Oncology Essay

730 Words2 Pages

Oncology is a field of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer and tumors. Cancer is undoubtedly a serious and potentially life-threatening illness. It is the leading cause of death in Americans under the age of 85 and the second leading cause of death in older Americans. There will be 1.5 million new cases of cancer occurring in the United States coming year. There are more than 100 different types of cancers known to man. There’s no cure that has been discovered for this deadly disease, but there is in-fact ways in which the disease can be treated. In order to accomplish this, specialist like an oncologist must use a variety of treatments, such as radiation, surgery, medical and interventional; which …show more content…

This means that there is a tendency to grow and spread, sometime rapidly and sometimes slowly. Oncologist identifies the cancer by the site or type of cell type and where it originated in the body. There are many different types of cancer, which form on all parts of the body. In the United States, skin cancer is the most common cancer then prostate cancer in males and then breast cancer in women. There is also colon, ovarian and brain cancer. Leukemia is dominant cancer in children. The number one killing cancer in the world today is lung cancer, mostly caused by cigarettes. Common symptoms of cancer are lumps, fatigue, fever, unexplained weight loss and wounds that will not heal are some common symptoms that may indicate the presence of cancer. However, cancer may not produce any of the above symptoms or may present with a symptom not listed above. Specialty physician such as Oncologist may begin a cancer evaluation with a physical examination and by performing tests that indicate the presence of cancer. If cancer is suspected in a patient the doctor may follow up with more specific tests to determine the location and severity of the cancer. If there is any questions that need to be answered after the office visit; the patient can go to the patient portal for reference. This feature helps the patient communicate with their physician, access medical information and make necessary …show more content…

It is commonly prescribed for patients whose cancer is not localized but instead has possibly metastasized, or spread, to various locations in the body. Chemotherapy can be used to reduce the symptoms and pain associated with cancer as well as to slow the growth of cancerous tumors. In some circumstances chemotherapy may even kill spreading cancerous cells. Radiation therapy is a method of treating cancer that utilizes radiation energy. Radiation is most commonly used to treat localized cancers as opposed to cancer that has spread throughout the body. The goal of radiation therapy is to kill cancer cells or at least limit their ability to grow and divide by damaging their genetic material. Like chemotherapy, radiation therapy is not perfectly precise in its targeting of cancer cells, and some normal, healthy cells can also become damaged. There is also surgery which the surgeons who specialize in tumor

More about Oncology Essay

Open Document