2nd opinion - where?

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IrishJewishWaspMBC
IrishJewishWaspMBC Member Posts: 5
edited June 2021 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

I am receiving Rx at Columbia Pres for metastatic breast cancer, switching to second line of treatment after first, which worked spectacularly at first, showed signs of resistance and progression. I need a second opinion (preferably covered by Medicare and United Health Care supplemental). Many people are recommending Dana Farber. I was going to do that virtually, but my oncologist said in person is better. As I live in NYC, why should I have to travel 4 hours to get a second opinion? What if I want to switch?

Looking for recommendations for 2nd opinion hospital/medical oncologist. I looked at Yale New Haven, but in various ratings, there were more top-rated breast oncologists in NY.

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  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 4,800
    edited May 2021

    Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your progression.

    I'm not in US but usually when these questions are posted the answer is inevitably to find an NCI affiliated center. Have you checked those https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/can...

    Also, where are your mets? We might have info about other treatments possible in addition to change in systemic treatment. We have threads here for most sites of mets where those specific issues.

    Have you considered a re-biopsy and genomic testing of cancer tissue? We have a thread on genomic testing for Stage IV.

    I think sometimes second opinions don't bear much fruit. The treatment protocols are pretty standard (most everyone is using the NCCN guidelines which is publicly available so you can read it yourself). The variations are : order of treatment; using local treatments on some mets (surgery, rads, SBRT etc), clinical trials.

    You can find a lot of that information yourself so that when you do your 2nd opinion, you will have very specific questions about possible treatment routes.



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  • Snow-drop
    Snow-drop Member Posts: 514
    edited May 2021

    have you tried memorial Sloan Kettering cancer center yet?

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  • IrishJewishWaspMBC
    IrishJewishWaspMBC Member Posts: 5
    edited May 2021

    You know, I haven't. I think it is the best in the country, so why not? When I had my initial breast cancer, I considered going there for a second opinion. My brother got me in touch with someone through a friend of his, and they said it would be $20,000. I wasn't on Medicare yet, had some not great insurance through employer.

    Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. Now it is my first choice for 2nd opinion. -- But I also heard more recently that they don't like doing 2nds. That is one reason I put out a call for experiences and opinions.



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  • Nkb
    Nkb Member Posts: 1,436
    edited June 2021

    also second opinions are often not covered. but, $20,000???

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