← Return to Seeking input re: questions to ask my oncologist 5 weeks post-Whipple

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@ncteacher

Quite a thorough list of questions! Good work on that. I really can't speak to most of them, since I was never a candidate for surgery. However, this one caught my eye: "Would it be beneficial to find out my genetic mutation in order to determine which chemo would be best for me?" Does this mean that you already know you have a genetic mutation, but you don't have enough info on it? Or does it mean you want genetic testing in order to determine whether you might have a mutation that could influence therapy? I wasn't sure. Not every cancer is due to a genetic mutation, but confirming or ruling that out could be very helpful, so I would definitely ask.

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Replies to "Quite a thorough list of questions! Good work on that. I really can't speak to most..."

Your post is very helpful -- thank you!

I am, unfortunately, very ignorant about this disease (and I haven't yet figured out how to get the overview that I need, though reading this board has filled in a lot of gaps), so I *didn't* know that not every cancer is due to a genetic mutation. I had assumed, based on what I've read on this board (and semi-misunderstood) that all are caused by a mutation, and I had inferred that knowing the mutation would help an onc. determine which chemo regimen would be most effective.

Thank you again, and wishing you well.