Oncology (from the Ancient Greek onkos (ὄγκος), meaning bulk, mass, or tumor, and the suffix -logy (-λογία), meaning "study of") is a branch of medicine that deals with 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)

VIDEO: How to improve cancer survivorship planning

BRUSSELS – National Cancer Institute Director Catherine Alfano, Ph.D., summarizes the institute’s work on improving cancer survivor planning, better coordinating survivor care, and gathering new data...

Field of Interest: Oncology
Type: News Item

U.K. ahead of U.S.A. in cancer survivorship planning

BRUSSELS – Cancer survivorship planning in the United Kingdom is ahead of the United States and the rest of Europe with the recent rollout of a model care plan for cancer patients, along with a guide...

Field of Interest: Oncology
Type: News Item

Thyroid cancer rise mostly overdiagnosis

The incidence of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled in the United States since the 1970s. However, this is mainly an epidemic of diagnosis, researchers reported. Small papillary cancers are not...

Field of Interest: Oncology
Type: News Item

Prostate cancer death rate highest in Montana

Montana is expected to have the highest rate of prostate cancer deaths in the United States for 2014, and it will be more than twice as high as that of Texas, which should have the lowest rate, the...

Field of Interest: Oncology
Type: News Item

Fecal immunochemical tests detect most colorectal cancers

Fecal immunochemical tests have an overall diagnostic accuracy of 95% for the detection of colorectal cancer, according to the results of a meta-analysis just published in the Annals of Internal...

Field of Interest: Oncology
Type: News Item

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