Here are some questions you might want to ask:

• Has my breast cancer spread outside my breast? What stage is it?
• How big is my tumor?
• Can I have surgery that removes only the lump (breast-conserving surgery) and not the whole breast (mastectomy)?
• Did my breast cancer happen because of genes I have inherited?
• What will you do to find out if my breast cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in my armpit?
• What treatment will I need after surgery?
• What side effects can I expect from surgery and other treatments?
• Is my breast cancer encouraged to grow by the hormone estrogen? Is it estrogen-receptor positive?
• Do I have HER-2 positive breast cancer (this means the cancer cells make too much of a protein called HER-2)?
• Will my surgery be done by a specialist breast surgeon who does more than 20 breast operations a year? (This can be a difficult question to ask, but the risk of your cancer coming back where it first started depends on whether your surgeon removes enough of the tissue around your cancer along with the cancer itself. Studies show that experienced surgeons are better at doing this.)
• Do any of my lymph nodes have cancer cells in them? If so, how many?
• How abnormal do the cancer cells look under a microscope? (This can tell you how likely it is that your tumor will spread and what kind of treatment you need.)
• Will I need chemotherapy after surgery? If so, what type and for how long?
• Will I need hormone therapy? If so, what type will I need and how long will I need to take it?
• If I have a mastectomy, should I have breast-reconstruction surgery? If so, when should it be done and what sort of surgeon should do it?
• Are the other women in my family more likely to get breast cancer? Should they have checkups more often?

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.