Oncology

:Please refer to cancer for the biology of malignant disease, as well as a list of malignant diseases.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oncology is the medical study and treatment of cancer. A physician who practices oncology is an oncologist. The term is from the Greek onkos (ονκος), meaning bulk, mass or tumor, and the suffix -ology, meaning "study of".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oncology is concerned with:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The diagnosis of cancer
• 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 heritable basis, such as breast cancer).

The oncologist often coordinates the multidisciplinary care of cancer patients, which may involve physiotherapy, counselling, clincal genetics, to name but a few. On the other hand, the oncologist often has to liaise with pathologists on the exact biological nature of the tumor that is being treated.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oncology: Diagnosis ►



 

Cancer: Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell division and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue (invasion) or by migration of cells to distant sites (metastasis). This unregulated growth is caused by damage to DNA, result...

Greek: The noun Greek refers to:...

Tumor: See the article about cancer for the main article about malignant tumors....