oncologist
Meaning of oncologist: Rarely a single doctor working alone, an oncologist is usually one voice on a team that meets together to agree a plan for each case.
Definition of oncologist
An oncologist is a physician who specializes in cancer: confirming what a tumor is, judging how far it has spread, selecting and delivering treatment, and following a person afterward. Most oncologists work within one of the three main treatment approaches, drugs, radiation or surgery, and many narrow further to particular cancers or age groups.
What are the main kinds?
| Kind | What the role covers |
|---|---|
| Medical oncologist | Treatment with drugs, including chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted agents and immunotherapy; usually the doctor who coordinates continuing care |
| Radiation oncologist | Planning and supervising treatment with radiation |
| Surgical oncologist | Removing tumors, and taking tissue for diagnosis and staging |
| Hematologist oncologist | Cancers of the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes |
| Pediatric oncologist | Cancers in children, which differ from adult cancers in type and behavior |
| Gynecologic oncologist | Cancers of the female reproductive organs, usually combining surgery with drug treatment |
| Neuro-oncologist | Tumors of the brain and spinal cord |
How does a cancer team work?
Few decisions in cancer care are taken by one doctor alone. Cases are reviewed by a multidisciplinary team, also called a tumor board, where oncologists sit with the pathologist who examined the tissue, the radiologist who read the scans, surgeons, specialist nurses and palliative care staff. Pathology and imaging come first, because the exact type and extent of the tumor set the limits on what is possible. The team then agrees a sequence, and that sequence often mixes approaches: drug treatment to shrink a tumor, surgery to remove it, radiation afterward. One oncologist normally acts as the thread of continuity through the whole of it.
How does someone become one?
The route runs through a medical degree, broader clinical training, then several years of specialty training in oncology and a set of examinations. The structure and the titles differ substantially between countries: the length of training, whether medical oncology and hematology are combined into one specialty, and which subspecialties carry formal recognition all vary. What holds everywhere is that oncology is entered after general clinical training rather than straight from medical school.
Who else is on the team?
Oncology nurses give treatment and manage its effects, and are frequently the most regular point of contact. Pathologists classify the tumor, radiologists interpret the imaging, radiation therapists deliver the daily sessions, and pharmacists prepare and check drug regimens. Palliative care teams address symptoms alongside active treatment rather than only once it ends. A primary care doctor stays involved throughout for everything unconnected to the cancer.
Used in a sentence
The patient was referred to a medical oncologist for evaluation of chemotherapy options.
Good to know
Oncologist on its own does not say which kind is meant, since medical, radiation and surgical oncologists are trained in different primary treatment approaches, and one person with cancer is often under the care of more than one at the same time.
Word origin
Where “oncologist” comes from
Formed from Greek onkos, meaning mass or tumor, and -logia, meaning study of, with the suffix -ist marking a practitioner.