The Importance of Second Opinions for Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

"As a nurse navigator, it’s important for me that you feel that you have crossed every 't' and dotted every 'i.' If you feel like you want to get a second, or even a third, opinion, that’s vitally important for you and your family [to do], so that you feel like you have done your own due diligence in your own care."

SurvivorNet Experts and Consultants Support Second Opinions

National Cancer Institute Chief of Surgery Steven Rosenberg recommends seeking out multiple professional opinions to confirm a diagnosis and figure out the options. As we highlight at SurvivorNet, highly respected doctors sometimes disagree on the right course of treatment. Also, advances in genetics and immunotherapy are creating new options. And, in some instances the specific course of treatment is not clear cut. That's even more reason why understanding the potential approaches to your disease is crucial. "It's always important to get other opinions so that you can make the best decision for yourself," Dr. Rosenberg said.

Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgeon and advisor to SurvivorNet, makes the point that in life, people always seek options. "How do you choose someone to cut your hair? You get an opinion. You usually just don't go in and sit down with the first person you see on the street … If a patient has any questions, they should never feel bad about seeking the opinion of another doctor. I support second opinions 100 percent."

Study Suggests a Second Opinion Is Very Valuable

In 2018 researchers from the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) conducted a study aimed at answering the question of just how valuable a second opinion is. The answer: extremely valuable. They hope the study results will empower people to seek out multiple opinions, and gather all the information they can about their disease.

The study focused on breast cancer patients who'd been diagnosed at an outside institution, and then came to a cancer center with a tumor board (a group of medical specialists who decide on a diagnosis together). Researchers found that 43 percent of the 70 patients they looked at received a different diagnosis. "Our results show a second opinion really does provide value in potentially changing [a] diagnosis, which in most cases will eventually change treatment," said Dr. Nancy DeMore, who worked on the study with colleagues at MUSC.

Though study participants were breast cancer patients, the takeaway is the same for anyone diagnosed with cancer.

A Patient's Experience

Cantril recalls one patient who called her and said, You know, I’m feeling like I’m at a crossroads and I don’t know what to do at this point. "So we sat down and talked about what she was struggling with. And I realized very quickly that she needed a different set of eyes, a different person to look at her whole health history and where she was in terms of her response to treatmenther previous treatments and possibilities for upcoming treatments, [including whether or not] she'd be a surgical candidate.

"You, as the patient, know your body better than anyone. And one of the things that you can do is to say to your provider, or to your healthcare advocate, I need a second opinion. We were able to get her to an academic center that also was able to communicate effectively with her, and with her current provider, and come up with a treatment plan, so that she felt there was teamwork. She felt that that collaboration was really there."

Ovarian cancer patient, photographer Tara Lessard, shares her story about taking the time to get a second opinion. You can read about her experience here.

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