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Part I - Cancer Industry Overview:  
Part II - Initial Diagnosis of Cancer: 
  a. The diagnosis (making sure to get info on the specific type and staging of the cancer.....there are 30 types of ovarian cancer). 
  b. The importance of a second opinion. 
  c. Surgical vs. needle biopsy 
  d. The importance of "sentinel node" procedure in determining lymph node involvement as part of cancer staging.
  e. A critical test if chemotherapy is a treatment option - chemosensitivity testing (must preserve live cancer tissue at time of surgery).
  f.  The importance of clear margins (preferably wide) if surgery option is used (get a copy of the pathology report).
  g.  The importance of using one of the Cancer Consulting services.
  h. Checking on limitations or advanced approvals required from health insurance provider. 
  i. The importance of keeping a detailed medical log of dates of all doctors visits and exact procedures performed, including test results. 
  j. The need for another relative or friend to attend all consultations (i.e. will give another set of ears on what is said and someone to discuss therapy options with). 
  k. The importance of obtaining baseline readings on critical tests so that treatment options can be measured to determine if their effective. 

Part III - Cancer Therapy Options:
Part IV - Nutrition for Cancer:
Part V - More Cancer Resources:
Part VI - Cancer Medical Terms:
Part VII - Survivor Characteristics:
Part VIII - Self-help Approaches:
Part IX - Testimonials of Survivors:
Part X - Forum for Patients:
Part XI - What I would do:
Part XII - Recent Developments:
Part XIII - Other Cancer Info:

Part II - Dealing with Initial Diagnosis of Cancer
          e. Critical Test if Chemotherapy is an Option

In the early period of diagnosis, if the ability to obtain some of your cancer tissue is an opportunity, it is critical that some of your cancer tissue be sent to labs in California for testing in what is known as chemosensitivity testing.  There are many laboratories who perform these test, but Dr. Robert Nagourney’s Rational Thereapeutics lab is highly recommended.  The link below shows information on this testing lab:
Rational Therapeutics 

The conventional approach to chemotherapy treatment in most parts of the U.S. today is to use clinical trial data to determine what is the best combination of drugs for at particular type and stage of cancer.  The clinical trial data indicates what works best for “most” cancer patients, but the goal is to find out what works best to kill “your” cancer cells recognizing that we all have a different DNA.  The lab mentioned above in California can determine with 95% accuracy what will kill “your” cancer.  Some of the other labs conduct what is referred to as drug resistance testing which will tell you with 100% certainty which chemo drugs "will not" kill your cancer.  Today, chemosensitivity testing has progressed to the point where it is 85% - 95% effective. Below is a listing of "Reputable" Labs in the USA.  These labs will provide you and your physician with in depth information and research on the testing they provide. (Rational Therapeutics is the first choice of the labs listed below in my opinion):

- Analytical Biosystems, Inc., Providence, Rhode Island. Ken Blackman, PhD. Solid Tumors Only. 1-800-262-6520

- Anticancer, Inc., San Diego, CA. Robert Hoffman, PhD. Solid Tumors Only. 1-619-654-2555

- Oncotech, Inc., Irvine, CA. John Fruehauf, MD. Solid Tumors and Hematologics. 1-714-474-9262 / FAX 1-714-474-8147

- Sylvester Cancer Institute, Miami, FL. Bernd-Uwe Sevin, MD. Solid Tumors Only. (especially GYN). 1-305-547-6875

- Human Tumor Cloning Laboratory, San Antonio, TX. Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD. Solid Tumors Only. 1-210-677-3827

- Rational Therapeutics Institute, Long Beach, CA. Robert A. Nagourney, MD Solid Tumors and Hematologics. 562-989-6455 http://www.rational-t.com/

- Weisenthal Cancer Group, Huntington Beach, CA. Larry M. Weisenthal, MD, PhD. Solid Tumors and Hematologics. 1-714-894-0011 / FAX 1-714-893-3659 / e-mail: mail@weisenthal.org


With the completion of the mapping of the human genome, the emphasis on cancer research has been focused on molecular gene testing of various types of cancer and the development of targeted drugs.  However, the evidence to-date indicates that the chemosensitivity approach of testing to determine which cytotoxic agents work best if much more accurate than the molecular gene testing as discussed in the link below: 
Cancerfocus.org 

A more comprehensive presentation on the general subject of cancer treatment options (i.e. what works and what doesn't work) is given by Dr. Robert Nagourney at the links below:
The Future of Cancer Research Lies Behind Us 
Making a Difference