Patients with a list ask more
In a randomised trial in advanced cancer clinics, patients handed a printed prompt list asked about two and a half times as many questions as those without one.
Going into the consultation prepared
Questions to ask about your chemotherapy drugs
Forty-three questions, grouped the way a consultation actually runs, drawn from the lists published by the National Cancer Institute, Macmillan, the American Cancer Society and MD Anderson. Copy any group to your phone and take it in with you.
- Every group can be copied to your phone in one tap
- Grouped by what the answer changes, not by topic
- Reviewed by a CION consultant medical oncologist
Ask our chemotherapy team
One of our oncology nurses calls you back. No charge, no obligation.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh Gundu
Consultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB, DM (Medical Oncology) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
Where to start
The short answer
Start with one question: “Is this treatment meant to cure the cancer, to lower the chance of it returning, to shrink it before surgery, or to control it?” Every other answer — how many cycles, how much side effect is worth bearing, what happens if you stop — means something different depending on that one.
Then work through the groups below. You are not expected to ask all forty-three. Copy the two or three groups that matter most to you right now and take them in on your phone.
43questions, grouped and ready to copy
17+cancer specialists on the CION panel
35+centres across Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
15,000+patients treated
It is not just politeness
Why a written list works
This is one of the few things in cancer care that has been tested in a randomised trial and costs nothing.
And remember more afterwards
A separate randomised trial found prompt-list patients recalled significantly more of what they were told. Patients without one were markedly less likely to recall their treatment information correctly.
Without making anyone more anxious
The oncology trial measured this directly: consultations ran about seven minutes longer, and there was no difference in patient or carer anxiety or satisfaction.
Take this with you
The questions, by group
Ten groups. Tap Copy these questions on any of them and the numbered list goes straight to your phone's clipboard — paste it into notes or a message to yourself.
The drugs themselves
- What is this regimen called, and what are the generic names of every drug in it?
- Why these drugs for my cancer, rather than others?
- Is the aim to cure, to reduce the risk of it coming back, to shrink it before surgery, or to control it?
- Am I getting the branded drug, a generic, or a biosimilar — and does that change anything?
How we will know it is working
- How and when will we know whether this is working?
- Which scan or blood test will tell us, and how often?
- What would make you change the plan?
- If this does not work, what comes next?
Schedule and logistics
- How many cycles are planned, and how long is each cycle?
- How long will I be in the chair each time?
- Day care or an overnight stay?
- Will I need a port or a PICC line, or will a cannula do?
- How many visits will this mean in total, including blood tests?
Side effects
- Which side effects are likely for me, and when do they usually start?
- Which ones mean I should ring you the same day?
- Which ones could be permanent?
- Is hair loss likely with these drugs, and is scalp cooling an option here?
- What will you give me to take home for nausea, and when should I start it?
The emergency rules
- What temperature means I call you, and what number do I ring at 2am?
- Should I take paracetamol for a fever before I call, or not?
- Where do I go if I cannot reach the advice line?
- What do I say when I call, so I am taken seriously quickly?
Fertility, pregnancy and sex
- Could this treatment affect my fertility?
- Should I see a fertility specialist before the first cycle — and how soon?
- What contraception should we use, and for how long after treatment?
- Is it safe to breastfeed during or after this treatment?
Other medicines and supplements
- Here is everything I take — which should I stop, and which are fine?
- Can I take paracetamol? Can I take ibuprofen or diclofenac?
- Are my Ayurvedic or homeopathic medicines safe alongside this?
- Which vitamins or health supplements should I stop?
- Are any foods or juices a problem with these drugs?
Cost and cover
- What will the whole course cost, including drugs, day-care charges and scans?
- What does Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS or my insurance cover here, and is it cashless?
- Does anything need pre-authorisation before we start?
- Is there a biosimilar or generic that would bring the cost down without changing the treatment?
Everyday life
- Can I keep working? Can I drive myself home afterwards?
- What should I eat, and is there anything I must avoid?
- Can I exercise, travel, or go to a wedding?
- Which vaccines can I have, and which must I avoid?
What I should leave with
- Can I have this in writing — the drug names, the dates and the side effects?
- Is there a card I can carry that tells any doctor I am on chemotherapy?
- Can I record this conversation, or bring someone with me next time?
- Who is my named contact if I have a question that is not an emergency?
