Two different people can answer questions about a trial, and they can answer different things. Your oncologist knows your situation. The study coordinator knows the study. Asking the wrong person wastes an appointment.
Here is the split, and the questions that people most often say afterwards they wish they had asked.
Ask your oncologist
These are judgement calls about you, and only someone who knows your record can make them.
Is this study a reasonable option for me, or are you humoring me? Ask it that directly. A straight no is more useful than a polite maybe.
Does joining this close off anything else? Some studies require that you have not had a particular treatment. Entering one study can affect eligibility for another later, and the ordering sometimes matters.
What would we do if I did not join? You need to know what you are comparing against.
Do my test results actually qualify me? Eligibility often depends on scan measurements, lab values, or genomic testing you may or may not have had. Your oncologist can tell you which of these are already answered in your record.
If I need genomic testing to qualify, can we get it? And how long it takes, because that timeline can decide whether a study is still open when the result arrives.
Ask the study coordinator
You can call them yourself. You do not need a referral, and this is part of their job.
Is your site still enrolling? The registry can lag reality by weeks. Ask about the specific site you would attend, not the study overall.
Which group would I be in, and what does that group receive? For studies split into cohorts, this is the question that clarifies everything else.
Is it randomized, and is there a placebo? If so, ask what each group gets. In cancer trials a placebo is usually added to standard treatment rather than replacing it, but you should hear the specifics for this study rather than a general reassurance.
How often would I need to be here, and for how long? Then ask how long a typical visit takes. “Monthly” means something very different if each visit is six hours.
What is the first month like compared to later? Early visits are usually the most intensive. People plan around the average and get caught by the start.
What does it cost me, in writing? Ask specifically about the study drug, scans done only for the study, your regular care, and travel. Then ask whether the study has a travel or lodging stipend, because many do and it is often not mentioned unless you ask.
What happens if I stop, or if the study ends? Ask whether you could keep taking the treatment if it is working for you, and what care looks like afterwards.
Who do I call at 2am? Every study should have an answer. Get the number before you need it.
Can I have the consent document to take home? Yes, you can, and you should. Read it somewhere other than a clinic room, with someone else, and write your questions in the margin.
The one people regret most
Travel and time, consistently. Not the medicine.
People evaluate a study on whether the treatment sounds promising, then discover four months in that the visit schedule is not compatible with their job, their childcare, or how they actually feel on treatment. Ask about the schedule with the same seriousness you ask about the drug.
Bring something concrete
Coordinators and oncologists both work faster from an NCT number than from a description. If you have found studies through Curova, bring the ID numbers and the list of criteria that matched, and start with the specific question rather than the background.
None of this is medical advice, and none of it substitutes for the conversation. It is just a way of walking into that conversation with the questions already written down.