Treatment Choices

One big concern for patients diagnosed with cancer is whether there is time to research treatment centers and get a second opinion before starting treatment. Choosing an oncologist, or cancer doctor, is an important decision. Unless you are facing urgent symptoms like nausea, vomiting and pain, there is usually time to do some research.

When a woman walks into an oncologist’s office, she’s usually not alone. In fact, a new study finds that half of women have at least three people standing behind them, sitting next to them or waiting at home to help face cancer. Research finds half of early stage breast cancer patients relied on three or more people to help them process treatment options.

During radiation treatment for cancer, it may be tempting to skip an appointment when something else that seems more important comes up -- or when you're just not feeling well. Research shows, however, that people who kept their appointments had better outcomes than those who didn't.

Women undergoing a mastectomy for breast cancer already have a lot to manage in regard to treatment and recovery. Beyond monitoring their health, they must also weigh a decision that could alter their appearance and quality of life after cancer treatment: whether to have breast reconstruction surgery -- and, if they do, which type to choose. The procedure can have physical and mental implications for patients whose cancerous breasts are surgically removed. Opting for reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy comes with questions and choices. A U-M plastic surgeon helps address them.

Ask Molly Moravek, M.D., why she pursued a career in fertility preservation for cancer patients, and she’ll tell you that it’s because her heart breaks every time she sees a patient who has had her fertility taken from her. It's why she built a program in partnership with Michigan Medicine’s Center for Reproductive Medicine and Rogel Cancer Center that works with patients facing treatment and their oncologists to preserve the patients’ opportunity to have children once they are healthy.

Enrolling in a clinical trial is a treatment option that can be beneficial for both the patient and others who can benefit from the findings. Almost all current treatments started out being tested in clinical trials. Medicine would not advance without the use of trials and people to participate in them.

When Ron Diehl was diagnosed in 1999 with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that mainly affects children and young adults, he wanted to speak to someone who survived the disease as a way to maintain hope that he could get better. A young man of 34, he had a wife and three young kids, as well as a family dairy farm to run in the small town of Lupton, Mich.

Brachytherapy is sometimes a preferred method of treatment, depending on your physician’s advice, because of its precision. Rather than using a machine such as a linear accelerator outside of the body to direct radiation through healthy tissue to get to the cancerous cells, brachytherapy radiation is implanted inside the body either temporarily or permanently, depending on the type and location of the cancer.

When a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer, many questions arise. Why me? Can it be treated? Will I be cured? There are a number of myths or misconceptions about treating cervical cancer and understanding the facts is an important first step in making treatment choices.

There has been a lot of confusion since the study was published in September, 2015 examining mortality after a DCIS diagnosis. Specifically, the study looked at differences in outcome among women who were treated for DCIS by different methods. The differences among these women did not provide evidence that no treatment is an option.