Next Steps After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Your Essential Guide

Diagnosed With Breast Cancer: What Should I Do Now?

Here’s your step-by-step companion guide.
Diagnosed With Breast Cancer: What Should I Do Now?
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Published on June 27, 2024
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Assemble Your Team

Often your first stop after a breast cancer diagnosis will be a referral to a breast cancer surgeon who will be the quarterback of your care. They will orchestrate further imaging or biopsies, perform definitive surgery for your cancer, and organize and coordinate additional referrals to other doctors who will be involved in your care.

Treating breast cancer often requires doctors with different specialties to work together. Not all cases require every specialty. Among the doctors you may work with as you undergo treatment are:

  • Radiologists If you need additional imaging or image-guided biopsies as a part of your workup, you will work with a radiologist.
  • Radiation Oncologists If treatment with radiation may help your breast cancer, you’ll work with a radiation oncologist.
  • Breast Surgeons (or Breast Surgical Oncologists) The majority of cases will require some degree of surgery, either a lumpectomy (removing the tumor and an area of tissue around it) or mastectomy (removing all the breast tissue). Most patients also need a lymph node biopsy or surgery to remove the lymph nodes to determine if and how far the cancer has spread. These procedures are performed by the breast surgeon.
  • Plastic Surgeons Women whose treatment involves removing enough breast tissue to change their appearance may want to pursue reconstructive surgery, which requires a plastic surgeon.
  • Medical Oncologists These doctors coordinate any traditional chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or hormone therapy you may receive.

Should You Get a Second Opinion?

A second opinion means going to another doctor after your diagnosis to see if they agree with your original team’s conclusion.

Why do it? A second opinion can give you peace of mind that your diagnosis was correct, and that there’s agreement by more than one doctor about what the next steps should be.

Do I have to? Not everyone wants one or feels the need for one, but it’s perfectly acceptable and, in fact, routine, to get one.

Will it offend my doctor? You will not offend your doctor by getting one. Most doctors, in fact, will tell you they’d get one themselves.

What if doctor 1 and doctor 2 don’t agree? If there's a discrepancy between opinions, you may opt for a third opinion to resolve the issue. If there is a multidisciplinary conference at the institution you are receiving care, your case may be discussed (or you can request your case be discussed) to ensure all doctors and specialists are on the same page.

How do I get a second opinion? The American Cancer Society has a guide for finding a cancer doctor, and you can ask the doctor that made the diagnosis, or ask another doctor you trust, for a referral. Make sure to ask what records the new doctor will need in order to give their opinion.

Pro Tip: They will usually need your radiology reports, pathology report from your biopsy, any other laboratory reports, and the consult note from your visit with the initial doctor.

You can stay with the doctor who diagnosed you. Or you can research other doctors or centers that specialize in breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society guide also has a downloadable PDF of questions to ask when trying to find one.

Among the things to consider when making a decision about a doctor:

  • Do I feel comfortable with them?
  • Do they answer my questions?
  • Do I have confidence in them and the institution they are affiliated with?
  • Are they and their office responsive to my questions and needs?

What Should I Ask My Doctor

The stress of a new breast cancer diagnosis can make it hard to think straight during appointments, know what to ask, or retain information.

Going in with a list of questions and a notebook to record answers can be helpful (you can also record appointments on your cell phone). So can bringing a trusted friend or family member to be a second set of eyes and ears.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

  • What type of breast cancer do I have?
  • What stage is my cancer?
  • What is the prognosis and should I look at survival rates?
  • Will I need surgery, and, if so, what kind?
  • Will I be able to save my breasts?
  • Will I need any treatments before surgery, and after?
  • Will treatment affect my ability to have children?
  • What are my treatment options and their side effects?
  • Should I get genetic testing?
  • What can I expect if I decide to do nothing?

Breast Cancer Stages

After your diagnostic testing your doctor will assign your cancer a stage to help guide your treatment. Breast cancer that has not spread beyond the breast or lymph nodes (stages 0, 1, 2, and sometimes 3) is also called early breast cancer.

Stage
What It Means
0

Malignant cells are confined to the milk duct.

1

The tumor measures less than 2 cm and there is no lymph node involvement.

2

Localized: The tumor is 20–50 mm with some lymph nodes involved, or is larger than 50 mm with no lymph nodes involved.

3

Regional spread: The tumor is larger than 50 mm with lymph nodes involved and possibly the skin or chest wall.

4

Distant spread (metastatic) beyond the breast to other parts of the body.

Breast Cancer Treatment and Medications

Treatment Type
How It Works
Surgery

A surgeon removes as much of the cancer as possible. This may also be done in advanced cancer to relieve symptoms.

