If you have been diagnosed as having cancer, no doubt there are plenty of questions you want to ask about your illness and treatment. Your GP, hospital consultant or specialist nurse will be very willing to talk to you and give you as much information as they can.

But important questions can easily slip your mind - so you may find it useful to make a note of questions, before talking to the doctors or nurses.

We've jotted down a few questions which doctors are regularly asked, which you may find helpful. No doubt there will be. Many others which are personal to you, but these are just a few suggestions for you. NEVER think that a question is too trivial to be asked!

Questions for Your GP

  • What do you think is the problem?
  • What tests will I have to undergo?
  • Where will I have those tests?
  • How long will I expect to wait before I know the results?
  • Do I have a choice about treatment?

Questions for Your Hospital Doctor

  • What tests are you going to carry out?
  • What do they involve?
  • What treatments are there for my illness?
  • What do they involve?
  • What choices do I have?
  • Are there any side-effects of the treatment?
  • How long will my treatment last?
  • During Your Treatment
    • How can I tell if the treatment is working?
    • What happens when the treatment finishes?
  • After Treatment
    • How will I know if the treatment has worked?
    • What happens if it hasn't worked?
    • How will I know if there are any permanent side-effects?

Sometimes the medical words used to describe illnesses and treatments can be difficult to understand. Here are a few words and terms you may hear, explained in layman's terms:-

  • Benign - Non-cancerous, refers to tumours which grow slowly in one place, and which, once removed, tend not to come back
  • Biopsy - The examination of a tissue sample removed from an area of the body where cancer is suspected.
  • Bronchoscopy - A flexible telescope examination of the lung
  • Carcinoma - A cancer arising from the lining of an organ or system. They are the most common cancers.
  • CT Scan -A computed Tomography Scan is a special type of x-ray examination producing a cross-section image of the head or body to be analysed by computer. Endoscopy - Looking inside the body through a small fibre-optic tube passed into the lungs or digestive system.
  • Fine Needle Aspiration -The use of a fine needle under local anaesthetic to take a sample of cells from a suspicious lump to see if it is benign or cancerous.
  • Hormone Therapy - Treatment with hormones to control cancer growths usually for cancer of the breast, prostate, thyroid or womb.
  • Isotope Scan - Involves the injection of a very weak radioactive substance which collects in the organ being investigated so that it can be seen more easily by a special camera.
  • Local Therapy - The use of treatments such as radiotherapy or surgery which are concentrated on particular areas of the body.
  • Lumpectomy - surgical removal of a lump.
  • Lymphoederna - SwellIng, usually in an arm or leg, because the lymph vessels are blocked or damaged. Can occur following some treatments for cancer, or because of the cancer itself.
  • Malignant - Cancerous.
  • Mammogram - A specialist x-ray which can detect breast abnormalities including cancer at an early stage.
  • Mastectomy - The removal by surgery of all, or part ot the breast Metastases - Cancer which has spread to other parts of the body - also called secondaries.
  • MRI Scans - Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans which use radio waves rather than x-rays to produce pictures for computer analysis.
  • Oncologist - A doctor specialising in treating cancer:
  • Orchidectomy - The surgical removal of a testicle.
  • Primary Cancer - The first malignant tumour to develop in part of the body.
  • Prognosis - An assessment of the expected future course and outcome of a patient's disease.
  • Prosthesis - A specially made replacement for part of the body which has been removed such as a breast or a limb.
  • Secondaries - Formed when cancer cells from the original tumour have broken off and been carried to other parts of the body in the blood stream forming other cancers.
  • Staging - Tests to show the extent of the cancer in the body to help doctors decide the best treatment.
  • Thoracic - refers to the chest area.
  • Tumour - A mass of cells which can be -hr benign or malignant.
  • Ultrasound Scan - Using sound waves to bold up an image of an internal organ.