A small cell lung cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming—but knowing the right questions to ask can make all the difference. Dr. Erin Schenk, a lung cancer researcher, provides advice about important conversations to have with your care team, from understanding your diagnosis to exploring treatment options and side effects, and how these discussions can make you feel more prepared for what’s ahead.
Dr. Erin Schenk is a medical oncologist, lung cancer researcher, and associate professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. Learn more about Dr. Schenk.
Related Resources
Transcript
Katherine Banwell:
Dr. Schenk, what questions should patients be asking about their treatment plan?
Dr. Erin Schenk:
Yeah. I think there are a lot of important questions that patients can consider, and based on, what are the priorities they have, that may change the order of these questions. I think the first question for your doctor, whenever you have a cancer diagnosis, is, “What type of cancer is this?” And in the context of small cell lung cancer, I think a very good question is, “Where is the cancer located?” And often, we’re able to answer that question with scans, including an MRI of the brain or a PET scan of the body. As doctors formulating the plan, those help us identify which therapies or which approaches would be most helpful for a patient. So, what type of cancer, where is the cancer located, and then talking about what are the treatment options for my specific situation.
So, now that we know what type of cancer it is, where is it located? There can be a whole range of potential therapy options. It’s important to ask what other potential doctors could be involved. And what I mean by that is, every so often – this is more rare, but sometimes surgery is part of the treatment paradigm. Sometimes radiation is also part of how we take care of patients.
And then, the other piece is, “What chemotherapy medicines or what cancer medicines will be given to me?” Those things sort of help shape what to expect in terms of treatment approaches. I think another important question, once you have a treatment plan sketched out and ideas of what will happen next, some patients like to know more about what will it feel like. “What are the side effects I should expect?”
“How long will I be here, meaning be at the clinic, while I’m receiving the various treatments?” And then, some patients – but not all patients – some patients like to know, “How well do these treatments work, or what’s the likelihood of making the cancer go away completely?”