Lisa Hatfield:

Dr. Eskander, as new treatments and strategies emerge, how can patients and their families stay activated and ensure they’re benefiting from the latest advancements? And what should they be asking their care team to make sure they’re up to speed with the latest in gynecologic cancer care?

Dr. Ramez Eskander:

This is so important to me for patients to feel like they’re empowered and educated. I believe that patients are their greatest advocates. This is where family and friends are also an important part of the care team. From my perspective, it’s very beneficial to have someone in the room with the patient as they’re having conversations about treatments and treatment strategies to take appropriate notes, to be informed, and to not feel bad about asking questions, to not feel bad about asking the relevance of a second opinion.

Any provider should never take offense to a patient asking for a second opinion. In fact, I would say, I encourage my patients. I say, listen, if you have questions and you…if you would like to get someone else’s perspective, please do so. I want that, and I want you to come back to me with potentially a different option or a question that my hope is to answer.

We have a shared goal of making sure our patients have the best possible clinical outcome. That is our north star. So as new treatments and strategies emerge, try to stay informed. There are multiple platforms available, of course, via the Internet, for example. I will just be cautious in saying not all of that information is accurate. So if you’re going to use a platform that’s publicly available, the web, make sure that you’re trying to go to areas where a resource is vetted and reliable.

The National Cancer Network, the NCCN, the National Cancer Institute, clinicaltrials.gov for clinical trials, vetted and established advocacy organizations, and then taking that information, using it as a foundation in which you can build upon when you have conversations with your providers. But again, this is where I think not just the patient alone, but patient, family, and friends can really work together to try to develop.

And all of our meetings, the cancer meetings that we have, for example, for gynecologic cancer as a Society of Gynecologic Oncology, there’s a foundation for women’s cancer. There are opportunities for education, the American Society of Clinical Oncology. These are publicly available resources, websites where you can go to and look for patient facing material to make informed decisions about the management of your cancers.  And, of course, when you’re asking to talk about clinical trials, how do I stay up to date? Again, it’s a dialogue. It’s never too early to ask. I worry sometimes that patients don’t want to bring up a clinical trial, because they fear that bringing that up means that they’ve exhausted all treatment strategies.

Quite contrary to that, the earlier you begin the conversation, the greater opportunity you’re going to have to potentially identify a clinical trial for which you may be eligible. And that will help you through your treatment paradigm. Because if you don’t, you may pass that up, because you’re no longer eligible, because you’ve had too many prior lines of treatment, for example. And having that conversation early will also help you prepare as you go through the treatment paradigm so that if you need to make a decision about potentially enrolling in a trial, you’re established, you’re ready to do so rather than trying to effectively push this forward quickly without making sure that you have the required information that you need.

So it’s a multi-pronged approach. It’s going to require support systems, undoubtedly, multiple resources are available, and then subsequently engaging those resources to use that information to guide your conversations.

My activation tip is be informed. Explore your options and opportunities. Again, there are strategies that are available to you both on the Internet, publicly available, but also through colleagues, through friends, and a network that you can build through support groups, even at your institutions. It’s never too early to ask about clinical trials so that you can make sure you’re educated and informed as you look to make decisions. Because if you try to take all of this into consideration and at one time point, it can be a little bit overwhelming.

Lisa Hatfield:

Okay. Thank you so much. And I really appreciate your comment about it’s okay to talk to your provider about getting a second opinion. I was terrified of that, because I really love my doctor. He is great. And I didn’t want to bring that up, but anybody who’s watching this, Dr. Eskander said it’s okay to talk to your provider about seeking out a second opinion.

And it may help in your care in making decisions too. So I appreciate that you said that. And also that you said to make sure you go to vetted sites for information. When I was diagnosed with blood cancer, the first place I went to that I wasn’t supposed to was Google, got all kinds of information that I didn’t want to read. So go to those vetted sites. I think that’s great advice. So thank you so much.

Dr. Ramez Eskander:

Thank you, Lisa.

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