Approved by the\u00a0Cancer.Net Editorial Board<\/a>, 03\/2018<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Oncology is the study of cancer. An oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

The field of oncology has three major areas: medical, surgical, and radiation.<\/p>\n

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A\u00a0medical oncologist<\/b>\u00a0treats cancer using\u00a0chemotherapy<\/a>\u00a0or other medications, such as\u00a0 targeted therapy<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0 immunotherapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A\u00a0surgical oncologist<\/b>\u00a0removes the tumor and nearby tissue during surgery. He or she also performs certain types of\u00a0biopsies<\/a>\u00a0to help diagnose cancer.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A\u00a0radiation oncologist<\/b>\u00a0treats cancer using\u00a0radiation therapy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Other types of oncologists include:<\/p>\n
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A\u00a0gynecologic oncologist<\/b>\u00a0treats gynecologic cancers, such as uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A\u00a0pediatric oncologist<\/b>\u00a0treats cancer in children. Some types of cancer occur most often in children and teenagers. This includes certain brain tumors, leukemia, osteosarcoma, and Ewing\u2019s sarcoma. Types of cancer more common in children sometimes also occur in adults. In these situations, an adult may decide to work with a pediatric oncologist.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A\u00a0hematologist-oncologist<\/b>\u00a0diagnoses and treats blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The role of the oncologist<\/h3>\n
An oncologist manages a patient\u2019s care throughout the course of the disease. This starts with the diagnosis. His or her role includes:<\/p>\n
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Explaining the cancer diagnosis and\u00a0 stage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Talking about all treatment options and his or her preferred choice<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Delivering quality and compassionate care<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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Helping a patient manage the symptoms and side effects of cancer and cancer treatment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Different types of doctors often work together to create a patient\u2019s overall treatment plan that combines different types of treatments. For instance, a patient may need treatment with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. This is called a\u00a0 multidisciplinary team<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Cancer care teams also include a variety of other health care professionals:<\/p>\n
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A\u00a0pathologist<\/b>\u00a0reads laboratory tests. This includes checking cells, tissues, and organs to diagnose disease<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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A\u00a0diagnostic radiologist<\/b>\u00a0conducts imaging tests to diagnose disease. This includes x-rays or ultrasound tests.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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An\u00a0oncology nurse<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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An\u00a0oncology social worker<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The team may also involve doctors from other areas of medicine. For instance, a dermatologist who specializes in skin problems may also help treat skin cancer.<\/p>\n
Sometimes a person\u2019s cancer diagnosis is complex. In this case, the patient\u2019s oncologist may ask a\u00a0tumor board<\/a> to review the case. This involves medical experts from all areas of cancer care who come together to decide on the best treatment plan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oncologists types Approved by the\u00a0Cancer.Net Editorial Board, 03\/2018 Oncology is the study of cancer. An oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer. The field of oncology has three major areas: medical, surgical, and radiation. A\u00a0medical oncologist\u00a0treats cancer using\u00a0chemotherapy\u00a0or other medications, such as\u00a0targeted therapy\u00a0or\u00a0immunotherapy. A\u00a0surgical oncologist\u00a0removes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1,23,17,19],"tags":[620,617,609,610,618,615,613,626,623,621,622,627,625,624,619,614,608,612,616,611],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/cropped-oncology.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4643Z-sy","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1858,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770\/revisions\/1858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senatormedical.se\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}