Guide to Cancer Treatment
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Part I - Cancer Industry Overview:  
Part II
- Initial Diagnosis of Cancer: 
  a. The diagnosis (making sure to get info on the specific type and staging of the cancer.....there are 30 types of ovarian cancer). 
  b. The importance of a second opinion. 
  c. Surgical vs. needle biopsy  
  d. The importance of "sentinel node" procedure in determining lymph node involvement as part of cancer staging. 
  e. A critical test if chemotherapy is a treatment option - chemosensitivity testing (must preserve live cancer tissue at time of surgery).
 
  f.  The importance of clear margins (preferably wide) if surgery option is used (get a copy of the pathology report). 
  g.  The importance of using one of the Cancer Consulting services.
  h. Checking on limitations or advanced approvals required from health insurance provider.
 
  i. The importance of keeping a detailed medical log of dates of all doctors visits and exact procedures performed, including test results. 
  j. The need for another relative or friend to attend all consultations (i.e. will give another set of ears on what is said and someone to discuss therapy options with).
 
k. The importance of obtaining baseline readings on critical tests so that treatment options can be measured to determine if their effective.  
 

Part III - Cancer Therapy Options:

Part IV - Nutrition for Cancer:
Part V - More Cancer Resources:
Part VI - Cancer Medical Terms:
Part VII - Survivor Characteristics:

Part VIII - Self-help Approaches:
Part IX - Testimonials of Survivors:
Part X - Forum for Patients:
Part XI - What I would do:
Part XII - Recent Developments:
Part XIII - Other Cancer Info:

Part II - Dealing with the Initial Diagnosis of Cancer
          k. The importance of obtaining baseline test readings to measured treatment effectiveness

The only way to determine if any particular treatment is effective at reducing cancer is to be sure to have baseline test results to measure against.  This may be blood tests for cancer antigen levels such as:

   - the CA-125 or PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen)

or tumor market tests such as the following:

   - 19-9 test for renal and pancreatic cancer;

    - alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test for liver cancer, or

 human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) for germ cell tumors, such as testicular cancer and ovarian cancer.

Also critical at the time of initial cancer diagnosis is determining if there are certain genetic characteristics present that either preclude or suggest specific treatment options.  The following link is one example of the importance of this type of testing to determine the most effective treatment option:
Genetic Testing