If the doctors cannot resolve their conflicting viewpoints, a third opinion may be in order. If you don't want to get a third opinion, you should probably go with the treatment recommendation of the doctor who has the most experience in dealing with your type of cancer. Sometimes, you may be presented with more than one entirely appropriate treatment plan. In a case like this, the patient can look to the doctor for a thorough discussion of the pros and cons of each alternative and for the doctor's informed opinion, but only the patient herself can make the final decision on treatment. You may also have a very personal choice to make if your doctor has told you that you are eligible to receive an investigational therapy.
Investigational therapies represent the most recently developed ways to treat particular cancers.
Many patients eligible for a clinical trial are also good candidates for a standard therapy such as radiation or chemotherapy, and so must make a carefully considered choice in consultation with their doctors. Treatments like these may appear to help some people, but they are not backed by sufficient scientific data to prove their effectiveness. The great danger of relying on such a treatment is that you might be steered away from a treatment that really could help you. And if you start out with an unconventional treatment and later find out that it isn't working, it may be too late to get the full benefit of a proven therapy. Your doctor, the Cancer Information Service or the American Cancer Society can tell you whether a treatment is unconventional, investigational or standard.