Lori Shults didn’t know much about clinical trials when she first came to MD Anderson in May 2017. “I thought they involved some people getting medicine and others just getting sugar pills,” she recalls. “That sounded too risky for me, so I wasn’t interested.”

Fortunately, the Hill Country school teacher soon learned that her understanding of clinical trials was both limited and inaccurate. She also learned that an innovative clinical...

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2017, I was so stunned initially that I felt paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do, where to go or who to call first.  

Thankfully, the momentary sensation of panic passed, and since then, I’ve learned a few things.

Here are five of them.

1. Choose the breast cancer experts

I didn’t have any breast cancer symptoms prior to being diagnosed. I only learned...