Oncology

Cancer / Oncology refers to growth of a bulk, mass or tumor. Oncology is concerned with:

• The diagnosisof any cancer in a person
• Therapy (e.g.surgery,chemotherapy,radiotherapyand other modalities)
• Follow-up ofcancer patientsafter successful treatment
• Palliative care of patients with terminal malignancies

The most important screening 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). Sometimes a physical examination will reveal the location of a malignancy.

Diagnostic methods include:

• Biopsy, either incisional or excisional, or Resection; are the only ways that a definitive diagnosis of cancer can be made
• Endoscopy, either upper or lower gastrointestinal, bronchoscopy, or nasendoscopy
• X-rays,CT scanning,MRI scanning,PET scan,ultrasoundand other radiological techniques
• Scintigraphy,Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography,Positron emission tomographyand other methods ofnuclear medicine
• Blood tests, includingtumor 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 issurgically possible to remove a tumor in its entirety. Generally, a tissue diagnosis (from a biopsy) is considered essential for the proper identification of cancer.

Treatment modalities for a cancer patients can include either all or some of the following in varying combinations:

• Surgical excision / removal
• Chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Transplant Procedure
• Stem Cell Therapy
• Palliative Treatment