Medical Specialties Codexery

Oncology

Branch of medicine focused on cancer care and research.

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Oncology

Harutyun Nalbandyan · CC BY-SA 4.0

An oncologist may specialize in areas such as surgery, radiation, or pediatric oncology.[1] Diagnosis often involves medical histories, biopsies, and imaging techniques like CT or PET scans.[2][3][4] Cancer is studied, treated, diagnosed, and prevented within the medical field of oncology.[1][5]

Key facts and history

Oncology covers diagnosis, therapy (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy), monitoring, palliative care, screening, and clinical research.[5] Medical histories help assess nonspecific symptoms like fatigue or weight loss that may indicate malignancy.[2] A biopsy allows a pathologist to classify cancer and guide treatment decisions.[6] Monoclonal antibody therapies, such as Rituximab for lymphoma, are widely used in oncology.[7]

Palliative care has become a separate specialty that addresses problems of advanced disease.[8] In the UK, patients are often enrolled in large studies coordinated by Cancer Research UK or the MRC.[9] For some cancers, chemotherapy and radiotherapy serve as the initial radical treatment, and they are also applied after surgery as adjuvant therapy when there is a statistical risk of recurrence.[10] Treating breast and prostate cancer with hormone manipulation is a well-established approach.[11]

Checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy, and cancer vaccines are among the immunotherapies that are currently being actively researched.[7]

What the research sources say

The same source notes that the oncologist is the first person to ask about palliative care.[12] Studies have shown that integrating palliative care soon after a diagnosis of advanced cancer can improve quality of life and mood, and may prolong survival.[12] The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends palliative care for all patients with advanced cancer.[12] Palliative care discussions may include advance directives and guiding communication among family and the oncology team.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "What is oncology?", American Cancer Society, 2025; "Medical oncology - Overview", Mayo Clinic, 24 December 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Singh, "Exploring the Genetic Orchestra of Cancer: The Interplay Between Oncogenes and Tumor-Suppressor Genes", Cancers, 24 March 2025, p. 1082; "Cancer diagnosis and treatment", MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, 2025; Gill, "Oncology", 2006, p. 1482–1496 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tests and Procedures Used to Diagnose Cancer - NCI", www.cancer.gov, 2015-03-09; "What Are Neoplasms and Tumors?", American Cancer Society, 2025; "Malignancy", US National Cancer Institute, 2025; "Radiation Therapy for Cancer - NCI", www.cancer.gov, 2015-04-29; "How biopsy procedures are used to diagnose cancer", Mayo Clinic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "What is Cystoscopy? Cystoscopy Procedure", www.cancer.org; "Bronchoscopy Procedure What is a Bronchoscopy?", www.cancer.org; "Nasoendoscopy", www.cancerresearchuk.org; "Endoscopy", Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1990; "Cancer diagnosis and treatment", MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "What is oncology?", American Cancer Society, 2025; Singh, "Exploring the Genetic Orchestra of Cancer: The Interplay Between Oncogenes and Tumor-Suppressor Genes", Cancers, 24 March 2025, p. 1082 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kumar, "Detection and Classification of Cancer from Microscopic Biopsy Images Using Clinically Significant and Biologically Interpretable Features", Journal of Medical Engineering, 23 August 2015, p. 1–14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Singh, "Exploring the Genetic Orchestra of Cancer: The Interplay Between Oncogenes and Tumor-Suppressor Genes", Cancers, 24 March 2025, p. 1082; Liu, "Exploring treatment options in cancer: tumor treatment strategies", Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, 17 July 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Palliative Care in Cancer - NCI", www.cancer.gov, 2018-01-12; Feld, "Utilization patterns and disparities in supportive oncology services for patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.", Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2026-06-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cancer Research UK", Cancer Research UK, 10 May 2021; "Home - Medical Research Council"; "European Organisation For Research And Treatment Of Cancer", EORTC, January 17, 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Adjuvant therapy: Balance side effects with benefits", Mayo Clinic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Oncology" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Abraham, "Hormonal therapy for cancer", Medicine, January 2023, p. 28–31 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "Palliative Care in Cancer - NCI", www.cancer.gov, 2018-01-12. facts only, no text reused. cancer.gov

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Oncology (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Also in the Codexery

Oncology · Cancer

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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