Eminent cancer expert explains the mistakes patients often make when deciding on treatment of any serious disease, including cancer. We focused today on an important topic of cancer treatment. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Let’s take a step back and think of a patient who has a new medical problem in a family. It could be cancer. But it could be any medical program in a family. You have a huge experience in medicine. You have seen tens of thousands of patients. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. How to approach a new medical problem in the family in the best way? So that the best potential treatment result is achieved. Dr. Bruce Chabner, MD. This is the most common mistake that is made. It is not seeking an expert medical opinion. In many cases you don't need a medical expert. You don't need an expert to treat a sore throat. You do not need a medical expert to treat a patient who has a relatively simple disease. But sometimes you have a process that could potentially be fatal. It could be cancer or heart disease. Dr. Bruce Chabner, MD. Then you need medical expert opinions there. You should be open-minded about going to medical experts. You should ask questions. You should seek medical expert opinion. It may require some special effort. I think the other thing that's important is this. No doctor should be offended by the idea that a patient wants to seek another medical second opinion. So you should never be discouraged by a doctor from seeking a further medical expert opinion. It is true particularly in a life-threatening problem. You need that kind of information. Dr. Bruce Chabner, MD. Doctors have to be open-minded. No one knows everything. So yeah. It's perfectly acceptable to say to your doctor this. I am afraid that this disease could turn out very badly for myself or my family. I want to get the opinion of a medical expert that's seen a lot of these diseases. Dr. Bruce Chabner, MD. I want to consult a medical expert who knows what research is being done. I’d like to consult an expert physician who can possibly offer an alternative to the standard therapies. This is very important to know. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Because patients become more proactive and seek information. Patients hopefully will find the correct information online how to treat cancer.