Radiation

High-energy radiation beams are aimed at the tumor to kill cancer cells.

Chemotherapy

Cancer-killing medicines are given through an IV or as pills to reach cancer cells through most parts of the body.

Hormone Therapy

Medications (and sometimes surgery) are used to block or reduce the hormones that help breast cancer cells grow.

Targeted Therapy

Medicines are directed at specific targets on breast cancer cells to destroy them or slow down their growth.

Immunotherapy

Medicines are used to enhance the body’s immune system to better recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Starting treatment for breast cancer can feel overwhelming. These helpful resources detail the most common cancer therapies and can help you understand what to expect during treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and surgery.

Breast Cancer and Fertility

If you are of childbearing age when you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you may be concerned about your fertility.

Treatment may or may not impair fertility. But you can pursue fertility treatment, in the form of freezing eggs or sperm, to preserve childbearing options if that is a concern for you.

In the majority of cases, there is time for fertility preservation before cancer treatment begins.

Perspectives
portrait of a person
Shirley
Breast Cancer Survivor
“I think it's important to know that there are people that have taken this journey before you to be there and be welcomed in by others who say, ‘Welcome to the club that no one wants to be a part of.’”
Transcript Available

Finding Support

Figuring out what kind of support you will need in these early days is also important. Don’t be afraid to lean on family and friends for help. And consider peer support programs and helplines you can call to speak with an expert about your diagnosis and treatment.

Breast Cancer Now

In addition to support groups and an online forum, Breast Cancer Now offers live video education and a breast cancer support app called Becca.

CancerCare

Offers counseling, resource navigation, educational workshops, and financial assistance. You can also participate in their virtual events, like their Coping Circle Workshop.

Cancer Hope Network

As well as patient assistance, Cancer Hope Network provides emotional support for caregivers.

Financial Assistance

Dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis and going through treatment is enough without having to worry about how to pay for it. These resources exist to help with cancer treatment costs.

Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition

This coalition of organizations offers several types of support, from financial and legal to food and housing.

Financial and Co-Pay Assistance (CancerCare)

The team at CancerCare offers financial aid programs to help you out with costs related to treatment and copayment assistance.

Hope Lodge (American Cancer Society)

ACS’s Hope Lodge offers free housing for those who are undergoing treatment in over 30 communities across the country.

The Takeaway

The sudden influx of information and emotions that comes with a breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Start by meeting your care team and thinking about whether you'd like to get a second opinion. Going in to your appointments with a trusted family member or friend, a list of questions, and a notebook to take notes in can be helpful. Figure out what kind of support you will need early, whether financial or emotional, and don't be afraid to ask for help. Many resources are available to help you through this journey.

Meet Our Experts
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Ryland J. Gore, MD, MPH

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor
Ryland Gore, MD, MPH, is a board-certified, fellowship-trained surgeon specializing in breast surgical oncology in Atlanta. She completed her general surgery residency at Rush University Medical Center and John H. Stroger Cook County Hospital in Chicago. She went on to complete her breast surgical oncology fellowship at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.

In addition to her professional responsibilities, Gore previously served on the board of directors for Every Woman Works, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower women and help them transition into independence and stability from common setbacks. Gore served as the chairwoman of the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign in Atlanta for three years (2019 to 2021). She is currently the co-director of Nth Dimensions’ Strategic Mentoring Program and the alumni board chair of the Summer Health Professions Educational Program (SHPEP), which is a collaborative effort by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Association of American Medical Colleges, and the American Dental Education Association.

Gore is a highly sought after speaker, consultant, and lecturer on breast cancer and breast health, as well as women’s empowerment topics.
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Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn

Author

Elizabeth oversees cancer and oncology coverage. Before joining Everyday Health, she was an editor at American Health and Harper’s Bazaar, and spent a number of years freelance writing for Discover, Psychology Today, The New York Times, and others. She is the author of two books, including The Death of Cancer: After Fifty Years on the Front Lines of Medicine, a Pioneering Oncologist Reveals Why the War on Cancer is Winnable — and How We Can Get There, which she coauthored with her father, Vincent T. DeVita Jr, MD. She has a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University and a master’s in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In her spare time, Elizabeth enjoys kayaking, yoga, and playing guitar.

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Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Herndon S. Understanding Your Breast Cancer Treatment Team. National Breast Cancer Foundation. March 23, 2022.
  2. Seeking a Second Opinion. American Cancer Society. August 7, 2019.
  3. Getting a Second Opinion. Susan G. Komen. April 3, 2024.
  4. Preserving Fertility and Breast Cancer. Cancer Research UK. August 15, 2023.