• The type of cancer

• The stage (extent) of the cancer

• Whether cure is to be expected

• Possible environmental or genetic influences that may have predisposed you to develop cancer

• Important aspects of the cancer, called “prognostic factors” (tell later), that may help determine your prognosis

• Whether you have other medical problems that may affect your choice of treatment

• Recommended treatments, their schedules, and their duration

• Side effects from treatment (likely and less likely), both short term and long term

• What can be done to prevent or minimize those side effects, should they occur

• Other treatment options, such as (1) a different but equally effective chemotherapy drug whose side effects may better meet your needs (for example, less hair loss or a reduced chance of numbness in the hands and feet, called peripheral neuropathy), and (2) a different sequence of chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery than is being proposed and the merits of the different approaches

• If a clinical trial (research study) testing new ways to treat the cancer is available and the pros and cons of participating in the study

• What the strategy might be if the first therapy does not control the cancer

• Whether a second opinion is advisable (initially or at a future time)

• How the treatment costs will be covered

• A review of the medications, vitamins, and supplements you may already be taking

• Where to find counseling and support groups to help you and your loved ones cope with the many emotional and life challenges posed by cancer

These essential topics we will approach later. First we wish to focus on the disease itself and answer the deceptively simple question, “What is cancer?” A. story provides one answer: All of the above is cancer. Cancer is all the physical and emotional upheaval that a person’s body and mind must endure in response to an “invasion from within” of bizarre collections of cells that form troubling growths called tumors. From a medical point of view, cancer can be defined another way:Cancer is a disease caused by the growth and spread in our bodies of cells that do not know how to die.