What will you do to target tumor hypoxia?
5. Every drug that is used to treat cancer must reach the cancer cells in the tumor environment at adequate concentrations to exert their intended cell-killing effects. Obstacles that can prevent adequate delivery of cancer-killing substances are inadequate tumor microcirculation, tumor interstitial hyper­tension, tumor density, and drug efflux pumps. What will you be doing to overcome these obstacles?
6. Studies have shown that a significant percentage of cancer cases have their roots in diet and lifestyle. Also, chemotherapy and radiation can lead to nutritional deficiencies. To address these issues, what diet, life­style, and nutritional supplements do you recommend that may improve my treatment outcome?
7. Chronic systemic inflammation is a major contributor to the development and spread of cancer. Will you be measuring inflammatory biomarkers and addressing them if elevated?
8. Cancer cells must alter their energy metabolism to enable rapid growth, pro­lifera­tion, and treatment resistance. Targeting cancer energy metabolism and “starving” cancer as a therapeutic strategy may enhance conventional ther­apy and improve treatment outcomes. What will you be doing to target can­cer energy metabolism?
9. Cancer stem cells are thought to be a major cause of treatment failure, can­cer progression, metastasis, and cancer recurrence. What will you be doing to target cancer stem cells since chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery do not target these cells and may, in fact, stimulate them to proliferate and spread?
10. Having a healthy immune system is vital when fighting cancer, espe­cially having ample and functional (immunocompetent) cancer-killing cytotoxic T-cells (CTCs) and natural killer (NK) cells. What is your plan to boost the produc­tion of competent CTCs and NK cells and combat chemotherapy-induced dampening of pre-existing tumor immunity, as well as immunosup­pres­sion caused by cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumor-associated macro­phages, and T-regulatory cells (Tregs) in the tumor microenvironment?

The above questions will help you prepare for your appointment so you will come away from the visit with the crucial information you need to move forward and fight cancer properly. Do not be afraid to ask these questions. Your health and very life may be on the line, so insist on complete answers from your oncologist. Ask a friend or family member to accompany you as a second set of eyes and ears to listen to what the doctor says. And be sure to take notes for later reference.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM DR. DANIEL THOMAS:

It is important to have your eyes wide open as you move forward, so please be aware that the oncologist may not be current in his or her understanding of cancer cell biology, how to lessen metastatic progression and improve therapeutic response using integrative therapies, or how to prevent disease recurrence. The oncologist may not be informed about the role that nutrition plays in fighting cancer and may mock the idea of doing anything to target cancer energy metabolism, cancer stem cells, the tumor stroma, or improving drug delivery, and might be dismissive of anything outside of conventional therapy.

For many cancers, conventional therapy alone may not be enough. There are complementary and alternative treatments you need to be aware of. Why should you listen to me? In addition to a medical degree, I hold a post-doctoral master’s degree in Metabolic & Nutritional Medicine and served a fellowship in Integrative Cancer Therapy. I have over 30 years of clinical experience and have helped people all over the world. To bridge to gap between scientists and physicians, as an active translational researcher, I have spent over 35,000 hours poring over the latest scientific discoveries and translating many of these discoveries into promising medical therapies.

Due to my credentials in integrative cancer therapy and over 30 years of clinical experience in metabolic and nutritional medicine, I was invited to join the CareOncology™ team—a London-based group of forward-thinking scientists and physicians dedicated to developing innovative ways to metabolically inhibit cancer by depriving it of the nutrients it needs to grow and spread. I consulted for Care Oncology for 18 months to help them establish a presence in the United States. To learn more about my credentials and experience, visit HealthyAndStrong.com.

Cancer can be fierce, intimidating, and aggressive. We fight back using a potent combination of diet, exercise, targeted supplements, novel drug cocktails using repurposed medications, and intravenous therapies. Our approach targets the hallmarks of cancer as well as numerous biochemical changes associated with the disease. These are important steps that conventional oncology may overlook. This oversight can impair your ability to beat cancer. For more information on how I may be able to help you, visit NewHopeForCancer.com.