Want these questions answered about your own treatment?
Send us your regimen and what is worrying you most. A CION oncology nurse will call you back and work through it — including a free second opinion on a plan you have already started.
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Ask about your own treatment
An oncology nurse calls you back, usually the same working day.
In the room
Four things to do in the room
Take someone with you
The National Cancer Institute's patient booklet recommends it outright: a second person hears what you miss and can talk it through with you afterwards.
Ask to record, or take notes
The same booklet suggests writing notes or recording. Ask first. Most oncologists agree, and many will write the key points for you.
Say the name and date of birth check out loud
Two people must verify your identity with two identifiers in your presence before the drug goes up. If that does not happen, say so.
Repeat the plan back in your own words
“So that is six cycles, three weeks apart, and I ring you if I go over 38 degrees.” Saying it back is how mistakes get caught while they are still cheap.
Know this cold
The emergency rules, in detail
This is the one section of the consultation worth memorising. Everything else can be looked up later.
What to askWhat the published guidance says
“What temperature means I call you?”38°C (100.4°F) is the international threshold for calling straight away. Many UK services add a second trigger at 37.5°C sustained, or anything below 36°C. Your hospital's own number overrides both.
“Should I take paracetamol first and see if it settles?”No. Oncology pharmacy guidance states that paracetamol is usually not advised during chemotherapy because it masks a temperature, and that this impairs assessment of how serious the situation is. Check your temperature, then call.
“What if my temperature is normal but I feel terrible?”Still call. Published trust guidance is explicit that some people with infection do not develop a high temperature, and that you should ring even if the reading is normal.
“What number do I ring at 2am, and where do I go if nobody answers?”Get both answers written down before your first cycle. When white cells are low, a minor infection can become life-threatening within hours.
The one rule that overrides everything else on this page
If your temperature reaches 38°C (100.4°F) during chemotherapy — or stays above 37.5°C, or falls below 36°C — call your team immediately, day or night, before taking anything for it. Shivering, confusion, breathlessness, passing no urine for a day, or simply feeling like something is badly wrong all need emergency help rather than a phone call.
CION's helpline is 1800 202 8726, answered 24 hours a day for every branch.
Paperwork that matters
What you are entitled to in writing
- The drug names, written down. Professional standards require verbal plus written or electronic information before treatment starts, including the drug names and the side effects that should make you ring.
- Your regimen name, spelled out. Ask how it is spelled. CHOP, R‑CHOP, FOLFOX, ABVD and the rest are initials, and knowing what yours stands for makes every later conversation easier.
- A treatment record you keep. Many cancer services hand patients a record book with the treatment plan, appointments and a test-results log.
- An alert card to carry. A card that tells any doctor, ambulance crew or reception desk that you are on cancer treatment, with the 24-hour number on it. Ask whether your unit issues one.
- A named non-emergency contact. Someone to ring for the questions that are not urgent but will not wait a fortnight either.
- Your cycle and day notation explained. If your chart says C3D1, ask what that means and where you are in the plan.
Ask these here
Questions worth asking in India specifically
“What does Aarogyasri, CGHS or ECHS cover for this, and is it cashless?”
“What does Aarogyasri, CGHS or ECHS cover for this, and is it cashless?”
CION is Aarogyasri empanelled and accepts CGHS, ECHS and EHS, along with major cashless insurers. Ask what needs pre-authorisation before the first cycle rather than after it.
“Is there a biosimilar that would bring this down?”
“Is there a biosimilar that would bring this down?”
WHO puts biosimilars at around 60 per cent cheaper than the originator biologic and names India as a country that has integrated them into routine care. One Indian trastuzumab biosimilar launched at roughly 65 per cent below the brands then on the market.
“Are my Ayurvedic or homeopathic medicines safe with this?”
“Are my Ayurvedic or homeopathic medicines safe with this?”
Bring the actual packet. Two independent studies found around one in five Ayurvedic products tested contained detectable lead, mercury or arsenic above safety limits. Your team needs to see what you are taking, not hear a description of it.
“Can any of this be done closer to home?”
“Can any of this be done closer to home?”
Distance is one of the documented reasons treatment gets abandoned in India. With 35+ CION centres across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, some cycles or blood tests may be possible nearer to you.
