What is Oncology?

Oncology, meaning bulk, mass, or tumor, and ''-logy'', meaning "study of") is a branch of medicine that deals with tumors (cancer). A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''.

Oncology is concerned with:

• The diagnosis of any cancer in a person
• Therapy (e.g., surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other modalities)
• Follow-up of cancer patients after successful treatment
• Palliative care of patients with terminal malignancies
• Ethical questions surrounding cancer care
• Screening efforts:
  • of populations, or
  • of the relatives of patients (in types of cancer that are thought to have a hereditary basis, such as breast cancer)

The most important diagnostic tool remains the medical history: the character of the complaints and any specific symptoms (fatigue, weight loss, unexplained anemia, fever of unknown origin, paraneoplastic phenomena and other signs). Often a physical examination will reveal the location of a malignancy.

Diagnostic methods include:

• Biopsy, either incisional or excisional;
• Endoscopy, either upper or lower gastrointestinal, bronchoscopy, or nasendoscopy;
• X-rays, CT scanning, MRI scanning, ultrasound and other radiological techniques;
• Scintigraphy, Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, Positron emission tomography and other methods of nuclear medicine;
• Blood tests, including Tumor markers, which can increase the suspicion of certain types of tumors or even be pathognomonic of a particular disease.

Apart from in diagnosis, these modalities (especially imaging by CT scanning) are often used to determine operability, i.e. whether it is surgically possible to remove a tumor in its entirety.

Generally, a "tissue diagnosis" (from a biopsy) is considered essential for the proper identification of cancer. When this is not possible, "empirical therapy" (without an exact diagnosis) may be given, based on the available evidence (e.g. history, x-rays and scans.)

Occasionally, a metastatic lump or pathological lymph node is found (typically in the neck) for which a primary tumor cannot be found. This situation is referred to as "carcinoma of unknown primary", and again, treatment is empirical based on past experience of the most likely origin.

There is a tremendous amount of research being conducted on all frontiers of oncology, ranging from cancer cell biology to chemotherapy treatment regimens and optimal palliative care and pain relief. This makes oncology a continuously changing field.

Therapeutic trials often involve patients from many different hospitals in a particular region. In the UK, patients are often enrolled in large studies coordinated by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Medical Research Council (MRC), the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) or the National Cancer Research Network (NCRN).