Second opinion in cancer: when it helps and how to ask

A second opinion is a structured review of your diagnosis, stage and proposed treatment by another qualified oncologist. It is most useful before a major, hard-to-reverse step: before surgery, before the first cycle of chemotherapy, or when a plan changes because treatment has stopped working.

Bring the biopsy report, the stage-defining scans with their reports, any molecular test results, and a written summary of treatments already given with dates. A second opinion does not require repeating tests unless something is genuinely missing.