A practical, prompt-by-prompt guide to using AI to walk into your oncology appointment more prepared, with better questions, and a clearer sense of what’s about to happen — without making the mistake of treating AI as a clinical authority. Sourced from ASCO Cancer.Net patient education, AMA AI guidance for patients, and consistent themes from real patient AI use.
ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini, etc.) can do five things well for oncology appointment prep: explain medical jargon in your records, generate a personalized question list, summarize options and trade-offs, draft what you want to say, and rehearse the conversation. The frame that keeps it useful: AI is your research assistant, not your oncologist. Below: 9 specific prompts to use, the privacy practices that matter, and what to avoid asking AI to do.
Before you start: privacy hygiene
Strip identifying information from anything you paste into a public AI. Replace your name with “Patient.” Replace exact dates with “2026.” Replace your specific MRN, exact birth year, exact location, and any rare-detail combination that could re-identify you. Use general framing: “Patient is a [age range], female, with [stage] [cancer type]” rather than “I’m Maria Cortez, 62, diagnosed October 14, 2024.”
If your hospital has a HIPAA-compliant AI assistant in their patient portal, prefer that for anything containing real PHI (protected health information). Public AI tools have varying privacy policies; assume your inputs may be stored and used for training unless explicitly stated otherwise.
The 9 prompts
Prompt 1: Translate the pathology report
What to paste: The pathology report (with name, MRN, exact dates stripped).
The prompt: “Below is a breast biopsy pathology report. Please explain it section by section in plain English, as if to someone with no medical background. After each section, list the 1-2 questions a patient should ask their oncologist about it.”
What you’ll get: A walkthrough of margins, grade, receptor status, mitotic rate, and what each means. Plus questions like “What does Ki-67 of X% mean for treatment recommendation?” or “Why are clear margins important?”
Verify with: Your oncologist. The translation is preparation, not interpretation.
Prompt 2: Generate a question list for the visit
The prompt: “I’m preparing for a treatment-planning visit with my oncologist. I have [stage] [cancer type] with [key receptor status / pathology finding]. I’m [age]. Generate 15-20 questions I should ask, organized by category: about the cancer itself, about treatment options, about side effects, about lifestyle, about logistics. Don’t recommend any specific treatment; only generate questions.”
What you’ll get: A thoughtful, organized list. Many will be standard; some will be useful prompts you wouldn’t have thought of.
Edit it: Cross out anything that doesn’t apply. Add your own. Bring 8-10 questions to the appointment, not 20.
Prompt 3: Summarize standard treatment options
The prompt: “What are the standard treatment options for [cancer type, stage, receptor status]? For each option, briefly describe what it is, the typical duration, the most-common side effects, and what considerations might make it preferred or not. Cite NCCN or ASCO guidelines if possible. End by listing 3 questions a patient should ask their oncologist.”
What you’ll get: A reasonable summary of options. Not personalized to your specific case.
Verify with: NCCN guidelines (free patient version), ASCO Cancer.Net, your oncologist. Some AI summaries are out of date; some misstate guidelines.
Prompt 4: Compare two specific treatment regimens
The prompt: “Compare [Regimen A] vs [Regimen B] for [cancer type and stage]. Include: typical efficacy, side effect profile, time commitment, cost / insurance considerations, fertility implications. End with 5 questions a patient should ask their oncologist when weighing these options.”
What you’ll get: Side-by-side. Useful for getting your head around the comparison before your visit.
Caveat: Personalized recommendations require your full clinical picture. AI doesn’t have it.
Prompt 5: Draft a list of side effects to track
The prompt: “I’m starting [chemo regimen] for [cancer type]. Generate a side-effect tracking sheet I can use to log severity day-by-day across each cycle. Include: common immediate side effects (first 72 hours), delayed side effects (week 1-2), and longer-term effects to monitor (months). For each, briefly describe what it is.”
What you’ll get: A useful starting tracker — pair with the Inspired Comforts side-effect tracker template.
Prompt 6: Help me prepare for fertility-preservation conversations
The prompt: “I’m [age], starting [treatment]. I want to discuss fertility preservation with a reproductive endocrinologist. What questions should I ask? What time pressures should I be aware of? What programs assist financially?”
What you’ll get: A list of questions and resources (Livestrong Fertility, etc.). Verify financial program details directly with the program — AI sometimes has stale info.
Prompt 7: Draft what I want to say
The prompt: “I want to tell my oncologist that I have specific concerns about [side effect / regimen / quality-of-life issue]. Draft 2-3 short paragraphs I can use as the basis for what to say. Make it respectful but clear about what matters to me.”
What you’ll get: A first draft you can edit into your own voice. Especially useful for difficult conversations — pushing back on a recommendation, asking for a second opinion, raising end-of-life preferences.
Prompt 8: Generate questions for a second opinion
The prompt: “I’m seeking a second opinion for [cancer type and stage]. My current oncologist recommended [regimen]. What questions should I ask the second oncologist to ensure I’m getting an independent take rather than a confirmation?”
What you’ll get: Useful prompts that probe assumptions. Worth bringing.
Prompt 9: Help me anticipate what my oncologist will ask me
The prompt: “I’m seeing my oncologist next week, mid-cycle 3 of [regimen]. What is she likely to ask me, and what should I be prepared to answer? Include questions about side effects, energy, mood, eating, work, family.”
What you’ll get: A reverse-prep — useful because it forces you to track and notice things you might otherwise gloss over.
— composite of recurring sentiment in r/cancer AI threads
What NOT to ask AI
The verification habit, every time
- Use AI for prep (translation, questions, drafting).
- Bring the AI-prepared materials to the appointment.
- Ask your oncologist directly. Their answer overrides AI.
- If AI cited specific studies or guidelines, look them up before the appointment.
- If AI gave statistics, verify them against NCI / SEER databases.
Pairing with the toolkit
The Inspired Comforts doctor questions templates are pre-built for treatment-planning, mid-treatment, end-of-treatment, and procedure-specific visits. Use AI to personalize them for your specific case. The combination — printable template + AI personalization — is more powerful than either alone.
Privacy reminders
The framing that keeps you safe
“This is a smart research assistant who hasn’t seen me, hasn’t seen my labs, hasn’t talked to my oncologist, doesn’t know my history beyond what I told it. Useful for prep. Not a clinician.”
FAQ
Sources
- ASCO Cancer.Net — cancer.net
- American Medical Association — ama-assn.org
- NCCN patient guidelines — nccn.org/patients
- National Cancer Institute — cancer.gov