Nobody has ever annoyed me by arriving with a list. The consultations that go wrong are the quiet ones, where the patient nods and saves the real question for the car park.Dr. Naresh Gundu, Consultant Medical Oncologist, CION Cancer Clinics
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Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
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MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
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Our centres in and around Hyderabad
Addressed by landmark, because that is how this city navigates. Each centre also names the areas it serves, so you can place it without a map. Consultation and day-care Chemotherapy run at every one of them.
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The questions patients actually ask
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask first when I am told I need chemotherapy?
Ask what the aim is. “Is this meant to cure the cancer, to lower the chance of it coming back, to shrink it before surgery, or to control it and keep me well?” Almost every other question — how many cycles, how much side effect is worth tolerating, what happens if you stop — reads differently depending on that answer.
Does writing questions down actually help, or does it just annoy the doctor?
It helps, and it is well studied. In a randomised trial in advanced cancer clinics, patients given a printed prompt list asked roughly two and a half times as many questions, and discussions about what lay ahead happened in 30 per cent of those consultations versus 10 per cent of the others — with no increase in anxiety.
A separate randomised trial found patients who used a prompt list recalled more of what they were told. Good oncologists welcome the list, because it makes the consultation more useful.
What temperature should make me call the hospital?
Use whatever number your own hospital gave you. Internationally, 38°C (100.4°F) is the threshold for calling straight away, and UK services add a second trigger of 37.5°C sustained, or anything below 36°C.
Two things matter more than the number. A normal temperature does not rule out infection, so call if you feel wrong. And do not take paracetamol first — it masks the very reading your team needs.
Should I ask what is in the drip before it is connected?
Yes, and the professional standards are on your side. The ASCO and Oncology Nursing Society chemotherapy safety standards require two people to verify your identity using two identifiers in your presence, and require the person giving the drug to confirm the drug name, the infusion time and the route with you.
Asking is not a lack of trust. It is the last check in a system that is designed to have you in it.
Can I ask about cost without seeming to question the treatment?
Yes — and it is a clinical question, not only a financial one, because cost is one of the commonest reasons treatment gets abandoned part-way in India. The American Cancer Society suggests asking the total cost, what you will pay out of pocket, whether pre-authorisation is needed, and whether help is available.
Ask specifically about biosimilars. WHO puts them at roughly 60 per cent cheaper than the originator biologic, and India has integrated them into routine care.
Can I bring someone with me, or record what is said?
Both are actively recommended. The National Cancer Institute's own patient booklet tells people to bring a family member or trusted friend and to take notes or use a recorder, so the conversation can be reviewed later.
Ask before you record. Most oncologists say yes, and many will offer to write the key points down for you instead.
Read next
Next step
Bring your list. We will work through all of it.
A first consultation at CION is unhurried by design, and a second opinion on a plan you have already started is free. You keep your current doctor either way.
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Sources
- Chemotherapy and You — questions to ask, and taking notes — National Cancer Institute
- Questions to ask your healthcare team — Macmillan Cancer Support
- Questions to ask about your treatment, and tips for talking with your care team — American Cancer Society
- Starting chemotherapy? 6 questions to ask — MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Questions to ask an oncologist during your first visit — Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Randomised controlled trial of a question prompt list in advanced cancer — Clayton JM et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 2007
- Improving communication and patient information recall via a question prompt list: randomised clinical trial — British Journal of Surgery 2023
- Chemotherapy administration safety standards — patient identification and drug confirmation — ASCO and Oncology Nursing Society
- Neutropenic sepsis factsheet — paracetamol masks a temperature — British Oncology Pharmacy Association
- Watch out for fever during cancer treatment — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chemotherapy side effects — when to ring the advice line — Cancer Research UK
- Fertility preservation in people with cancer — clinical practice guideline — ASCO
- Biosimilars: expanding access to essential biologic therapies — World Health Organization
- Lead, mercury and arsenic in US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines — JAMA 2008
- Cancer treatment alert card — Macmillan Cancer Support
- Immunisations and cancer treatment — Cancer Research UK
General information, not a prescription. This page explains what is generally true for people having chemotherapy. It is not advice about your own treatment, and nothing on it should be used to start, stop or change a medicine. Your own oncology team knows your diagnosis, your drugs, your blood results and your other conditions — we do not. If anything here worries you, or anything about your treatment feels wrong, call your team on 1800 202 8726. The helpline is answered 24 hours a day.